December 2011, 12.01.11

As the year draws to a close, we can only grow more excited about all the great things we have yet to see this year. Bundle up, grab some coffee or cocoa, and get ready for the show!

This month, the full moon will grace us on the 10^th and we will have a new moon by the 24^th, just in time to do some Christmas Eve star gazing.

The march of sun spots continues. The end of November saw a goodly amount of flares and CME’s shot at us, and more can be expected this month. Remember to never try solar observation without the proper equipment.

The Geminids are coming! We always love a good meteor shower. From December 12^th-24^th, the earth will pass through the debris trail of comet 3200 Phaethon. This should be the best show of the year, with a multi-colored display that has produced fireballs in the past. The Geminids will appear to radiate from the star Castor, one of the twins, in the constellation Gemini as it rises higher and higher into the sky as the night progresses. With the darker skies we are expecting later this month and hopefully clear weather, we can expect up to 100 meteors per hour.

The coming of winter brings with it very bright, prominent constellations. A good one to try to pick out is Taurus the bull. There are many deep space objects in Taurus, the Pleiades open star cluster M45, and the Hades cluster NGC 1647. The famous M1 Crab nebula can be seen at the tip of the horn, a supernova remnant with a neutron star at its heart. Taurus’ alpha star Aldebaran, 65 light years away, used to be like our sun, but now it is running out of fuel and is classified as a K3 III sub-giant. Its days are numbered, for in the next million years or so the whole thing will go nova.

Venus and Jupiter are putting on a pretty good show this month. Jupiter is cruising high overhead through the constellation Pisces. Although it will only be visible for relatively short periods of time, many are dubbing Venus this year’s “Christmas star,” as it will be the brightest thing in the night sky besides the moon. You can see it about 15 degrees over the horizon towards the east-northeast just after sunset, especially around the 24^th, as the moon will be new and the skies will be extra-dark.

December 2010

As we shiver our way into the cold, clear months of winter, December brings some sights worth lugging some coffee along with you and losing a few hours of sleep to see.

The Geminids meteor shower will go streaking again! Expect to see a good show December 14th from about 12am to sunrise. While the Geminids can be seen from any point on the globe, in the northern hemisphere, the constellation Gemini should be directly overhead during the previously mentioned time frame; that should be a good place to begin searching. You can expect to see upwards of 100 meteors per hour!

Ever seen a full lunar eclipse? Now is your chance! Beginning just a little before midnight on December 20, the moon will go completely through earth's shadow throughout the night, coming out of it in the wee hours of the morning. And yes, the moon would have light from the the sun on the other side of earth shining on it, lighting it up in its usual grey. But, during an eclipse the light is coming in more at an angle, and this filters out all of the blue light that we normally see reflected through our atmosphere. The only colors that are left for us to see are the colors on the other end of the light spectrum (the reds, greens, and resulting browns). If earth had no atmosphere at all for light to be filtered through, the moon would look black and disappear completely during a total eclipse. So we are just (literally) seeing the shadier side of the moon! As the eclipse rings in the winter solstice, be sure to bundle up while you watch it-- unseasonably cold temperatures are being reported all around the world this autumn!

You can also expect to see Mercury and mars throughout the month in the west, as well as Jupiter and Uranus cruising high overhead near the constellation Aquarius. The more memorable constellations Orion and Taurus will be well above the horizon after sunset.

Pleiades (the seven sisters) is an open star cluster that is riding on the back of Taurus, and is best observed with binoculars. Pegasus and Andromeda are almost straight up. Look for the tiny fuzzy patch in Andromeda; this is M31, the Andromeda galaxy, the furthest the human eye can see. How far away is it, you ask? Oh, just 2.2. million light years away.

Good luck, and happy hunting!

For more information or for tips on star gazing, call 229-432-6955.

*UPDATE*

NASA had a super-awesome sky-watching promotion to tie in with the lunar eclipse: these badges for those who committed to report in when they saw the eclipse. You better believe we were all over that!

Image credit: NASA.