Local Sky Events

December

Check back often for updates

  • Moon: Third Quarter Dec 5th; New on the 12th, First quarter 19th and Full on the 27th.
  • Dec 21 at 10:27 PM EST the Winter Solstice begins for Northern Hemisphere with the longest night of the year.
  • Venus dominates the morning sky at magnitude -4.2 in the constellation Virgo near Spica.
  • The Geminid Meteor Shower peaks the night of Dec 13/14 with 100 meteors per hour. Look 90 degrees away from the Gemini twins, Castor and Pollux for meteors. They will be at their best in the pre-dawn hours when Gemini, the radiant, is high overhead. Bundle up and go out as it should be the best shower of the year.
  • Jupiter dominates the southeast and is increasing in diameter and brightness in southern Aries. Saturn is high in the south-southwest and well placed for viewing and binoculars.
  • Mars and Mercury are too close to the Sun this month to be seen safely.

 

See our Links page - Sky Watching - for other events.

See Sky and Telescope Magazine (The Sky at a Glance) for more events.