Saturday 01-12-2018 - 15:05

We hope you all have a great holiday season, and, with such a great opportunity in Astronomy, we hope you keep your eyes on the skies. Throughout the month December and until the 14th January, the heavens will provide you:

• Crescent Moon making a close encounter with Venus in the southeastern sky just after 5am of 03/12/18. This is a neat photo opportunity, even with your mobile phone camera if you have a relatively new phone.
• Very thin crescent Moon making a close encounter with Mercury in the southeast an hour before sunrise on 05/12/18. This is a neat photo opportunity, even with your mobile phone camera if you have a relatively new phone. Looking through binoculars or a small telescope, you will see the crescent phase of Mercury - and throughout the month it will only get larger. This is because Mercury overtakes Earth in it's orbit as it is closer to the Sun, causing the side facing Earth to be showing more of the illuminated side facing the Sun - much like the phases of the Moon.
• A close approach of Mars and Neptune after sunset on the 07/12/18. Mars will be visible as a bright red dot in the southern sky and Neptune will only be visible through binoculars or a small telescope. They will be very close, around 0.5° apart.
• The Geminids Meteor Shower peak on the night of 13/12/18. Look towards the constellation of Gemini the twins for the radiant of the Geminids Meteor Shower. It is best to look 90° to the side to see the longest trails. Throughout the night the constellation will gradually move from the eastern sky in the early evening to the western sky in the morning of the 14/12/18. The Moon sets at around 10pm, so the night should be fairly dark, allowing for the best viewing conditions if it is clear. In the UK we can expect up to 50 meteors per hour - much better than previous meteor showers we've had this academic year. The Astronomy Society will be going out to the BBQ area behind Bigforth Barn on this day at around 8pm if it clear - feel free to join us and ask any questions you may have.
• A close approach of Mercury and Jupiter 80 minutes before sunrise on 20/12/18. They will be around 2° apart in the southeastern sky, or around twice the width of your pinky finger held up at arm's length. On the 21st and 22nd they will be even closer at 1° apart. This is a great photo opportunity and a great sight to see through a binoculars or a telescope with a wide field of view.
• The Winter Solstice on the 21/12/18. This is the longest night of the year, and so provides the longest time to go out observing any night time objects. After this date, the days will start getting longer again.
• The Quadrantids Meteor Shower peak on the night of 03/01/19. This meteor shower can deliver up to 120 meteors per hour, radiating from the constellation of Bootes in the northeastern sky, though in the UK it is often much lower. It is best to look roughly southeast for the longest trails. Be sure to wrap up warm and find somewhere to sit down as you could be waiting until 2 or 3am for the best viewing opportunity.

And finally, one more object that does not have a set date to look out for it. Throughout the month of December and early January, a comet known as 46P/Wirtanen makes it's closest approach to Earth at around 12 million kilometers (7 million miles). While this closest approach occurs on the night of the 18th December, the full Moon will largely interfere with the views. It is estimated that the comet will reach magnitude +5, just within the limits of the human eye, so you would be better off seeing it anywhere the sky is very dark. The comet moves in a northern direction throughout the month, where it is more easily spotted near bright star Menkar in constellation of Cetus around the 11th, near the Pleides star cluster around the 16th and near bright star Capella in Auriga around 25th. If you have a dark sky and any good DSLR camera or a small telescope holding your phone camera to the eyepiece, you will likely get very good photos of the comet. 

We should also say that on the Monday starting week 2 of Lent term - the 21/01/19 - at 2am will be the start of a Lunar Eclipse. It will last until around 8am with the peak at 5am. We will be on campus throughout the eclipse if the weather favours us- more details on this will come closer to the time!

Thanks for reading. Once again, we hope you have a good holiday season - happy stargazing!