What’s Up in the Night Sky? December 2021

Fred Barrett | Dec 08, 2021

We have 2 meteor showers this month. Sadly, one of them, the Ursids, will be blotted out by the Moon all night. It’s a good shower so if you want to give it a try, the Ursids run from the 17th to the 26th and peak on the 22nd. The big one, the Geminids, occurs from the 4th to the 17th and peaks on the 14th. Again, unfortunately, the brightness from a waxing Gibbous Moon washes out many of the fainter meteors until it sets about 3 am. This shower is expected to peak at 150 meteors per hour. With such large numbers, it’s well worth going out anytime during the night. You can expect to see a worthwhile number of bright, spectacular trails across the sky.

Try blocking the Moon with a piece of cardboard or a wall. Don’t forget that meteor trails can be traced back to the radiate but their bright destruction in the atmosphere can appear in any part of the sky. The radiant is quite close to the bright star Castor in the constellation Gemini.

Here’s a fun thing to do. Mark down on a sheet of paper all the trails that you observe. At the end of your observing, use a ruler to draw a line back to where they came from. Most if not all, will end up at the radiant point. There may be an occasional one that doesn’t and these are called erratic meteors. They are bits of debris from other sources that have hit the atmosphere coincident with the Geminids. Often they can be traced back to other comets that have passed through our solar system.

In the early evening sky this month, you can expect to find Mercury and very bright Venus and Saturn in the southwest. Jupiter is close by in the south. Near the end of December, don’t miss a golden opportunity to see all 4 planets in the southwest just after sunset. Try viewing that part of the sky in the nights leading up to the event and afterwards. It will be fascinating watching them gather together.

Venus is at its brightest on the 4th. On the 6th, the waxing crescent Moon, complete with earthshine, will be very close to Venus. A comet, C/2021, close by to Venus and below it, may become visible through binoculars near mid-month. On the 17th, it’s about 5 degrees below Venus. Give it a look. Watch for the misty glow of its corona. Since comets are so unpredictable, we might even be lucky enough to spot a tail!

Uranus is in the east in Aries the Ram in the early evening and it heads west as the night progresses. It’s nicely high in the sky. It’s quite bright and about 10 degrees southeast of the star Hamal, the brightest star in Aries. Uranus is definitely a binocular object, and on the 14th, is 3 degrees northeast of a gibbous Moon. It’s a beautiful sight in a telescope.

Neptune is in the south in Aquarius and is about 4 degrees north of the quarter Moon on the 10th. It appears blue green through a telescope.

Mars rises about 2 hours before dawn in the southeast later in the month. Just before twilight on the 31st, a waning crescent Moon sits about 4 degrees north of Mars and the bright star Antares in Scorpius. Maybe a little earthshine will brighten the dark side of the Moon. It will be a view to inspire the day.

Winter solstice occurs at 10:59 am EST on the 21st. A pessimist is reminded of long winter nights. An optimist like me thinks only happy thoughts of being over the hump and our way to Spring! Brrrrring the longer days on!

I promised another contest for this month and a chance to win the almost last copy I have of the beautifully illustrated book “The Elements”. Some lucky winner will have it to grace their coffee table come Christmas morning. For a chance to win, answer this question: Why is Winter Solstice the longest night of the year?

I will email all entrants to acknowledge their entry and also comment on their answer.

Good luck and a very merry and jolly Christmas to all!

December Highlights: All times are in EST. December 2: The Moon is 0.7 degrees north of Mars at 7 pm. December 4: New Moon. The Moon is at perigee – 354,723 Kms. Venus is at its brightest. December 6: The Moon is 2 degrees south of Venus at 8 pm. December 7: The Moon is 4 degrees south of Saturn at 9 pm. December 9: The Moon is 4 degrees south of Jupiter at 1 am. December 10: The Moon is 4 degrees south of Neptune at 8 pm. First Quarter Moon. December 14: Geminid meteor shower peaks. December 15: The Moon is 1.5 degrees south of Uranus at 1 am. December 17: The Moon is at apogee – 403,960 Kms. December 18: Full Moon. This Moon is called the Full Cold Moon or Winter Maker Moon. Not hard to figure out why. December 21: Winter solstice at 10:59 am. December 26: Last Quarter Moon. December 28: Mercury is 4 degrees south of Venus at 8 pm. December 31: The crescent Moon, Mars and Antares cuddle together just before sunrise low in the southeast.

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