10/12/2023
โจAstronomical Events for the month of December 2023โจ
December 5 โ Moon at Last Quarter
The Moon will be about half illuminated as it reaches its Last Quarter phase. The Moon will rise before midnight and set around past noon of December 5. It will start to fade away from the view as the Sun rises at around 06:50 PhST.
December 10 โ Conjunction of the Moon and Venus
The Moon and Venus will share the same right ascension and will appear close to each other. The exact moment of conjunction occurs at 00:54 PhST when both objects are still below the horizon and therefore will not be visible. The pair will be in the Virgo constellation and will still be visibly close after they rise on the eastern horizon at around 03:22 PhST until before sunrise or at around 04:16 PhST the following day.
December 13 โ New Moon
The Moon enters the New Moon phase and will be near the Sun. Around New Moon, the Moon will not be visible. The exact moment of New Moon is at 07:32 PhST.
December 14 โ Geminid Meteor Shower
The Geminid Meteor Shower will be active from December 4 to 17 with its peak activity on December 15 at around 03:00 PhST. Its meteors will originate from its radiant, constellation Gemini. It will not be visible before 19:13 PhST each night. It is expected to see meteors after this time, with its peak at around 02:00 PhST when its radiant reaches its highest point in the sky. Around this time and under ideal viewing conditions, the meteor shower is expected to produce up to 120 meteors per hour. The Moon will reach its First Quarter Phase on December 20, so its brightness will produce minimal interference with the meteors' visibility. The meteors produced from this event originate from the fragments of its parent body asteroid 3200 Phaeton.
December 18 โ Conjunction of the Moon and Saturn
The Moon and Saturn will share the same right ascension and will appear close to each other. The exact moment of conjunction occurs at 06:01 PhST when the two objects are still below the horizon. The pair will be visible in the Aquarius constellation after they rise above the eastern horizon at around 10:55 PhST.
December 20 โ Moon at First Quarter
The Moon will be about half illuminated as it reaches its First Quarter phase. It will rise around noontime and will set around midnight. It will reach its highest point in the sky at sunset.
December 22 โ December Solstice
The December solstice, also known as the Winter Solstice, is when the Sun is at its most southerly point in the sky producing the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Conversely, in the southern hemisphere, the sun is above the horizon for longer than any other day of the year. At the solstice, the Sun appears overhead at noon when observed from locations on the tropic of Capricorn, at a latitude 23.5ยฐS.
December 22 - Conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter
The Moon and Jupiter will share the same right ascension and will appear close to each other. The exact moment of conjunction occurs at 22:24 PhST when both objects are still below the horizon. The pair will be visible in the Aries constellation after they rise above the eastern horizon at around 13:56 PhST.
December 23 โ Ursid Meteor Shower
The Ursid Meteor Shower will be active from December 17 to 26 with its peak activity on December 23 at around 12:00 PhST. Its meteors will originate from its radiant, constellation Ursa Minor. The radiant point is circumpolar, which means it is always above the horizon and the shower will be active throughout the night, with its peak shortly before dawn. Around this time and under ideal viewing conditions, the meteor shower is expected to produce up to 10 meteors per hour. The Moon, in Aries, will be only 3 days away from full phase at the shower's peak, presenting significant interference throughout the night. The meteors produced from this event originate from the fragments of its parent body comet 8P/Tuttle.
December 24 โ Close approach of the Moon and Pleiades
The Moon and Messier Object 45 (also known as Pleiades) will appear close to each other on the night of December 24. Both objects will rise around 15:02 PhST and sets around 4:01 PhST of the following day. Both objects are visible through the naked eye and may fit on a single field of view of a pair of binoculars
December 27 โ Full Moon
The Moon will be fully illuminated as it reaches its Full Moon phase. It will rise at sunset and will set at sunrise.
For more information, visit https://in-the-sky.org/newscalyear.php?year=2023
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Pub by Arianne Reyes
Astrophoto Credit: Kerby Tan
