Monday 9th to Sunday 15th December 2024
Just after dark, say around 5 pm, on Tuesday the 10th, a waxing slightly gibbous Moon will have risen above the horizon to the southeast, with Saturn further to the right of it.
This is the optimum evening to have a go at spotting the clair-obscure lunar visual effect known as the Jewelled Handle. Sunlight hitting the Montes Jura mountain range at an angle on the Moon's surface produces what looks like the shiny handle of a teapot!
Venture out again around 5 pm on Friday 13th and a 96%-lit waxing very-gibbous Moon will now be located towards the east, extremely close to the Pleiades open cluster of stars. Jupiter will be a little below and to the left of it. Of course, light pollution from the almost full Moon will spoil your view of the cluster.
A similar problem occurs on Saturday 14th when the Moon is just one day away from being full and it ruins the peak of the annual Geminids meteor shower. If you do want to try and spot a few shooting stars, the radiant point of the shower is in the constellation of Gemini, which by 9 pm on the Saturday evening, will be found towards the east.
Looking in that direction, you should also be able to see Jupiter and Mars while waiting for those elusive meteors to show up. To the right of Gemini will be the obvious constellation of Orion with the bright stars Betelgeuse and Rigel. At the same time, above Orion, you can find the constellation of Taurus with the bright star Aldebaran.
www.starsoversomerset.com
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2024
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