NASA’s back with its monthly update on what to look out for in the night sky. Treats include a parade of planets, some winter stars, and a meteor shower.
Planets
Thanks to its brightness, Venus is easy to spot this month in the southwest after sunset. You’ll notice it getting a bit higher in the sky each evening through the month. On December 4, the slim crescent moon will be hanging right below it, with NASA suggesting it could make for a great photo.
Saturn, which is far dimmer than Venus but still viewable with the naked eye, can be seen toward the south beginning at nightfall, before it moves west as the weeks pass.
Jupiter, meanwhile, reaches opposition on December 7, meaning that it’ll be at its brightest for the year and visible throughout the night. Find it rising in the east-northeast as darkness falls. In the middle of the month, Jupiter can be spotted between the nearly full moon and Taurus’s brightest star, Aldebaran.
Mars will double its brightness over the coming weeks, with its salmon-pink color making it an easy spot. At the moment, it’s rising about four hours after dark, but by New Year’s Eve, it’ll come into view about 90 minutes after sunset. Meanwhile, on December 17, the red planet will appear very close to the moon.
Stars
December isn’t all about planets. There’s plenty of stars to spot, too. “As evening falls, you’ll see the mighty hunter Orion rising in the east, with Taurus the bull above it, and the stars of the twins in Gemini to their left,” NASA says in the video. “These constellations host some wonderful sights — like the Crab Nebula and Pleiades star cluster in Taurus and the misty Orion Nebula, which hangs below Orion’s belt.”
When you have Orion’s distinctive belt of three stars in your sights, check out NASA’s video for some tips on how to use it to find the so-called Winter Triangle, formed by three of the brightest stars in the winter sky: Sirius, Betelgeuse, and Procyon.
Meteors
Meteor fans will also have a chance to enjoy the Geminid meteor shower, which peaks after midnight in the early morning of December 14. With up to 150 meteors streaking across the sky every hour at its peak, NASA says that the Geminids are “usually one of the best meteor showers of the year,” though it adds that this year, the nearly full moon will wash out the fainter meteors.
Provided the skies are clear, there are lots of celestial delights to enjoy in the final weeks of 2024. Enjoy!
