What’s Up December 2011
Image Credit & Copyright: Javier Algarra
Get ready for a total lunar eclipse on the 10th (coinciding with the full moon), and the Geminid meteor shower on the 14th!
December is the month of the solstice, when the Sun appears farthest south in the sky. That means winter for us and summer for Australians. This year the December solstice comes at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on the 22nd — and late on the 21st for those farther west.
Venus lurks low in the southwestern twilight after sunset. You’ll need an unobstructed horizon to see it.
But after it gets good and dark, swing around to the east to see dazzling Jupiter, the King of Planets, amid a tower of brilliant early-winter stars that extends from the horizon to overhead. Start with Orion low down, the climb upward through Taurus, Auriga, Perseus, and Andromeda.
— Sky and Telescope
The mid-December night sky hosts a lovely meteor shower. From December 13th to 14th, the bright and fast Geminids will skip across the upper atmosphere. Watch for meteors zipping away from the constellation Gemini after midnight.
Many skywatchers will enjoy a lunar eclipse on December 10. This happens when the Moon passes through Earth’s shadow. The Moon does not quite disappear but turns a coppery red. Viewers in North America will see the eclipsed Moon sink into the western horizon before dawn.
— HubbleSite – Tonight’s Sky
The next Full Moon is on the 10th, and the next New Moon is on the 24th.
The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)
For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map. (Translations to other languages are not currently supported, but they hope to have them back sometime in 2012.)
Hi! I’m Danielle Signor, MSCoC’s webmaster. I witnessed two out of three of the last space shuttle launches in the program: Discovery in February, as part of the STS-133 NASA Tweetup event; and Atlantis in July (STS-135). Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, and check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.
