The Moon. Last Quarter will be on the 1st, rising at midnight and up all night. New Moon will be on the 9th, the actual time being 5.42pm. For a couple of days either side it will show a thin crescent, but only visible during the day. First Quarter will be on the 17th, rising at midday and setting at 7am next morning. Full Moon will be on the 24th, when it'll rise at 3.50pm and set at 9.20am next morning. In general the first half of the month is for Deep Sky folk and the rest for Lunarphiles.
We continue gaining observing time during the month till the 22nd, when the night is 16.5 hours long. No, I can't last that long at the camera without sustenance either.
Planets. In the evenings, Neptune is still available for the first half of December, but fades out of contention from then for some months, it's still a nice tiny blue disc. Uranus, sat 21° directly below the western two stars of the Square of Pegasus, sets by midnight on the 1st, 11pm midmonth, and by 10pm at the end, so make the most of it while you can.
Mercury isn't available this month at all, and Jupiter has gone, it's almost exactly behind the Sun, but the one to watch this month, as the BBC keeps saying, is Mars. Bright and high, and at last, we're getting some detail on the disc, at least John Cox and Dave A are. Starting the month at -1.3 mag and ending at -1.5, it's the brightest in the night sky after Venus. Its size increases too, from 15 to a maximum of 16 arc" this year. After this month it'll shrink gradually as Earth pulls away from it in their tours round the Sun. Bright orange in the constellation of Gemini.
Saturn rises, under the belly of Leo the Lion, in the east, about 11.30pm on the 1st, and by Christmas Day it'll do so by 9.30pm. It'll follow Mars's line high into the sky as the month progresses and should be a better sight as a result, though the rings are narrower. Not as bright as Mars at 0.6 mag but a beautiful sight nonetheless, a bit larger at 19 arc" too. Venus rises at about 5am all month, letting the stars of Virgo pass her by, actually getting later each day as she races ahead of Earth round the Sun, falling 34° behind bright Spica into Libra, during the month, after starting adjacent to it.
On the 1st, the Moon will rise within 5° of Saturn and follow it across the sky. On the 22nd, it'll be in among the Pleiades, and at 3.50am on the 24th, it almost runs Mars down. On the 29th it gets close to Saturn again.
Comets. Two of some note, 17/P Holmes of course, much faded now but still within a stone's throw of Mirfak the brightest star in Perseus throughout December, and worth a check with binoculars or the Meade. 8/P Tuttle will be from 10 to 7 mag as the month progresses and as it moves south from the pole region through Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Triangulum, where M33 sits. So, a binocular object, but you never know with comets.
Meteors. The Geminids, peaking on the 13th is the only shower of note and should be worth staying up late for. Wide field pictures could catch some as they're usually slow and long. The Moon shouldn't interfere either.
We continue gaining observing time during the month till the 22nd, when the night is 16.5 hours long. No, I can't last that long at the camera without sustenance either.
Planets. In the evenings, Neptune is still available for the first half of December, but fades out of contention from then for some months, it's still a nice tiny blue disc. Uranus, sat 21° directly below the western two stars of the Square of Pegasus, sets by midnight on the 1st, 11pm midmonth, and by 10pm at the end, so make the most of it while you can.
Mercury isn't available this month at all, and Jupiter has gone, it's almost exactly behind the Sun, but the one to watch this month, as the BBC keeps saying, is Mars. Bright and high, and at last, we're getting some detail on the disc, at least John Cox and Dave A are. Starting the month at -1.3 mag and ending at -1.5, it's the brightest in the night sky after Venus. Its size increases too, from 15 to a maximum of 16 arc" this year. After this month it'll shrink gradually as Earth pulls away from it in their tours round the Sun. Bright orange in the constellation of Gemini.
Saturn rises, under the belly of Leo the Lion, in the east, about 11.30pm on the 1st, and by Christmas Day it'll do so by 9.30pm. It'll follow Mars's line high into the sky as the month progresses and should be a better sight as a result, though the rings are narrower. Not as bright as Mars at 0.6 mag but a beautiful sight nonetheless, a bit larger at 19 arc" too. Venus rises at about 5am all month, letting the stars of Virgo pass her by, actually getting later each day as she races ahead of Earth round the Sun, falling 34° behind bright Spica into Libra, during the month, after starting adjacent to it.
On the 1st, the Moon will rise within 5° of Saturn and follow it across the sky. On the 22nd, it'll be in among the Pleiades, and at 3.50am on the 24th, it almost runs Mars down. On the 29th it gets close to Saturn again.
Comets. Two of some note, 17/P Holmes of course, much faded now but still within a stone's throw of Mirfak the brightest star in Perseus throughout December, and worth a check with binoculars or the Meade. 8/P Tuttle will be from 10 to 7 mag as the month progresses and as it moves south from the pole region through Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Triangulum, where M33 sits. So, a binocular object, but you never know with comets.
Meteors. The Geminids, peaking on the 13th is the only shower of note and should be worth staying up late for. Wide field pictures could catch some as they're usually slow and long. The Moon shouldn't interfere either.