Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 46

DECEMBER 2022 OBSERVING
Sun, Moon & Planets by Gary Seronik
To find out what's
visible in the sky from
your location, go to
skyandtelescope.org.
A Dusk Holiday Delight
The Moon, Mercury, and Venus gather on Christmas Eve.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1
The Moon has a busy month, and it gets
to work on Day 1 by sidling up to Jupiter,
approaching to within 2½° at its
closest. What time that occurs depends
on where you are. For observers on the
West Coast, it's conveniently early, at
around 9 p.m. PST. On the East Coast,
however, prime time will be just after
midnight when the night of December
1st transitions to the morning of the
2nd. Regardless of the hour, Jupiter and
the waxing gibbous Moon will be nice
and close whenever you look.
One advantage of this conjunction
happening on the 1st of the month is
that there's enough time left in December
for a second meet-up on the 28th,
when the Moon returns to the same
general region of the ecliptic. That
Dec 1
11 pm
Moon
Dec 2
10°
Jupiter
Moon
Dec 1
Occultation later
tonight for much
of North America
AURIGA
Mars
TAURUS
Moon
Nov 30
Moon
Dec 8
Aldebaran
Betelgeuse
ORION
Moon
Dec 7
Moon
Dec 6
Moon
Dec 9
PISCES
Pleiades
Moon
Dec 10
pairing won't be quite as appealing,
though, as the waxing lunar crescent
doesn't get closer than about 5½°
to the planet as the pair set late in
the evening. Still, given the season's
typically inclement weather, a backup
conjunction is nice to have.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7
Of all the pairings this year between
planets and the Moon, tonight's
encounter with Mars is arguably the
best. Three things make it extra special.
First, the Moon is full at 11:08 p.m.
EST. Second, Mars is at opposition less
than two hours later and gleams at its
brightest this apparition at magnitude
-1.8. Third, they get close - really close.
In fact, for much of North America, the
Moon actually eclipses the Red Planet.
Algol
Dusk, Dec 6 - 8
1 hour after sunset
The show starts as soon as twilight
fades sufficiently so that you can spot
Mars, just left of the Moon. (Use binoculars
if you want to get an early start.)
Over the course of the next few hours,
the gap between the two will shrink
and shrink in a fascinating display of
celestial mechanics as both objects
reach " opposition. " After the Moon
overtakes Mars, the separation between
the twosome will start to increase.
Because this event is covered extensively
in the pages that follow, here I'll
simply alert you to the fact that this is
happening and that it's something you
definitely don't want to miss!
Dawn, Dec 9 - 11
45 minutes before sunrise
Pollux
Moon
Dec 11
Castor
GEMINI
Looking West-Southwest
Looking East-Northeast
46
DECEMBER 2022 * SKY & TELESCOPE
Looking West

http://www.skyandtelescope.org

Sky & Telescope - December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - December 2022

Contents
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - Cover1
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - Cover2
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 1
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - Contents
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 3
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 4
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 5
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 6
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 7
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 8
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 9
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 10
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 11
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 12
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 13
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 14
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 15
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 16
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 17
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 18
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 19
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 20
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 21
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 22
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 23
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 24
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 25
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 26
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 27
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 28
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 29
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 30
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 31
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 32
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 33
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 34
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 35
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 36
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 37
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 38
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 39
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 40
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 41
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 42
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 43
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 44
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 45
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 46
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 47
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 48
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 49
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 50
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 51
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Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 53
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 54
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 55
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 56
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Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 61
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 62
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 63
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Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 65
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Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 84
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - Cover3
Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - Cover4
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