Astroblog: Thursday December 4 to Thursday December 11

Wednesday, December 03, 2025

Thursday December 4 to Thursday December 11

The Full Moon is Friday December 5. This is a perigee ("super") Full Moon. Saturn is high in the north-western sky. Jupiter is visible in the morning sky near the bright star Pollux. Jupiter is rising before midnight and is close to the waning moon on the 7th. Jupiter is still best in the morning.

The Full Moon is Friday December 5. This is a perigee ("super") Full Moon. The Moon is at Perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on the 4th.

Northern twilight sky on the morning of Monday, December 8 as seen from Adelaide at 04:51 ACDST (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

Jupiter is passing through Gemini and is near the bright star Pollux. Jupiter forms a slightly battered line with the bright stars Castor, Pollux and Procyon. The waning Moon joins the lineup below Jupiter.

The inset is the telescopic view Jupiter at this time.

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

Eastern sky on the evening of Friday December 5 as seen from Adelaide at 22:03 ACDST as the Full Moon is rising. Exact full Moon is 9:44 ACDST (daytime), exact Perigee is on the 4th 21:37 ACDST -12h from full.

A full Moon at perigee has been called a "Super Moon", this is not an astronomical term (the astronomical term is perigee syzygy, but that doesn't trip off the tongue so nicely), but an astrological one first coined in 1979 (see here).

The differences are in Full Moon size are subtle.

It requires a keen eye and good memory to distinguish a perigee "super" Moon from more ordinary moons, the best contrast is with the apogee "mini" moon of April 13.

Still, it is a good excuse to get people out and looking at the Moon, which will be beautiful . Make sure you are not fooled by the Moon Illusion.

The inset shows the telescopic view at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time.

North-western sky on Saturday, December 6 as seen from Adelaide at 22:04 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Saturn is west of due north.

The inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.

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

Eastern sky on Sunday, December 7 as seen from Adelaide at 23:52 ACDST. Jupiter is rising and is near the waning Moon.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time.

Whole sky on Saturday, December 6 as seen from Adelaide at 22:04 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Saturn is in the northwest.

Bright Canopus and Sirius are rising, along with Orion. The galactic core is setting in the western sky.

The Southern Cross is low in the Southern sky. The moon is waxing and the fainter clusters and nebula are becoming harder to see.

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

Mercury is lost in the twilight

Venus is lost in the twilight glow.

Mars is lost in the twilight.

Jupiter climbs in the morning twilight and is now rising just before midnight. Jupiter forms a slightly battered line with the bright stars Castor, Pollux and Procyon. The Moon joins Jupiter on the 7th-8th

Saturn is the brightest object in the north-western skies.

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