{"id":39560,"date":"2022-12-11T08:05:13","date_gmt":"2022-12-11T08:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=114470"},"modified":"2022-12-11T08:39:52","modified_gmt":"2022-12-11T08:39:52","slug":"star-diary-12-to-18-december-2022","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/star-diary-12-to-18-december-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Diary: 12 to 18 December, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Ezzy Pearson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 11 December 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

What\u2019s in the night sky of the week of 12 to 18 December 2022 in our weekly stargazing guide.<\/p>\n\n

Chris Bramley <\/strong>Hello and welcome to Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. You can subscribe to the print edition of the magazine by visiting www.skyatnightmagazine.com<\/a> or to digital edition by visiting on iTunes or Google Play.<\/p>\n

Ezzy Pearson <\/strong>Greetings, listeners, and welcome to Star Diary, a weekly guide to the best things to see in the Northern Hemisphere\u2019s night sky. As we are based here in the UK, all times are GMT. In this episode will be covering the coming week from 12 to 18 December. I\u2019m Ezzy Pearson, the magazine\u2019s features editor, and I\u2019m joined on the podcast today by reviews editor Paul Money. Hello Paul.<\/p>\n

Paul Money <\/strong>Hello there Ezzy! Well we had an exciting week last week, but it\u2019s not too bad this week as well. We\u2019ve got some interesting things to look for.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Oh, excellent. So what do we have coming up in this week\u2019s night sky?<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Well, a lot of them do occur in the late night, so we\u2019re talking about late evening into the early morning. But that\u2019s one of those things with astronomy and especially as we\u2019re following the Moon, we often follow the Moon when it\u2019s near various objects. Now on 12th it actually lies between or so, like on the boundaries of Cancer and Leo. But on 13th, on the late evening, it actually lies next to the Sickle asterism of Leo<\/a>. I always think I would like to point out the asterisms because like The Great Bear, we don\u2019t\u2026 people look at the Great Bear and what they see is the Plough<\/a>. The Plough is the asterism part. The Great Bear is the rest of the faint stars that make up the constellation, the Great Bear. But most people see the Plough and say, that\u2019s the great bear. The sword too, right? But it\u2019s an asterism. It\u2019s the brightest seven stars. The Sickle\u2019s the same. It\u2019s the it\u2019s a particular shape. It looks like a sickle or a scythe. And so you\u2019ve got Regulus at the bottom of the umbrella is a sort of bright first magnitude star.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>So the difference for those who don\u2019t know an Asterism is a popular known star pattern, so things like the Plough, like the Sickle. I think also there\u2019s this ones\u2026 sort of various triangles and squares and things like that. Is it the Square of Pegasus<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Square of Pegasus, yes. The Circlet of Pisces. Yeah.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Yes. Which tend to be small subsections of larger constellations and constellations sort of mark out areas of the sky as well.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>So there we are sort of thing. So as I say, the Sickle is a quite prominent one. And, you know, there is quite a few stars in it that make it up, but the Moon will, over the course of that night, pass above Regulus<\/a> but it\u2019s creeping ever closer in fact, to Eta Leonis. but before we go there, sort of thing, just a reminder to have a look at Regulus, because Regulus is a wide double star.<\/a> Unequal components, the bright main star dominates, but there is a fainter component next to it. So well worth having a look at in binoculars. You can see that binoculars, so you don\u2019t need a big telescope for that. And then another one to look for is actually in the Sickle as well sort of thing. Further up the handle and slightly around the crookedness of the Sickle itself. We\u2019ve got Algieba, Gamma Leonis. Very tight double, but two golden yellow stars is absolutely gorgeous in a telescope. One is just slightly fainter than the other. So they\u2019re two highlights. While you\u2019ve got the Moon here guiding you. In actual fact, the Moon you could say he\u2019s forming a triangle with Regulus and Algieba. It just so happens that Eta lies between them as well, sort of thing for when its own little triangle. And watch during the course of the rest of the night because into the early hours of 14th\u00a0 the Moon glides past Eta. And again I was love it when they\u2019re so close the Moon is so close to a bright star and it really brings it home sort of thing. If you watch it gradually drifting past the stars, a bit like the occultations last week, you see the real motion of the Solar System. You see the real motion of the Moon itself. So if you start off the late evening and note the position of the Moon, wait until about, okay, yeah, I know\u2026 well we\u2019re astronomers, we will stay up. 5 a.m.. Yes, I know. It\u2019s a real time. You know, and if there\u2019s lots of things to look at in the night sky, not just the patches we spot on these recordings, but the Moon passes just under Eta Leonis itself at about 5AM.\u00a0 And if you watch over the course of say, about 10, 15 minutes, you can see the motion of the moon as it passes the star the star acts as a reference point, Ezzy. It appears to be the fixed point in the sky, whereas the Moon is the motion, it\u2019s the moving one. Now that morning is also, it could say, a best time to catch a falling star and put it in your pocket. But not literally, of course. It is the peak of the annual Geminids meteor shower<\/a>, but there\u2019s a bit of a fly in the ointment and we\u2019ve just mentioned it. Yes, the Moon\u2019s up. So the nearby Moon will spoil the actual view. It\u2019s one of those things that the peak actually occurs in the afternoon of 14th. So you really want to be looking around about late night 13th into the 14th. The radiant is close to the star Castor, obviously one of the twins in Gemini. But the point is, just bear in mind that the Moon will wash out the fainter meets, and you\u2019ll only act with the odd one or two that are particularly bright. But it\u2019s still worth having a go. And again, very similar thing to what we said last week about the Pleiades. It\u2019s worth seeing what you can see, because one of the things is we can sometimes put people off saying \u201cOh, the Moon light will wash it out\u201d and so people don\u2019t bother. But it\u2019s worth having to check just to see what you can see of the Geminids under these conditions because it gives you a guide then and makes you excited for when you know there\u2019s no Moon next time. Because if you can see, say, four of five with the Moon up, then it gives you a greater chance of seeing a lot more when there\u2019s no Moon the next time the meteor shower comes around.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>I will say this year has been\u2026 I\u2019m going to be honest, pretty pants when it comes to meteor showers. All of the major ones have been washed out for the Moon. But I have been taking a look forward to next year. And 2023\u2026 If you\u2019re into your meteor showers\u2026 you\u2019re going to want to be paying attention in 2023, I\u2019ll put it that way. So yeah, maybe get some practise in now if you can.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Exactly, exactly. Because I mean next year, I mean I\u2019ve been doing the same and oh yes. You know, we have years where the meteor showers are really cold because of the Moon. Then we have the years that you look forward to when you got a whole range of meteor shower and you\u2019ve got a chance to see them against dark skies. So yes, yes. Get excited for that and get practising now watching out for them. Okay. Now, the next period, December 16 to 18, I\u2019m afraid. Yes. We\u2019re still with the Moon because we with the Moon. It\u2019s got to be in the early morning sky. We\u2019re looking about 6AM. Now. The Moon actually does take quite a bit of time, several days, in fact, to cross one of the largest constellations in the night sky. It\u2019s not the largest, but Virgo is huge and it actually takes around about four days. But one of our days falls into the next week, so we won\u2019t\u2026 Discount that won\u2019t we, we\u2019ll just deal with the three, but it\u2019s still amazing that the Moon\u2019s going to pass through Virgo over the next three days sort of thing. That\u2019s how big the constellation is. And as it does so, again, it\u2019s fairly close to some reasonable stars, but the phase is thinning. It\u2019s getting less, it\u2019s waning towards the new Moon. So the phase is getting less and less. We\u2019re seeing a crescent Moon build up. So as it moves through Virgo on 16, the Moon rises to the right of New Virginis. That\u2019s on the 16. So the thick crescent there. Then the next morning is actually quite close to Eta Virginis. I think that\u2019s called Zaniah, if I remember right. And but we usually say Eta Virginis as such but he\u2019s also to the upper right of the close double star Gamma Virginis or Porrima<\/a>. Now Porrima has been opening up over the last few years. There are years when it is so tight, amateur telescopes can\u2019t resolve it, but it is wide now. So this is a time to actually observe Porrima. You\u2019ve got a guide there, you\u2019ve got the Moon guiding you towards Porrima. Then finally on December 18 the crescent Moon will lie to the upper right of Spica and Alpha Virginis the brightest star in the constellation. That\u2019s why it\u2019s called Alpha. We use the Greek designations as a rule to go from the brightest alpha to the faintest omega. But as we know, Ezzy, there are a few exceptions out there. Whether they got there, they hadn\u2019t gone to a particular brand of spectacle makers.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Well, I think it was also, you know, some stars, they do their brightness does change sometimes. Sometimes it\u2019s, you know, somebody\u2019s telescope\u2026 It could be, you know, where you are in the world. And also most of these, when they were given their names, a lot of them were just done by eyeballing it, essentially, and trying to work out which one they thought was the brightest. So it\u2019s know it\u2019s entirely possible that they might have been mistaken on a couple of them.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>And when we think about it, I mean, you know, only just a couple of years ago, we had Betelgeuse go through a dramatic dimming<\/a> naked eye.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Exactly.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>You know, so perhaps, you know, when they when they labelled it sort of thing, you know, then it may have been dim. It may have been bright. But we never know, do we? We need a TARDIS, we go back and see what they really saw.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>And what they were really called. How you pronounce the names.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Exactly. Yes. However, the other thing to note is you start to see Earthshine. As the crescent gets thinner, the Earthshine<\/a>, which is the light bounce from the Earth back onto the Moon, fills in the night side. So you feebly see the features and I think it just looks ephemeral. It looks gorgeous when you see this crescent and this ghostly view of the rest of the Moon hanging there as well. So there we are. That\u2019s we. We get the week finishing and we finish with a crescent Moon, Earthshine and Spica, depending on how you want to pronounce it.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>So thank you very much for taking us through that week, Paul. It certainly sounds like there\u2019s a lot of things to capture people\u2019s attention. There\u2019s things most days. So on 12th you\u2019ve got the waning moon passing through the circle of Leo on 13th to 14th that night there\u2019s going to be the peak of the Geminids meteor shower. Then on the 14th the Moon will pass by the bright star Eta Leonis. On the 16^{th<\/sup>, the Moon is going past Gamma Virginia or Porrima, and then finally on the 18th Alpha Virginis. So lots of times chances to see the Moon passing by some really bright and interesting stars. Thank you very much for taking your time to talk to us about that, Paul. If our listeners want to make sure that they don\u2019t miss any of the upcoming spectacular stargazing events, please do subscribe to the Star Diary podcast to keep your weekly update if you want to find out even more spectacular sites that will be gracing the night sky throughout the month. Be sure to pick up a copy of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. Where, we have a 16 page pull out Sky guide with a full overview of everything. Worth looking out for. Whether you like to look at the moon, the planets or the deep sky, whether you use binoculars, telescopes or neither. Ask guide has got you covered with the detailed star charts to help you track your way across the night sky. From all of us here at BBC Sky and Night Magazine. Goodbye.<\/p>\n}

Chris Bramley <\/strong>Thank you for listening to this episode of the Star Diary podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. For more of our podcasts, visit our website at www.skyatnightmagazine.com<\/a> Or head to ACast, iTunes or Spotify.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Ezzy Pearson Published: Sunday, 11 December 2022 at 12:00 am What\u2019s in the night sky of the week of 12 to 18 December 2022 in our weekly stargazing guide. https:\/\/open.acast.com\/public\/streams\/61ba00841a8cbe40143cf08e\/episodes\/639203a66ad47e0010189548.mp3 Chris Bramley Hello and welcome to Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. You can subscribe to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":39561,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"11"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/12\/star-diary-12-to-18-december-2022.jpg",1500,1000,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/12\/star-diary-12-to-18-december-2022-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/12\/star-diary-12-to-18-december-2022-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/12\/star-diary-12-to-18-december-2022-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/12\/star-diary-12-to-18-december-2022-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/12\/star-diary-12-to-18-december-2022.jpg",1500,1000,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/12\/star-diary-12-to-18-december-2022.jpg",1500,1000,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":"By Ezzy Pearson Published: Sunday, 11 December 2022 at 12:00 am What\u2019s in the night sky of the week of 12 to 18 December 2022 in our weekly stargazing guide. https:\/\/open.acast.com\/public\/streams\/61ba00841a8cbe40143cf08e\/episodes\/639203a66ad47e0010189548.mp3 Chris Bramley Hello and welcome to Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. You can subscribe to the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/39560"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}