Best time to see:<\/strong> 31 December, 30 minutes after sunset <\/p>\n\n
Altitude:<\/strong> 5\u02da (low)<\/p>\n\n
Location:<\/strong> Sagittarius <\/p>\n\n
Direction:<\/strong> Southwest <\/p>\n\n
Features:<\/strong> Phase, surface shadings with larger instruments <\/p>\n\n
Recommended equipment:<\/strong> 75mm, or larger<\/p>\n\nMercury can be seen slowly approaching Venus in the evening twilight <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
Although it\u2019s poorly placed at the start of December, the planet Mercury\u2019s position improves towards the end of the month, aided by that brilliant beacon of the twilight sky, Venus. On 19 December, Mercury sets around 35 minutes after the Sun and despite shining at mag. \u20130.7 on this date, will be a tricky object to see. Fortunately, this brightness is maintained for the rest of the month, and coupled with an increasing apparent separation from the Sun, it will become an easier target as we head towards the end of December.<\/p>\n\n
Passing through the eastern part of the constellation of Sagittarius, the Archer, Mercury can be seen slowly approaching Venus in the evening twilight. On the 29th, both planets appear separated by 4.3\u02da, Mercury being south of mag. \u20134.3 Venus on this date. Mercury sets about 1 hour and 15 minutes after the Sun on the 29th, so with a good flat southwest horizon, there\u2019s every chance of spotting the mag. \u20130.7 planet from approximately 30 minutes after sunset. By the 31st, although located 6.3\u02da southeast of Venus, the orientation of both planets is such that they more-or-less level out and appear to set together on this date. Both planets set 1 hour and 20 minutes after the Sun on 31 December.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
If you\u2019re able to get a telescope trained on Mercury, it will show as a tiny, almost fully lit disc mid-month, having a 97%- lit phase on 16 December. This drops to 80%-lit by 31 December. Over the same period the planet\u2019s apparent size increases from 4.9 to 5.8 arcseconds, still rather small by any measure.<\/p>\n\n
Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation next month, on 7 January. A thin, 5%-lit waxing crescent Moon lies near to it a few days earlier on 4 January.<\/p>\n\n
Venus<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
Best time to see:<\/strong> 1 December, from 30 minutes after sunset Altitude:<\/strong> 10\u02da Location:<\/strong> Sagittarius Direction: <\/strong>South-southwest An evening planet, visible low above the south-southwest to southwest horizon at December\u2019s start. It sets 2 hours and 35 minutes after the Sun on the 1st, and 1 hour and 20 minutes after by the month\u2019s end. An 8%-lit waxing crescent Moon sits nearby on the 6th, and as a 16%-lit waxing crescent on the 7th. Venus appears 4.3\u02da north-northeast of mag. \u20130.7 Mercury on the 29th, with both staying close for the rest of the month. At mag. \u20134.7, Venus is at its brightest at December\u2019s start.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Mars<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
Best time to see:<\/strong> 31 December, 1 hour before sunrise Altitude:<\/strong> 5\u02da (low) Location:<\/strong> Ophiuchus Direction:<\/strong> Southeast Mars makes a return to the morning sky. It\u2019s small through a scope\u2019s eyepiece, 4.0 arcseconds across by the month\u2019s end. A 1%-lit waning crescent Moon lies 4.5\u02da east-southeast of mag. +1.6 Mars on the morning of the 3rd. On the 26th, Mars appears 4.6\u02da north of mag. +1.0 Antares (Alpha (\u03b1) Scorpii). On the 31st Mars is revisited by the waning crescent Moon, this time 8%-lit. Mars rises two hours before the Sun on the 31st.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Jupiter<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
Best time to see:<\/strong> 1 December, 17:20 UT Altitude:<\/strong> 23\u02da Location:<\/strong> Capricornus Direction:<\/strong> South Mag. \u20132.3 Jupiter reaches its highest position in the sky, 23\u02da up, at December\u2019s start, under deep twilight conditions. By the month\u2019s end, the Sun is still up as Jupiter reaches this position, despite the planet setting 4.5 hours after the Sun. <\/span>A crescent Moon appears nearby on the evenings of the 8th (25%-lit waxing crescent) and 9th (35%-lit waxing crescent).<\/p>\n\n
Saturn<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
Best time to see:<\/strong> 1 December from 17:00 UT Altitude:<\/strong> 18\u02da Location:<\/strong> Capricornus Direction: <\/strong>Just west of south At the start of December, mag. +0.7 Saturn no longer appears above the southern horizon in darkness, only visible west of south as the evening twilight deepens. At the month\u2019s start, Saturn lies in the middle of a line formed by Jupiter to the east and Venus to the west.<\/p>\n\n
Uranus<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
Best time to see:<\/strong> 1 December, 22:00 UT Altitude:<\/strong> 52\u02da Location:<\/strong> Aries Direction:<\/strong> South Evening planet Uranus was at opposition last month and remains well placed during December, reaching a highest altitude of 52\u02da in darkness all month. The mag. +5.7 planet sits 25 arcminutes southsoutheast of mag. +6.0 29 Arietis on 29 December.<\/p>\n\n
Neptune<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
Best time to see:<\/strong> 1 December, 19:00 UT Altitude:<\/strong> 32\u02da Location:<\/strong> Aquarius Direction:<\/strong> South Mag. +7.9 Neptune\u2019s position declines this month, the evening planet only reaching a highest altitude of 32\u02da in total darkness until the 15th.<\/p>\n\n
<\/div>
\n
More ONLINE <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Print out observing forms for recording planetary events<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n
The planets in December<\/h4>\n\n
The phase and relative sizes of the planets this month. Each planet is shown with south at the top, to show its orientation through a telescope<\/p>\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n
Jupiter’s moons: December<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
Using a small scope you can spot Jupiter\u2019s biggest moons. Their positions change dramatically during the month, as shown on the diagram. The line by each date represents 01:00 BST (00:00 UT).<\/p>\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n
PHOTO: PETE LAWRENCE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our celestial neighbourhood in December<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":26150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"48","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"48","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_48-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_48-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"December-2021","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"December-2021","purple_external_id":"December-2021-48-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"December-2021-48-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000086547||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086547||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.199","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.199","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.199","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.199","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2021\/11\/06626dfc-af47-4d97-bccc-e9d4e0f1a2d6.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2021\/11\/06626dfc-af47-4d97-bccc-e9d4e0f1a2d6.jpg",1402,1152,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2021\/11\/06626dfc-af47-4d97-bccc-e9d4e0f1a2d6-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2021\/11\/06626dfc-af47-4d97-bccc-e9d4e0f1a2d6-300x247.jpg",300,247,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2021\/11\/06626dfc-af47-4d97-bccc-e9d4e0f1a2d6-768x631.jpg",768,631,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2021\/11\/06626dfc-af47-4d97-bccc-e9d4e0f1a2d6-1024x841.jpg",800,657,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2021\/11\/06626dfc-af47-4d97-bccc-e9d4e0f1a2d6.jpg",1402,1152,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2021\/11\/06626dfc-af47-4d97-bccc-e9d4e0f1a2d6.jpg",1402,1152,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Our celestial neighbourhood in December","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26154"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26154"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26767,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26154\/revisions\/26767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2021\/11\/06626dfc-af47-4d97-bccc-e9d4e0f1a2d6.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2021\/11\/acfc2aa0-12a3-4bbc-98cf-713f8cc58851.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2021\/11\/98346167-01f9-4f01-bcef-81193202ebdc.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n