Title: December Skywatch Highlights
Location: Hawaiian Islands
Date / Time: December 2009
Comments: Behold our Winter skies! It's wonderful to experience Orion & his faithful hunting dogs, as well as Taurus, Gemini, & the other great constellations of Winter, returning to our night skies. JUPITER, at magnitude minus -2.2, is the brightest object in our evening skies, except for the Moon. Look for the stunning gas giant in the southwest just after sunset, among the relatively dim background stars of Capricornus the Sea Goat. With a small telescope or good binoculars, you can view Jupiter's 4 bright Galilean moons in their ever-changing configurations. Galileo first saw them nearly 400 years ago with a 1.5-inch telescope of lower quality than any available today. After a prolonged absence from the scene, MARS is finally returning to prominence. The Red Planet is rapidly approaching its best appearance in 2 years. Mars rises before 11PM on Dec. 1st, & 2 hours earlier by month's end. As Mars brightens substantially during December, (from magnitude minus -0.1 to minus Ð 0.7), it will stand out prominently among the stars of Leo the Lion. SATURN rises at around 2AM in early December, & by midnight at month's end, & appears high in the south just before dawn. Saturn appears among the stars of western Virgo and, at magnitude 0.9, shines at about the same brightness as Spica, Virgo's brightest star. Observe the color contrast between golden Saturn & blue-white Spica. While Saturn's glorious rings have been edge-on to Earth in recent months, the tilt of the ring system is increasing rapidly, and the Ringed Planet is now a stunning view through a telescope. MERCURY shines brightly in the evening sky, beginning the second week in December, as it approaches "eastern elongation," its greatest distance from the Sun. Starting Dec. 9th, look for the tiny innermost planet, (glowing at magnitude minus Ð 0.6), to appear 5 degrees above the south-western horizon, 30 minutes after sunset. Mercury climbs higher in the evening sky each day until Dec. 18th when, at elongation, it is 20 degrees from our Sun, & appears 8 degrees above the SW horizon, 30 minutes after sunset. On that night, a crescent Moon stands 6 degrees to Mercury's upper left. VENUS remains lost in the glare of the Sun this month, and will pass behind the Sun (as seen from Earth) in January. December 21st marks the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, when the Sun reaches its maximum distance south of the celestial equator. Watch for the Geminid meteor showers to peak the night of Dec.13/14 (see notes below). For a December sky map, visit Bishop Museum Planetarium www.bishopmuseum.org/planetarium (bishopmuseum.org).

Maintained by Roz Reiner - Kauai, Hawaii

 

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