The Night Sky in December 2020 - a quick and easy guide MOON PHASES Third (last) quarter 8 Dec New Moon 14 Dec First quarter 23 Oct Full Moon 30 Dec Events this month to look out for: 3 Moon forms a triangle with Castor and Pollux (evening) 4 Moon above Beehive Cluster M44 (evening) 14 Geminids meteor shower peak (morning, favourable) 16 Crescent Moon below right of Jupiter and Saturn (evening twilight) 17 Crescent Moon left of Jupiter and Saturn (evening twilight) 21 Winter Solstice 21 Great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn (evening twilight) - Not to be missed – the closest conjunction for 400 years 22 Ursid meteor shower peak (favourable, morning twilight) 23 Moon below Mars (evening) 26 Moon forms a triangle with open cluster M45 and Aldebaran (evening) 27 Moon close to Hyades above Aldebaran (evening) All times below are now GMT (same as UT). Moon The Moon is at apogee, it’s furthest from the Earth on the 24th at 17:00 and at perigee, it’s nearest to the Earth, on the 12th at 21:00. December’s New Moon in Ophiuchus occurs at 16:17 on the 14th when it passes 10° south of the Sun from this latitude. There is a total solar eclipse not visible from the UK but in the south Atlantic to the mid Pacific, cutting across Argentina and Chile in South America. Better luck in June 2021 when there will be a partial solar eclipse visible from Wolverhampton. It may be possible to see Earthshine on the waning crescent from the 9th to the 14th, and on the waxing crescent Moon’s dark hemisphere from the 15th to the 20th. Full Moon is on December 30th. The coming of winter earns December's full moon the name Cold Moon. Other names include the long night moon and the oak moon. Moon phases this month: Generated using CoelixApex software Degrees ° - a “Handy” guide I have made several references below to, say, 7° and you can make a fair approximation of degrees by holding your hand at arm’s length and closing one eye. Make a fist, with the back of your hand facing you and use this guide: Planets this month: The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn ** Not to be missed – the closest conjunction since 1623 ** Jupiter approaches Saturn for one of their closest conjunctions just over the border from Sagittarius in the neighbouring constellation of Capricornus. At 18:00 on the day of the Winter Solstice (21st), the two planets are separated by only 0.1°, Jupiter lying to the south of Saturn. As a result of their long orbits, Jupiter and Saturn meet in the sky only once every 20 years. Here is what you might see, on the left the two planets looking like one bright “star”, and on the right the two planets and Jupiter’s moons all in the same field of view through a small telescope. Look for the two low in the SW at around 17:00. Both are visible in the fields of a pair of binoculars and small telescopes. With sufficient magnification in a small telescope, the four major satellites of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn may be seen. This is a very rare occurrence and we suggest that everyone takes the opportunity to witness this rare event. If you're wanting to catch this rare cosmic event, you'll need to act quickly on the night of the 21st. The planets will appear in the SW sky right after sunset and dip below the horizon just a few hours after sunset. There won't be another conjunction this close until March 15, 2080. Earlier in the month, on the 16th at 16:00, the very thin waxing crescent Moon may be seen approaching the two planets. The Moon will be low in the SW twilight, and the two planets will be seen 8° to the upper left of the Moon. The following night, the Moon moving eastwards is 7° to the left of Jupiter and Saturn. Other planets: Mercury is in superior conjunction with the Sun on the 20th, and is hardly likely to be seen during this month. It is possible to glimpse it in the bright twilight 30 mins before sunrise very low in the SE, taking care not to attempt the observation near to sunrise. Venus rises a couple of hours before the Sun during December. It lies in the constellation of Ophiuchus at the end of the month and may be seen rising at around 07:00 in the SE. On the 12th when Venus is in the constellation of Libra, the thin waning crescent Moon may be seen approaching the planet and at 07:00 Venus lies 7° to the lower left of the crescent Moon, a pretty spectacle as the Earth will be illuminating the night hemisphere of the Moon at the time. Mars lying in Pisces in mid-month, is at magnitude -0.7, fainter than Venus, Jupiter and the ‘Dog Star’ Sirius. It now fades as the distance between Earth and Mars increases. The planet is now culminating in the south at around 20:00. On the 23rd at 22:00 Mars and the waxing gibbous Moon are in conjunction, with Mars lying 6° to the north of the Moon. Uranus lies in Aries. It culminates at around 20:30 during this month. The planet lies some 10° below Hamal (alpha Arietis), the constellation’s brightest star at +2.0 visual magnitude. Uranus is on the threshold of naked eye visibility at visual magnitude +5.7. Neptune culminates (crosses the S meridian) at just before 18h mid-month. It lies in the constellation of Aquarius and has a current magnitude of +7.9. Meteor Showers December brings us a couple of meteor showers. Geminids The maximum of the Geminid meteors takes place on the 13th at 20:00. Geminids may be seen from the 4th to the 17th, and this year the time of maximum is very favourable because there is no Moon to interfere. This ‘Shooting Star Shower’ is the richest of the annual showers (weather permitting of course!). The bright shooting stars are associated with asteroid (dwarf planet) 3200 Phaethon, the remains of a spent comet. Geminids tend to be most numerous around 02:00 when Gemini, their point of origin, is almost overhead. On good nights it is possible to see up to 100 meteors an hour. This shower produces a good proportion of bright events. Wrap up warm! Ursids Peaking overnight on the 22nd/23rd is the Ursid meteor shower (fragments of comet Tuttle), which produces about 10 meteors an hour with occasional outbursts resulting in a greater number. Conditions this year are quite favourable. The radiant (point of origin) of the meteors is in Ursa Minor, The Little Bear, some 12° from the celestial North Pole. International Space Station (ISS) predicted time for passes visible this month: These are the forecast ISS passes this month, evenings only. Data taken from the Heavens Above website, please recheck nearer the chosen day to get updates. [ source: https://www.heavens-above.com/ ] WOLVERHAMPTON ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY LECTURES Given the current situation regarding the coronavirus in the UK, and following the current Government advice to avoid all unnecessary social interaction for the foreseeable future, we have put on hold our usual face to face meetings. But the good news is that we haven’t cancelled events but simply moved them online, so we can continue to bring you great talks in your own home! We continue to try and bring you some of the best speakers around and we have an exciting line up for the coming season. It has been decided that for the coming year Wolvas subscription will be only £10 per annum and you can sign up now our website www.wolvas.org.uk – don’t miss the bargain of the year! Lectures online will only be available to paid-up members of Wolverhampton Astronomical Society. Here is a taster for upcoming lectures (all starting at 7.30pm on YouTube followed by Q&A): 7 December John Pitchford – Dr David Morgan’s Project and RETRAM Dr Morgan and RETRAM are both working on the Recognition and Trajectories of Meteors using alternatives to Graves, Brams and Iper. This talk is an introduction to this topic and takes an historical approach to Radio Astronomy and the use of Passive Radar. You will meet the musical ‘Cats’ and the ‘Terminator’ on the way!. 11 January Steve Barrett – The Beginning of Everything 25 January Russell Parry – The Appley Bridge Meteorite 8 February Mark Gibbons – Black Holes 22 February Mike Frost – Isaac Newton and The Surrey Pumas An offbeat look at Newton's theory of gravity - featuring hollow Earths, counter-Earths Trojan asteroids, Kirkwood gaps, Lagrangian nodes, the three-body problem, and those mysterious beasts rumoured to haunt Surrey playing fields and Bodmin Moor. Already delivered on two continents! 8 March Paul Pope Lecture: Chris Lintott – The Crowd and the Cosmos Astronomer Chris Lintott, best known as co-presenter of the BBC’s long running Sky at Night programme, explains how you could help astronomers sort through galaxies, explore the surface of Mars, or even discover a planet. This is the story of the Zooniverse, which has enlisted more than two million people in search for cosmic truth. Watch out for updates As well as our webpage www.wolvas.org.uk we will be posting details of events on social media, so keep an eye on our Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/wolvasuk) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/wolvasuk) accounts for the latest updates and news.