Fred Barrett | Dec 11, 2019


We have 2 special highlights this month. The Geminids , arguably the best annual meteor shower, makes its annual appearance on the night of December 13/14. It is a truly spectacular shower that is viewable from December 4th to about the 17th. It peaks in the very early morning of the 14th.There may be as many as 120 meteors per hour. Unfortunately the Full Moon occurs just 2 days earlier and that waning gibbous Moon lies in Gemini, the constellation that contains the radiant. The radiant is high in the south just above the star Castor. Luckily it’s best not to view the Geminid meteors by looking directly at the radiant since the meteors are coming at you head on. This means that their trails will be very short. Shield yourself from the moonlight and look about 30 to 60 degrees away from the radiant. You will be rewarded with nice long trails and some protection from the Moon’s brightness. This will increase the number of meteors you can observe. The second shower is the Ursids. The radiant is above the dipper portion the asterism called the Big Dipper that is part of the Ursid or Bear constellation. The Ursids peak on the night of December 22/23. Fortunately the Moon is a thin crescent and its light will not be a hindrance. Although the Ursids are considered a smallish shower, this year a surge in its numbers is expected that might push its hourly rate to as much as 30.

Venus, Jupiter and Saturn are low in the southwest with Venus being quite bright as usual. Mars is small in the southeast in the morning. A crescent Moon sits 9 and 6 degrees above Mars on December 22nd and 23rd respectively. On the early evening of December 10th Venus slips 2 degrees south of Saturn. A visual treat occurs about an hour after sunset in the southwest on December 28th when a thin earthlight bathed crescent Moon rises up below bright Venus.

Winter solstice occurs at 11:19 pm EST on December 21st. It’s all downhill to spring now but keep your long johns close. There’s still January, February (brrrr) to get through.

December 10th: Venus passes 2 degrees south of Saturn about midnight.

December 12th: Full Moon. This Moon is known as the Full Cold Moon or the Full Long Nights Moon. December brings long cold nights. Hauling in wood to my fireplace leaves me pretty muscle bound by the end of March! Well, sort of…

December 14th: Geminid meteor shower peaks.

December 18th: The Moon is at perigee – 368,115 Kms.

December 21st: Winter solstice. Yahoo, the days start getting longer!

December 22nd: The Moon slides 4 degrees north of Mars at 9 pm EST. The Ursid meteor shower peaks.

December 26th: New Moon.

December 28th: The Moon passes 1 degree south of Venus at 9 pm EST.

That’s a wrap. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Keep looking up!

“The Beginner’s Observing Guide by Leo Enright is an invaluable companion for adventures in the sky. It also contains useful star charts. It can be ordered from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada at www.rasc.ca/publications. A subscription to our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine “SkyNews” can be arranged at the RASC website as well.

Let me know how your observing has gone this month, especially anything unusual. I enjoy the feedback. If you have any questions or suggestions you can contact me through this paper or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Clear Skies! Fred.

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