Winter will officially begin on December 21, with the astronomical solstice and the shortest day of the year. December 21-Winter solstice (Northern Hemisphere) On the evening of December 13, the moon will illuminate the sky from late evening on, but it will rise a little bit later on December 14. The Old Farmer’s Almanac recommends trying to face away from the Moon to keep its shine out of your field of view. This year, the Geminids will be competing with a bright waning gibbous moon, which might make it more difficult to see the shooting stars due to the extra light in the sky. The stellar show typically begins as early as 9 pm and peaks around 2 am. It is one of the most reliable meteor showers every year and stargazers can see up to 120 meteors per hour at the shower’s peak if watching from a dark location, with an average of 75 space rocks per hour. If shooting stars are more your thing, you won’t want to miss the Geminid meteor shower. December 13 and 14-Geminid meteor shower peaks In 2018, Mars was the brightest it had been in 15 years and in 2020, the Red Planet was at about 36.8 million miles away from Earth during a close approach. By midnight, the planet will be high in the south. Mars will look like reddish-orange star that will rise and appear more to the south as the evening wears on. If Earth and Mars followed perfectly circular orbits instead of more oval shaped elliptical orbits, opposition would be as close as the two planets could get.įor the best chance to see the Red Planet in all its glory, face east about an hour after dark. Astronomers say Mars is in “opposition” because the Red Planet and the sun appear on opposite sides of the sky. From Earth, Mars rises in the east just as the sun sets in the west, and after staying up in the sky all night, Mars sets in the west just as the sun rises in the east. According to NASA, Mars and the sun are on directly opposite sides of Earth during opposition. The same night as the last full moon of 2022, Mars will be in its brightest opposition. Some other names for the last full moon of the year are the Snow Moon (Eastern Band of Cherokees), the It’s a Long Night Moon (Oneida), and the Winter Maker Moon (Abenaki). December’s full moon will will also be above the horizon for longer than most full moons, due to its higher trajectory in the sky.ĭecember’s full moon is called the Cold Moon, or the “time of cold” moon, a Mohawk name that evokes when winter’s chill really grips the northern hemisphere. The Old Farmer’s Almanac recommends looking for it just before sunset as the moon begins to peek above the horizon. The last full moon of the year will reach its peak illumination at 11:08 pm EST on December 7. Here are some celestial events to keep your eye on while closing out 2022. December ushers in winter for the northern half of the globe, which is a prime season for stargazing due to the added darkness and the cold air being less hazy than warmer, humid summer air. The days are growing shorter in the northern hemisphere, which may not be the best for productive afternoons, but the extra darkness means some more time for looking up at the night sky.
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