Adrian Zielonka's December 2019 Astronomy and Space News
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Astronomy News Night Sky 2019 - December Sunrise Sunset Mercury Rises Venus Sets st st st st 1 – 7:52am 1 – 4:08pm 1 – 5:59am 1 – 5:41pm th th th th 10 – 8:03am 10 – 4:04pm 5 – 6:13am 10 – 6:00pm th th th th 20 – 8:11am 20 – 4:05pm 10 – 6:35am 20 – 6:27pm th th th th 30 – 8:14am 30 – 4:12pm 15 – 6:58am 30 – 6:58pm th 20 – 7:21am Moon Rise Moon Set Moon Rise Moon Set st st th th 1 – 12:08pm 1 – 8:46pm 20 – 12:52am (E) 20 – 1:14pm (W) nd nd st st 2 – 12:39pm 2 – 9:53pm 21 – 2:11am 21 – 1:35pm rd rd nd nd 3 – 1:03pm (ESE) 3 – 11:00pm (WSW) 22 – 3:31am 22 – 1:58pm (WSW) th th rd rd 4 – 1:23pm 5 – 12:06am 23 – 4:50am (ESE) 23 – 2:25pm th th th th 5 – 1:42pm 6 – 1:12am 24 – 6:08am 24 – 2:58pm th th th th 6 – 1:59pm (E) 7 – 2:18am (W) 25 – 7:21am 25 – 3:38pm th th th th 7 – 2:16pm 8 – 3:25am 26 – 8:26am 26 – 4:27pm th th th th 8 – 2:34pm 9 – 4:34am 27 – 9:21am 27 – 5:25pm th th th th 9 – 2:54pm (ENE) 10 – 5:45am (WNW) 28 – 10:04am 28 – 6:29pm th th th th 10 – 3:19pm 11 – 6:57am 29 – 10:39am 29 – 7:36pm th th th th 11 – 3:50pm 12 – 8:08am 30 – 11:06am 30 – 8:43pm (WSW) th th st st 12 – 4:29am 13 – 9:14am 31 - 11:28 (ESE) 31 – 9:50pm th th 13 – 5:20pm 14 – 10:12am - - - - - - - - - - - - - - th th 14 – 6:22pm 15 – 10:59am Moon Phases th th 15 – 7:34pm 16 – 11:37am First Quarter – 4th All times th th 16 – 8:52pm (ENE) 17 - 12:07pm (WNW) Full Moon – 12th are set th th 17 – 10:12pm 18 – 12:32pm Last Quarter – 19th for Somerton th th 18 – 11:32pm 19 – 12:54pm New Moon – 26th A useful site: www.heavens- above.com A S Zielonka Mercury rises almost two hours before the Sun on the 1st and should easily be seen in the SE around 7:00am, and for the first three weeks. Mercury is 8 degrees above the horizon and at 127 degrees azimuth. Mars is 11 degrees upper right of Mercury. The star Zubenelgenubi (2.7 mag) in Libra is 4½ degrees to the upper right of Mercury. Though you may have seen Venus low in the SW in November, on the 1st it sets an 1½ hours after the Sun, and by the close of 2019 it will be setting nearly 3 hours later. Venus is in close conjunction with the star Kaus Borealis (2.8 mag) in Sagittarius on the 1st. At 5:00pm in the SW the star will be just 1 degree below Venus which is 5 degrees above the horizon and at 220 degrees azimuth. On the 1st at 7:00pm the star Theta Capricorni (4th mag) is 4 degreesabove the crescent Moon. From the 1st – 7th the asteroid Vesta will be passing close to the star Lambda Ceti (4.6 mag) in Cetus. At 8:00pm on the 1st Vesta is just 1 degree below right, and at the same time on the 7th it will be 1½ degrees th to the right of Lambda Ceti with another star in between them. It's at 7.1 magnitude on the 7 . At 5:30pm on the 2nd, the brightest star in Capricorn – Delta Capricorni (2.8 mag) is just 2 degrees above the crescent Moon. On the 3rd at 8:30pm the star Skat (3.2 mag) in Aquarius is 4½ degrees to the left of the Moon. Neptune is 10 degrees above Skat and half a degree to the right. On the 4th* at 5:48pm* there is a scheduled launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida. An uncrewed SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft will lift off on a Falcon 9 rocket, delivering supplies and equipment to the International Space Station (ISS). At 6:00pm on the 4th the star Psi Aquarii (4.4 mag) is just 1½ degrees above right of the first quarter Moon with another fainter star approximately midway between. Neptune is 4¼ degrees above the Moon and 2¼ degrees to the right. On the 5th at 9.00pm the star Mu Ceti (4.2 mag) in Cetus is 3½ degrees to the left of the Moon and 2¾ degrees below. At 11:00pm on the 7th the star Nu Piscium (4.4 mag) in Pisces is just 1 degree above right of the Moon. Uranus is 9 degrees above the Moon and 2 degrees to the left. On the 8th at 11:30pm Uranus is 6½ degrees to the right of the Moon. At 10:30pm on the 9th the star named 'Hip 16369' (from Hipparcos Catalogue)(4.1 mag) in Taurus is just 4 degrees to the left of the Moon. Half an hour after sunset on the 10th you may see Jupiter 2 degrees above the SW horizon at 228 degrees azimuth. On the 10th at 8:40pm the Pleiades Star cluster is 8 degrees above the Moon. Between the 10th - 14th Mars passes very close to the star Porrima (2.7 mag) in Libra. At 7:00pm on the 12th the star is barely ¼ of a degree left of Mars in the SE. Venus is in close conjunction with Saturn on the 11th. At 5:00pm in the SW Saturn is just 2 degrees above right of Venus. Mercury is in close conjunction with the the star Acrab (2.5mag) in Scorpius on the 11th. At 7:00am Mercury will be 2½ degrees above the horizon and at 126 degrees azimuth with Acrab less than ½ a degree to the lower left of it. On the 12th at 11:00pm the Moon is midway between the stars Mu Geminorum (2.8 mag) and Zeta Tauri (2.9 mag). The star named “ Hip 28734” (4.1 mag) in Gemini is just 1½ degrees to the upper left of the Moon. At 9:00pm on the 13th the star Mekbuda (4th mag) in Gemini is 3 degrees below the Moon. An occultation of the bright star Mu Geminorum by the Moon occurs on the 13th. This will occur over USA and Canada. The Geminids meteor shower reaches its peak on the 13th - 14th . On the 14th at 11.15pm the stars Castor (1.5 mag) and Pollux (1.1 mag) point the way to the Moon. At 9:00pm on the 15th the Beehive Cluster is 3½ degrees to the upper right of the Moon. On the 16th at midnight the star Eta Leonis (3.4 mag) in Leo is 2 degrees to the left of the Moon. At midnight on the 17th the star Chertan (3.3 mag) is 6¼ degrees to the left of the Moon. On the 17th* there is a planned Orbital Flight Test from Cape Canaveral, Florida. An uncrewed Boeing's CST-100 Starliner will launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41. This is the first of two demonstration flights required to prove the space systems meet NASA’s requirements for certification to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. On the 20th at 2:30am the Moon will be between the stars Delta Virginis (3.3 mag) and Porrima (2.7 mag). The Moon is just 2 degrees from Porrima. At 6:00am on the 21st the star Spica (1st mag) in Virgo will be 7 degrees to the lower right of the crescent Moon. On the 22nd at 6:45am Mars is 9½ degrees below the crescent Moon and and 6 degrees to the left. The Ursids Meteor shower reaches its peak on the 22nd - 23rd. Between 6:15 – 7:15am on the 23rd in the south east the crescent Moon and Mars are no more than 3½ degrees apart. Mars is to the right of the Moon. At 7:18am on the 24th a thin crescent Moon will be due south east (135 degrees azimuth) and 7½ degrees above the horizon. On the 25th at 7:40am a very thin crescent Moon may be seen 1½ degrees above the south east horizon at 129.5 degrees azimuth. There is a Total Eclipse of the Sun on the 26th. Totality will be visible from Saudi Arabia, southern India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and the Philippines. The majority of Asia, NE Africa and the northern half of Australia will see the partial phases. (So if on Boxing Day you happen to be in Singapore you will see totality). At 5:00pm on the 27th Saturn will be just 3 degrees to the right of a very thin crescent Moon low in the south west. The Moon is 2 degrees above the horizon and at 227 degrees azimuth. Saturn is 2½ degrees above the horizon and at 230 degrees azimuth. Jupiter is at suerior conjunction (with the Sun) on the 27th. On the 28th at 6:00pm a thin crescent Moon and Venus will be just 4¾ degrees apart, low in the south western sky. An occultation of Venus by the Moon occurs on the 29th. This will only be visible from the southern tip of South America and Antartica. At 6:00pm on the 29th the crescent Moon and Venus are 7 degrees apart.