The moon will reach its new phase on Sunday, December 1 at 1:21 a.m. EST or 06:21 GMT, which converts to 10:21 p.m. PST on Saturday. At that time our natural satellite will be located within Scorpius and 4.5 degrees south of the sun. While it’s new, the moon is travelling between Earth and the […]
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Monthly Night Sky information provided by Chris Vaughan (@Astrogeoguy) at Starry Night Education (@StarryNightEdu).
Astronomical Events
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1 event,As December begins, the bright reddish planet Mars will be shining just above (or celestial north of) the large open star cluster in Cancer known as the Beehive, Praesepe, and Messier 44. Mars and the stellar “bees”, which will be scattered across an area more than twice the size of a full moon, will fit […] |
1 event,The northeastern sky on December evenings hosts the bright constellations of Perseus and W-shaped Cassiopeia, with the very bright yellowish star Capella gleaming below them. The sky between Perseus and Cassiopeia hosts the Double Cluster, a pair of bright open star clusters that together cover a finger’s width of the sky. They make a spectacular […] |
1 event,As the sky is darkening after sunset on Wednesday, December 4, look low in the western sky to see the pretty, waxing crescent moon shining several finger widths below (or several degrees to the celestial south of) the brilliant planet Venus. The pair will share the view in binoculars and will make a pretty photo […] |
1 event,On Thursday evening, December 5, the curved terminator on the moon will fall just to the left (or lunar west) of ancient Mare Nectaris, the dark and roughly circular patch located just south of the moon’s equator. A prominent crater named Piccolomini is located in the lunar highlands a small distance to the lower left […] |
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3 events,On Saturday, December 7, Mars’ easterly orbital motion through the stars of Cancer will slow to a stop in order for it to begin a westerly retrograde loop that will last through its mid-January opposition and into late February. Tonight the bright, reddish dot of Mars will be positioned in the eastern evening sky in […] On Saturday, December 7, Jupiter will reach opposition while it gleams brightly between the horns of Taurus and a palm’s width to the left (or 7.5 degrees to the celestial northeast) of the bright star Aldebaran. At opposition, planets rise in the east at sunset and cross the sky all night long before setting in […] On Saturday evening, December 7 in the Americas, the waxing crescent moon will shine a palm’s width to the lower right (or celestial west) of Saturn. The pair will be due south after dusk and then set in the west around 11 p.m. local time. On Sunday night, the half-illuminated first quarter moon will hop […] |
1 event,The moon will complete the first quarter of its 29.53-day trip around Earth on Sunday, December 8 at 10:27 a.m. EST, 7:27 a.m. PST, and 15:27 GMT. At first quarter, the moon’s 90-degree angle from the sun causes us to see it half-illuminated on its eastern side. First quarter moons always rise around mid-day and […] |
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1 event,On Tuesday night, December 10, the terminator on the waxing gibbous moon will cross Sinus Iridum, the Bay of Rainbows. The circular 155 mile (249 km) diameter feature is a large impact crater that was flooded by the same basalts that filled the much larger Mare Imbrium to its east – forming a round bay […] |
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1 event,On Thursday night, December 12, the bright, nearly full moon will shine near the planet Uranus. Use binoculars (orange circle) to look for the medium-bright star Botein (Delta Arietis) shining below the moon. If you place Botein just at the upper edge of the binoculars’ field of view, Uranus will appear as a dull, blue-green […] |
2 events,On Friday evening, December 13, the orbital motion of the bright, nearly full moon will carry it through the Pleiades star cluster (aka Messier 45, Subaru, and the Seven Sisters) for some parts of the world. While bright moonlight overwhelms fainter objects, viewing the encounter during evening twilight, especially through binoculars, will make a pretty, […] The Geminids, one of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year, is active from November 19 to December 24 annually while Earth passes through the cloud of sand-sized grains dropped by the asteroid designated 3200 Phaethon. The number of Geminids meteors will gradually ramp up to a peak in the wee hours of Saturday […] |
1 event,Shortly after the very bright moon clears the rooftops in the east after dusk on Saturday, December 14, the brilliant planet Jupiter will rise to join it. The duo will make a lovely photo opportunity when composed with some nice foreground scenery. As the moon and Jupiter climb the eastern sky, the bright winter stars […] |
1 event,The December full moon will occur at 4:02 a.m. EST, 1:02 a.m. PST, or 09:02 GMT on Sunday, December 15. Traditionally known as the Oak Moon, Cold Moon, and Long Nights Moon, it always shines in or near the stars of Taurus and Gemini. The Ojibwe of the Great Lakes region call the December full […] |
1 event,Look low in the eastern sky after dusk on Monday, December 16 to see the bright, waning gibbous moon gleaming just to the right (or celestial southwest) of Gemini’s brightest stars. Golden Pollux and the brighter, whiter double star Castor above it should still be visible against the moon’s glare. Binoculars (orange circle) will reveal […] |
1 event,On Tuesday evening, December 17, the bright, 90%-illuminated moon will shine a short distance above (or celestial WNW of) the prominent reddish dot of Mars. The moon and the reddish planet will be close enough to share the view in binoculars, which will also show the widely scattered stars of the Beehive Cluster below Mars. […] |
1 event,The star Algol in the constellation of Perseus represents the glowing eye of Medusa from Greek mythology. Also designated Beta Persei, it is among the most accessible variable stars for skywatchers. During a ten-hour period that repeats like clockwork every 2 days, 20 hours, and 49 minutes, Algol dims noticeably and re-brightens by about a […] |
1 event,On mid-December evenings the constellation of Perseus is climbing the northeastern sky. Just for 2024, bright Jupiter will also be gleaming to the lower right of Perseus. The outer rim of our Milky Way galaxy runs through Perseus’ stars, filling its territory with rich star clusters. The largest of those surrounds his brightest star, Mirfak, […] |
1 event,Located only about 150 light years away from the sun, Taurus, the Bull’s triangular face is actually one of the nearest open star clusters to our solar system. Its stars are commonly called The Hyades, named for the five daughters of Atlas in Greek mythology. It also has the designations Melotte 25 and Caldwell 41. […] |
2 events,The Ursids meteor shower, which is produced by particles of debris dropped by the periodic comet 8P/Tuttle, runs from December 17 to 26 every year. The weak, short-duration shower will peak (usually with only 5 to 10 meteors visible in an hour) while Earth is traversing the densest part of the debris field on Sunday […] Winter in the Northern Hemisphere will officially commence in the Americas on Saturday, December 21 at 4:21 a.m. EST and 1:21 a.m. PST, or 09:21 GMT. At the solstice, the sun will attain its southernmost declination for the year, resulting in the lowest elevation in the sky of the noonday sun, the least amount of […] |
1 event,The moon will complete three quarters of its orbit around Earth, measured from the previous new moon, on Sunday, December 22 at 5:18 p.m. EST, 2:18 p.m. PST, or 22:18 GMT. At its third (or last) quarter phase the moon is half-illuminated, on its western, sunward side. It will rise around midnight local time, and […] |
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From time to time, observers with good quality telescopes can watch the small, round, black shadows of the Galilean moons traverse Jupiter’s disk. On Monday morning, December 23, sky-watchers located in the Americas can watch two of the shadows and the Great Red Spot crossing the southern hemisphere of Jupiter together for about an hour. […] |
1 event,Early risers on Tuesday morning, December 24 will see the pretty sight of the waning crescent moon shining in the southern sky close to Libra’s brightest star, Spica. The star will be twinkling a few finger widths to the moon’s lower left (or celestial southeast) from about 3 a.m. local time to the onset of […] |
1 event,On the mornings surrounding Wednesday, December 25, Mercury will reach its widest angle of 22° west of the sun, and peak visibility, for its current morning apparition. Starting around 5:45 a.m. in your local time zone, look for the planet shining very low in the east-southeastern sky, and climbing. The bright star Antares will sparkle […] |
1 event,Sirius, the brightest star in Canis Major and in the entire night sky, too, is hard to miss once it clears the trees and rooftops in the southeast by 7:30 p.m. local time. Also known as the Dog Star, it will climb to its highest point in the lower part of the southern sky shortly […] |
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1 event,If the weather forecast calls for clear skies to the southeast on Saturday morning, December 28, it will be worth venturing outside around breakfast time to see the pretty spectacle of the old, waning moon’s slender crescent shining close to Scorpius’ bright star Antares and brighter Mercury. All three objects will clear the treetops by […] |
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1 event,The moon cycles through its phases every 29.5 days, allowing a phase to repeat if it first occurs early in a calendar month. For the second time in December, the moon will reach its new moon phase on Monday, December 30 at 5:27 p.m. EST, 2:27 p.m. PST, and 22:27 GMT. At that time our […] |
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1 event,In the evening during early January, the prominent open star cluster known as the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters and Messier 45, is climbing the southeastern sky. The stars of its home constellation Taurus, the Bull will be below the cluster. This year, the brilliant planet Jupiter will be shining about 1.3 fist diameters to the […] |
2 events,After the sky fully darkens in early January, the Andromeda Galaxy is positioned near the zenith, which is ideal for viewing it through a minimum of Earth’s atmosphere. The galaxy will descend the western sky as the hours roll by, but you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy it. This large spiral galaxy, also designated […] |
3 events,Named for a now-defunct constellation called the Mural Quadrant, the Quadrantids meteor shower runs from December 26 to January 16 every year. Quadrantids meteors always radiate from a point in the northeastern sky below the tip of the Big Dipper’s handle. This shower commonly produces bright fireballs because it is produced by particles dropped by […]
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The southwestern sky will provide a beautiful photo opportunity on Friday evening, January 3 when the slender waxing crescent moon will shine near the brilliant planet Venus. They’ll be close enough to share the view in binoculars (orange circle) from sunset until they set at about 8:30 p.m. local time. Keep an eye out for […] |
3 events,The Earth will reach perihelion, its minimum distance from the sun for the year, on Saturday, January 4 at 8 a.m. EST, or 5 a.m. PST, or 13:00 GMT. At perihelion Earth will be 91.404 million miles (or 147.101 million km) from our star, about 1.67% closer than our mean distance of 1.0 Astronomical Unit. […]
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In the southwestern sky after sunset on Saturday, January 4, the yellowish dot of Saturn will appear several finger widths below (or celestial WSW of) the waxing crescent moon – close enough to share the view in binoculars (orange circle). Venus will gleam to their lower right. The moon and Saturn will be visible from […] |