Astroblog: Thursday December 14 to Thursday December 21

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Thursday December 14 to Thursday December 21

The First Quarter Moon is Wednesday, December 20. Saturn is highest in the northern evening sky around 6:00 p.m. local time and is close to the waxing Moon on the 17th. Jupiter is rising before astronomical twilight and is now well visible in the evening sky. Venus is visible in the morning twilight. The Geminid meteor shower peaks on the early morning 15th.

The First Quarter Moon is Wednesday, December 20. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth. on the 17th.

Evening sky on Sunday, December 17 as seen from Adelaide at 22:13 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset), Saturn is above the northwestern horizon near the waxing Moon. The inset is the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

Evening sky on Saturday, December 16 as seen from Adelaide at 22:12 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset). Jupiter is past opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, but is still bright. The inset is the telescopic view of Jupiter at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

Morning sky on Saturday, December 16 as seen from Adelaide at 04:50 ACDST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Venus is beginning to lower in the morning twilight and is below Spica. The inset is the telescopic view of Venus at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Morning sky on Friday, December 15 as seen from Adelaide at 03:30 ACDST, (when the Geminid radiant is highest, click to embiggen). Visible in the early morning until dawn, this year the peak is on the 14th, with no moon interference. The Geminids are often bright and intensely coloured. Due to their medium-slow velocity, persistent trains are not usually seen. Between a meteor ever 1-2 minutes should be seen under dark skies in northern Australia. A more comprehensive guide with rates for several cities is my Geminid page.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (when the Geminid radiant is highest, click to embiggen).

Whole sky on Saturday, December 16 as seen from Adelaide at 22:12 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Saturn is setting in the north-west, and Jupiter is rising in the north-east.

Scorpius is almost set and Sagittarius is still visible below the zenith heading towards the western horizon. Orion is rising in the east.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury is lost in the twilight.

Venus is high in the morning twilight, it will now sink towards the horizon but will remain easily visible for all of November.

Mars is lost in the twilight.

Jupiter rises before astronomical twilight and is now well visible in the late evening sky.

Saturn is past opposition but is still bright and a worthwhile telescopic object. Saturn is close to the waxing Moon on the 17th.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky