December 2024

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     Get out under the stars in December of 2024 to see ALL THE PLANETS!  Especially on Christmas night.  Plus a bunch of close encounters between the Moon and those planets, and the annual Geminid meteor shower.

I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.  And joining me today is my son, Soccorso.

We’ll start by talking about this month’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.  

BIG EVENTS

7th - Opposition of Jupiter

13th – 14th – Geminid Meteor Shower

21st - Winter Solstice - Longest night of the year, shortest day of the year.  

25th - Christmas - FOUR PLANETS, and MORE!  Check them all out in your new telescope!

Venus will still be up until about 8:30pm, in the SW. (In the scope - it’s in its half phase)

Saturn is only 15° up and to the left of Venus, setting before 10:30pm. (In the scope - slightly tilted rings, and a couple of moons like Titan and Dione nearby)

Jupiter. Look in the other direction (SE-ish), right above Taurus’ head for super bright  (In the scope - check for all four Galilean Moons after 8:30pm, and the great red spot later after midnight)

After 7pm, Mars will be rising in the ENE between Gemini and Cancer. (In the scope - pretty small, probably just a red smudge)

For an extra challenge, see if you can get Uranus and Neptune in your scope early in the night (sorry, scopes only), and then get Mercury rising low in the SE right before sunrise

LUNAR CYCLE

New Moon – 1st (darkest skies)

Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)

First Quarter Moon – 8th (Visible until midnight)

Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)

Full Moon – 15th (Visible all night)

Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)

Last Quarter Moon – 22nd (Visible midnight into the morning)

Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)

LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS 

4th - VERY thin Waxing Crescent, below Venus by 3°, SW sky after sunset, less than 15° above the horizon, sets around 7:30pm

7th - 8th -  First quarter Moon about 6° to the right of Saturn, in the S after sunset, setting in the West around 11pm.  On the 8th, the Moon moves to the other side of Saturn, by about 7°  

14th - Find the basically Full Moon just about 5° to the left of Jupiter moving West throughout the night, setting just before sunrise.

17th - Rising in the ENE after 7:30pm, the Gibbous Moon will start the night about 4˚ above Mars.  It’ll move higher into the South and toward the West as the night goes on, but the best part is at 4:45am, when Mars and the Moon are separated by only ½°.

And that’s the sky for this month! If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram. Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission.

Transcript

January 2025 is a PLANETARY month! Mars gets big, Mars gets occulted, Mars get outshined by Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter, then Venus and Saturn pass right by each other, and a brief but intense meteor shower shows up. 

Hi everybody, I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.  

We’ll start by talking about November’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.  

BIG EVENTS

3rd - 4th – Quadrantid Meteor Shower – Take a quick peek outside and see if you’re lucky this year.  This annual shower only peaks for about 6 hours, but it can provide some bright fireballs. 

When? After midnight on the night of Jan 3rd into the 4th.

Where do I look? The whole sky, but note the radiant - where the meteors will appear to be coming from - is between Bootes and Draco, looking NW in general.

But be well prepared…

• Dedicate at least 20-30 minutes to being outside and not looking at your phone - this allows your eyes to get dark adapted and reduces the risk of you missing one because you’re going in-and-out.  Stay dark-adapted by staying away from light sources or using a red light if you need to look at a star chart or not trip over something.  
• Find a dark location and lie down in a reclining chair or hammock
• Check the weather to see if the skies will be clear  

13th - Occultation of Mars - MORE than a close encounter, Mars will be right next to the Moon all night, except for about an hour when the Moon occults Mars.  Around Philadelphia, the occultation starts at 9:17pm, when the Moon passes right in front of Mars.  This lasts until about 10:32pm, when Mars pops back out on the other side of the Moon.

16th - Opposition of Mars - This night, Mars will be visible ALL night and as big as it’s going to get until the next opposition in February of 2027.  Mars is about the same size all month, but out for the most time on the 16th. Unfortunately, it’s almost half the size it was back in 2018.  If you have at least a 3” telescope, you should be able to see its North Polar Cap.

17th - 18th - CONJUNCTION of Venus & Saturn - Check out two planets only 2° away from each other. Just get out after sunset and find BRIGHT Venus in the SW, with Saturn two pinky-widths to the left. They both set around 9pm, so don’t dilly-dally.

Naked-eye PLANETS

Sunset 

Venus - Starting at sunset about 35° above the horizon, Venus dominates the sunset sky.   Look SW just after sunset and find the brightest non-blinking object in that direction.  Using a telescope, you’ll see it in its half phase. Sets between 8:40pm and 9:10pm. 

Saturn - Saturn hangs out around Venus all month, starting off 15° up and to the left of Venus.  Saturn closes in on Venus on the 17th, and then travels down and to the right of Venus by 10° by month’s end.

Jupiter - Off in the East after sunset, above Taurus’ head.

Mars - By around mid-month, Mars will start rising in the East after sunset, far down and to the left of Jupiter, near Pollux and Castor of Gemini, getting higher every day (and every hour after sunset).

Middle of the night

Jupiter - Above Taurus’ head, super bright. 

Mars - To the left of Jupiter by about 40°, hanging around Gemini’s twin stars Pollux and Castor.

Morning

Mars – Around sunrise, but only for the first half of the month, look WNW for Mars in the pre-dawn skies.

Mercury - If you get real lucky and get clear skies and have a clear view of the SE horizon, you might just catch Mercury emerging just 10° above the horizon, but only for the first week. 

Lunar Events

LUNAR CYCLE

Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)

First Quarter Moon – 6th (Visible until midnight)

Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)

Full Moon – 13th (Visible all night)

Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)

Last Quarter Moon – 21st (Visible midnight into the morning)

Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)

New Moon – 29th (darkest skies)

LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS 

The Moon will be traveling across the sky as normal, passing by some planets at particular times. 

3rd - Thin Waxing Crescent left of Venus by 3°, SW sky after sunset, starting 30° above the horizon, sets around 8:30pm.  Saturn is also nearby, just 10° up and to the left.

4th -  Slightly thicker crescent Moon about 3° up and to the left of Saturn, in the SSW after sunset, setting in the West before 10pm.  

10th - Find the almost Full Moon just about 5° above bright Jupiter moving West throughout the night, setting just before 5am.

13th - MORE than a close encounter, Mars will be right next to the Moon all night, except for about an hour when the Moon occults Mars.  Around Philadelphia, the occultation starts at 9:17pm, when the Moon passes right in front of Mars.  This lasts until about 10:32pm, when Mars pops back out on the other side of the Moon.

31st - Feb 2nd - Moon, Saturn, Venus. Saturn has dipped below Venus in the sunset sky by about 12°, and a very thin crescent Moon joins in on Jan 31st, just 4° below Saturn. The next evening the Moon moves up to within 3° of Venus. Then, on Feb 2nd, the Moon, Venus, and Saturn make a string of objects just after sunset in the SW.

And that’s the sky for this month.  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. 

Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission.