Sun 4
|
Full (Cold) Moon at 10:47am EST. |
| Sun 10 |
Last Quarter Moon at 2:51am EST |
| Wed 13 |
Mercury at inferior conjunction |
Wed 13
Thu 14 |
Geminid Meteor Shower at peak activity tonight (100+/hr possible) |
| Thu 14 |
Jupiter and a waning crescent Moon pair up in the morning sky. Look SE before sunrise. |
| Mon 18 |
New Moon at 1:30am EST |
| Thu 21 |
Winter Solstice at 1:28pm EST
Saturn in conjunction |
Thu 21
Fri 22 |
Ursid Meteors reach peak activity (~10/hr) |
| Tue 26 |
First Quarter Moon at 4:20am EST. |
| Sat 30 |
Aldebaran occulted by the Moon. Event runs from 6:27 to 7:22pm EST. |
Mercury is visible early in the month, low in the SW evening sky after sunset and then, after a December 13 inferior conjunction, reappears in the predawn SE sky toward month’s end. Favorable apparition.
Venus is too close to the rising sun to be well-seen.
Mars rises 3 to 4 hours before the sun and appears high in the SE in the early morning sky.
Jupiter gains altitude in the morning sky, rising 2½ hours before the sun on the 1st and over 4 hours earlier (when it shines near Mars) as the year ends.
Saturn is not visible this month. Conjunction occurs on the 21st.