Monday 18th to Sunday 24th December 2023
If you stay up late on the evening of Tuesday 19th, Ganymede which is Jupiter's largest moon, will be occulted or hidden by the planet. Look towards the south west at 11.30pm and Ganymede will be just starting to disappear. It reappears again at around 1.15am on the Wednesday morning.
Friday 22nd is the winter solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere. This is when the Earth's north pole is at its maximum tilt away from the Sun, resulting in the shortest period of daylight hours and the Sun will be at its lowest maximum elevation above the horizon at midday.
If you venture outside just after midnight on the morning of Sunday 24th and look south west, there are several objects to see with the naked eye. There will be a 91%-lit Waxing Gibbous Moon with the Pleiades open cluster of stars above it and Jupiter below, forming a straight line. To the left of the line will be the bright red giant star Aldebaran. Further left again you will find the constellation of Orion with the red giant Betelgeuse. Keep going left and almost due south will be the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius.
The original Christmas "Star of Bethlehem" has been the subject of much debate over the centuries - some people believe it was a massive supernova where a star explodes, others think it was a comet and there are several theories about it actually being a close conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn that created the visual "star" effect!
On that note, I would like to wish all our listeners a peaceful Christmas and the clearest of skies for the coming year.
www.starsoversomerset.com
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2023
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