Dec 2021 + Jan 2022

Why get out there in the cold of December and January? It’s a time of transitions and wonder. We’ve got two meteor showers, plenty of lunar encounters, potentially a comet, planets visible but changing, and very long nights. Welcome to Observing With Webb, where a high school astronomy teacher tells you what you’re looking at, why it’s so cool, and what you should check out later this month…at night. Naked-eye PLANETS... Sunset – Venus, Saturn, Jupiter (and a week of weak Mercury in January) Venus (SW) – For the LAST month, Venus stays about 10˚ above the horizon at sunset, setting around 7:30pm, almost all December, but dives toward the horizon around Christmas time. At this point it will be too close to the Sun to see until it pops up in the SE in the mornings of mid-January. Saturn, Jupiter (SW) – Throughout December, Saturn and Jupiter will appear in the Southwest right as it gets dark, but each night they will get lower in the sky and set earlier and earlier. Jupiter will be the bright point of light on the left, with Saturn about 15˚ to the right. You can anticipate Saturn getting lost in dusk by the first week of January, Jupiter by the end. Throughout the night – None Morning – Mars?, then Venus in January Mars (SE) – Mars starts December VERY low on the morning SE horizon. It’ll be interesting to see what day we will finally be able to see it clearly in the dawn twilight. In fact, it doesn’t even progress much higher throughout January, staying about 10-15˚ above the horizon. Mars will be a challenge, but should get easier in the new year.Venus (SE) – Keep an eye out after 6:30am midway through January, looking SE. The super-bright object low on the horizon will be Venus. It will keep getting a little higher and rising earlier each day. This time of Venus being a “morning star” will last until September. EVENTS... December Morning Crescents (look East in the AM) New Moon – 4th (darkest skies) Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset) First Quarter Moon – 10th (Visible until midnight) Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset) Full Moon – 18th (Visible all night) Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night) Last Quarter Moon – 26th (Visible from midnight into the morning) Morning Crescents (look East in the AM) January New Moon – 2nd (darkest skies) Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset) First Quarter Moon – 9th (Visible until midnight) Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset) Full Moon – 17th (Visible all night) Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night) Last Quarter Moon – 25th (Visible from midnight into the morning) Morning Crescents (look East in the AM) December – Comet Leonard – There is much to say about an comet; it’s track, speed, brightness. Many variables interfere with being able to say what you’re going to see, if you even see it at all. At this time, keep an eye out and ears open on social media regarding this comet. It passes closest to us on the 12th, and might just become naked-eye visible at some point this month, but there’s more to consider. When will the Moon be up? How close to the horizon will it be? Will it get lost in dusk? December 6th – 10th – Close Encounter – Moon, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter – What a great 5 days of lunar encounters! We know the planetary setup from the past couple months. Venus is low in the SW, but SUPER bright and easy to find. Hold your fist out in front of you with your pinky and pointer fingers extended, and move one width (15˚) up and to the left and you’ll find Saturn. Go another 15˚ and you’ll see much brighter Jupiter. But starting on the 6th, a very thin crescent Moon joins this party. On the 6th, the Moon is just 4˚ below Venus. Each night the Moon will move to the left 13˚, and get a bit thicker. Hence, on the 7th, it will be 6˚ below Saturn. On the 8th 8˚ below and to the right of Jupiter. On the 9th, about the same distance away from Jupiter, but to the left. Finally, on the 10th, the Moon starts migrating away from our bright planets, being about 15˚ away from Jupiter, making a nice evenly spaced line up of celestial objects. December 13th – 14th – Geminid Meteor Shower – This is a decent year for the strongest annual meteor shower known as the Geminids, especially if you don’t mind getting up early. The waxing gibbous Moon will make evening observing less fruitful, given its light pollution, but it will set around 3am, which is also when the peak will occur. So get out there in the morning and take advantage of the possible 150 meteors per hour! But be well prepared… When? The peak is the morning of December 14th, 2am local time. Commit yourself to staying out at least 20 minutes.Where do I go? Dark area, away from lights, comfortable chair, pool float, hammock.Where do I look? The whole sky, but note Gemini is where the radiant is - where ...