Astronomy Things To See During December 2014
The winter solstice occurs on 21st December at 11:03pm
Moon:
Full: 6th December 12:27pm
Last quarter: 14th December 12:51pm
New: 22nd
December 1:36am
First quarter: 28th December 6:31pm
First quarter: 28th December 6:31pm
The Lunar “X” and “V” are visible on 29th
December at 12:21am. The Moon will be very close to setting but you may catch
it low in West
Lunar conjunctions & occultations:
1st/2nd
December - Waxing Gibbous Moon
in conjunction with Uranus during the early hours of 2nd December
3rd December - Waxing
Gibbous Moon occults Omicron Piscium during the early evening
5th/6th
December - Full Moon passes
through the Hyades and skims past Aldebaran
9th December - Waning
Gibbous Moon occults Lambda Geminorum in the morning
11th December - Waning Gibbous Moon forms a
triangle with Jupiter and Regulus. It also occults 2 stars in one day. First it
occults Acubens shortly before dawn, then at 11pm it occults 6 Leonis
16th December - Waning
Crescent Moon lies below Regulus in the late evening
17th December - Waning
Crescent Moon lies close to Spica in the morning
19th & 20th
December - Thin Waning Crescent Moon
lies close to Saturn before dawn
23rd December - Thin Waxing Crescent Moon
lies close to Venus soon after sunset
Planetary Observations:
Mercury – towards
the end of the month you may spot Mercury low in the south-western twilight
after sunset. It will be naked eye visible at mag -0.7, but is more easily seen
with binoculars
Venus – makes a reappearance during the
second half of this month. At mag -3.8 it will be easy to spot in the
south-western twilight about an hour after sunset. On 23rd December
the very thin, 1 day old Waxing Crescent Moon lies above Venus
Mars – lies in Capricornus, and remains
low in the western evening sky, setting at about 7:30pm. At mag +1.0 it will be
easier to spot with binoculars. On 3rd December Mars lies close to
the globular cluster M75 and on 27th it is close to Iota Capricorni
Jupiter – Jupiter is rising in the East at
around 9pm, and lies in between Cancer and Leo. At mag -2.2 it will be easy to
spot. It lies close to the Moon on 11th & 12th of
December
Saturn – begins to reappear in the morning
sky by the end of the month. It lies in Libra and will rise at around 5am, and
will be at mag +0.7. On 19th & 20th the Waning
Crescent Moon will be close to Saturn – look in the south-east around 7am
Uranus – lies in Pisces and sets at around
1:30am. At mag +5.8 it may be just about naked eye visible from a very dark sky
site, but will be easier to spot with binoculars or a small telescope. It is in
conjunction with the Moon on the night of 1st/2nd
December
Neptune – lies in Aquarius and sets at
around 10pm. This month it is at mag +7.9 so you will need binoculars or a
small telescope to spot it
3 Juno – this minor planet begins to
brighten during December and by the end of the month will be binocular visible
at mag 8.5.
Other Observations:
Jupiter’s Moons – Earth has moved level with Jupiter’s equator so we can see its moons as they eclipse and occult each other. On the night of 12th/13th December between 3am - 5am, Europa moves in front of Io, then Callisto joins them. All three moons will be within 3 arc seconds of each other. Then on 21st December Callisto’s umbral shadow is cast on Io and this will cause Io to reduce in brightness by more than a magnitude
Jupiter’s Moons – Earth has moved level with Jupiter’s equator so we can see its moons as they eclipse and occult each other. On the night of 12th/13th December between 3am - 5am, Europa moves in front of Io, then Callisto joins them. All three moons will be within 3 arc seconds of each other. Then on 21st December Callisto’s umbral shadow is cast on Io and this will cause Io to reduce in brightness by more than a magnitude
Geminids Meteor Shower – forecast to peak around 7am on 14th
December, this shower may produce up to 100 meteors per hour, and often
produces slow, bright and sometimes colourful events
Ursids Meteor Shower – forecast to peak on 22nd/23rd
December, this shower produces around 12 meteors per hour. Although not as
prolific as the Geminids, the New Moon makes viewing this shower very
favourable
Comet 2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) – this comet should become visible
towards the end of the month. It is located in Lepus and should be visible
around midnight, shining at mag +8. It is predicted to brighten to as much as
mag +4.0 in January
Flame Nebula (NGC2024) and Horsehead
Nebula (B33) –
located in Orion, December is a great month for imaging these nebulae. They
both lie within a degree of each other, and are very close to Alnitak, the most
south-easterly star of Orion’s Belt. Both are challenging objects to look at
visually. A hydrogen-beta filter will greatly help with this target, as will
good transparency and no moonlight
The Constellation Taurus – in addition to the Hyades and
Pleiades clusters, Taurus also contains the famous supernova remnant M1 The
Crab Nebula. It also contains one other supernova remnant, 2 reflection
nebulae, 5 open clusters, a spiral galaxy, a galaxy group, 3 double stars and 2
variable stars. For full details on objects found within Taurus, take a look at
the December issue of Astronomy Now Magazine
NB: The above information is taken
from Night Scenes 2014 by Paul L Money, Philips Stargazing 2014, Astronomy Now
Magazine and various online sources. Information collated by Mary Spicer.
