Welcome to Observing With Webb, where the armchair
astronomer figures out what they’re looking at, why it’s so cool, and what they
should check out next. Don’t forget to
check out my Podbean page, YouTube Channel, and Twitter feed.
This
year, December brings us good views of Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, maybe some Geminid
Meteors, a good Lunar occultation of Aldebaran, and hopefully good news for the
Pequea Valley Planetarium.
Regarding
the Planetarium grant competition…as of this recording, we still haven’t heard
results. If you recall, the 6 proposals
that get the most votes will each get $100,000.
We got rankings at both 2 weeks and 3 weeks into the month-long voting,
and we were in 3rd place out of 15 both times! That makes me fairly confident that you, the
astronomy community made this happen, but I do NOT have official word yet. It sounds like they are going to do the job
of notification a la Publisher’s Clearinghouse, so you’ll know when I know.
PLANETS...well,
the ones visible with your naked eye
Planets
you can see around Sunset – Venus (SW),
Mars (S), Mercury? (SW)
Planets
you can see throughout the night – None
Planets
you can see in the Morning – Jupiter
(E)
Mercury – VERY low – 10˚above the horizon at
sunset for about the first two weeks of December
Venus – Look SW after sunset, and Venus will be about 20˚
above the horizon, very bright, and will set by 8:00pm. If you have a
telescope, check out how it changes from a gibbous phase to a larger half
Venus.
Mars – Look SSW after sunset and bring a sky map of Capricornus. Mars will be the ruddy red object moving away
from the Capricornus triangle and into Aquarius. Visible until about 9:00pm, when it sets in
the SW.
Saturn – Not visible this month
Jupiter – Catch Jupiter in the eastern sky in the morning
after 3:30am in the beginning of the month, and 2am by the end of the month. Just look for the very bright object in that
direction in the morning. You should
notice it easily and watch it get higher and higher each morning.
EVENTS...
2nd–3rd – Close Encounter – Moon, Venus – Look to the SW between 5pm and 7pm and
you can catch a thin crescent Moon only 8˚ to the right of bright Venus on the
2nd, a brilliant pair! On the
3rd, the Moon moves to about 7˚ ABOVE Venus, again a brilliant pair.
4th–5th – Close Encounter – Moon, Mars – Look SW once the sky is starting to
get dark, and find a nice crescent Moon.
On the 4th, Mars will be about 6˚ to the left of the Moon. The following night, the Moon will have moved
to be about 7˚ up and to the left of Mars.
First
Quarter Moon – 7th
(Visible until midnight)
Lunar
Occultation – night of the 12th
– The Moon will pass in front of the bright red star Aldebaran. Times vary by
location, but D.C. will witness disappearance at 11:07pm and reappearance at
12:21am. See https://is.gd/occndec2016 for more info.
Full Moon – 13th (Visible all night)
13th,
14th – Geminid Meteor Shower – It’s
NOT a good year for the Geminids, given the Full Moon on that night, but you
should still see some of the best and brightest meteors. Keep a wide eye and
try to take in the whole sky, but don’t stare at the Moon.
Last
Quarter Moon – 20th
(Visible from midnight into the morning)
21st
– Winter Solstice - The longest night and shortest day of the year for
the Northern Hemisphere. More info here: http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/december-solstice.html
22nd – Close Encounter – Moon, Jupiter – Look SE after 2:00am and before
sunrise (7:24am). Look for a thin
crescent Moon rising up from the horizon, with Jupiter just 4˚ down and to the left.
New Moon – 29th (darkest skies)
CONSTELLATIONS... (see
sky map link at the bottom for a Star Map for this month – or ask Mr. Webb) Look straight up and you'll see...
After Sunset (sunset is
around 5:00pm) – Pegasus, Andromeda - Extra Challenge! Using your naked eye (dark-adapted and in a
dark area) or binoculars under normal conditions and a star chart, try finding
our neighboring Andromeda Galaxy. It’ll
be a faint, but bigger, fuzzy in the constellation Andromeda.
Between Sunset and Midnight – Perseus, Andromeda, Cassiopeia
Midnight – Auriga,
Taurus, Gemini
Early Morning – Ursa
Major’s legs, Leo Minor
GENERAL CONSTELLATION FINDING TIPS:
Fall Constellations: Andromeda,
Pegasus
If you can find the
Summer Triangle and Delphinus in the West, about 40˚ to the East (leftish –
pretty much straight above you) will be the Great Square of the fall
constellation Pegasus. Perhaps you’ll
even see the two curves of Andromeda off of one side, with the Andromeda Galaxy
as a small, faint fuzzy nearby (you’ll need dark skies to see it). A sky map will help you tremendously in
finding these.
Winter constellations: Orion is easy to
spot as he is rising in the East around 7:30pm. You can use Orion to find
many other winter constellations.
Using Orion:
Find Orion by looking for the three stars in a row that make up Orion’s belt in
the East around 7:30pm. If you draw a line from the left (bottom) star to
the right (top) star and keep going right about 20 degrees (about 2 fists at
arm’s length) until you reach another very bright star, you will have reached
the star Aldebaron in Taurus (the V). Follow that line a little more
(about another fist) and you’ll find the Pleiades.
Draw a line from the
right (top) star in Orion’s belt to the left (bottom) star, and keep going left
about 20 degrees (2 fists again), you’ll come to the brightest star in the sky
– Sirius – part of Canis Major.
Above these three
constellations are Gemini and Auriga. The brightest stars in each of
these constellations form a circle in the sky. Going clockwise -
Aldebaron (Taurus) – Rigel (Orion – bottom right foot) – Sirius (Canis Major) –
Procyon (Canis Minor) – Castor & Pollux (Gemini) – Capella (Auriga).
It makes for great stargazing in the winter sky.
