Friday evening December 14th the first quarter Moon, Mars, and Neptune will all be within the field of view of binoculars.
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Our Moon reaches apogee, (greatest distance from Earth), on Wednesday December 12th. At that time the Moon will more or less be at a distance of 31.76 Earth diameters 251,765 miles (405,177 km) from the Earth.
Does our Moon actually go around the Earth? From our perspective on the Earth the Moon appears to circle around the Earth. However, in reality, the Moon orbits the Sun together with the Earth*
On the day of the apogee the 6-day old waxing crescent Moon, an hour after sunset local time (4:55 pm CST), will be over the southwestern horizon and joined by several planets. Over the southern horizon is the planet Mars. Neptune and Uranus are also shown however at 8th Neptune requires optical assistance or a camera to become visible, while Uranus at around 6th magnitude could be visible with binoculars or telescope.
*Click here to read my 2006 Scope on the Sky column “The Real Shape of the Moon’s Orbit”. (PDF)
Read this very informative article about the Earth-Moon system and their orbital motions, written by Joe Hanson. “Do We Orbit the Moon?”
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to go to bobs-spaces.
Monday December 10th the 3.5-day old waxing crescent Moon will be crossing the plane of the ecliptic moving south. This is known as the descending node, one of two intersections the Moon’s orbital path (dark green line) has with the ecliptic.
On the day of the node crossing the 3.5-day old waxing crescent Moon will be over the southwest horizon about an hour after the Sun sets.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
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Saturday evening December 8th the 1.6-day young waxing crescent Moon will be in conjunction with the outer ringed planet Saturn. The two will be within about 3o from each other. Joining the Moon and Saturn is the Dwarf Planet Pluto, and further to the east are the planets Uranus, Neptune, and Mars.
Within the field of view of 7×50 binoculars, in addition to the Moon and Saturn, are several Messier Objects, M-22, M-25, and M-26. These may be a challenge to see given that they are low over the western horizon and by the time the sky is darker they will have set or are just about to set.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
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Wednesday morning December 5th the very thin 28-day old waning crescent Moon will be within 4-5o from the innermost planet Mercury. Venus shines very brightly above or west from the Moon. About an hour after the Moon and Mercury have risen the outer planet Jupiter will rise above the eastern horizon.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
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Monday morning December 3rd the 28-day old thin waning crescent Moon will be within 5o from the blue white star Spica in Virgo the Harvest Maiden, and about 2o from the inner planet Venus.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
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Thursday morning November 29th the 22-day old waning gibbous Moon will be 1-2o from the heart of Leo the Lion, the star Regulus. By sunrise the Moon and Regulus will be over the southern horizon. At about that time Venus, shining very brightly, is still close to Spica as the two rise a couple of hours before the Sun rises.
This is also the time of the year when the winter circle of constellations (Taurus, Auriga, Gemini Twins, Canis Minor, Canis Major, and Orion) start showing up over the horizon during the late evening hours.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
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