Night sky

The Night Sky

Gemini constellation map-bs.svg" by Edinwiki is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

We can, for example, look forward to a Castor and Pollux. These stars represent rare conjunction of the planets the heads of the two figures standing Jupiter and Saturn. The spectacular forever side by side. The twins' feet are Geminid meteor shower will peak during a dipped in the Milky Way. The new moon, so conditions will be ideal for constellation mainly consists of two observing and we can explore the easy to parallel lines of stars. The Greeks believed find constellation of Gemini which is well that the God Zeus turned the twins into placed throughout December. Also, Nasa stars following a family feud over cousins has informed us of an amazing discovery and women.... During the first part of the on the Moon. month, if you face south, we can find Jupiter and Saturn 'close' encounter Gemini close to the eastern horizon. Orion 'The Hunter' can be found just beyond the The term 'great conjunction' is used by feet of the twins and can be used as a astronomers when referring to an pointer towards Gemini. Starting at Rigel apparent close meeting of the planets the right foot of Orion - follow a straightJupiter and Saturn (from our point of view line through to the very bright orange starof them from Earth!). This occurs around Betelgeuse. Continue on for twice theevery 20 years, which in astronomy terms distance between Rigel and Betelgeuseis actually fairly frequent! This is a and you will arrive at the alpha starparticularly close encounter on the 21st of Castor. As the month progresses theDecember. At their closest these planets constellation will seemingly travel fromwill be only 0.1 degrees apart. It is the the east towards the southern sky. Theclosest meeting of the giant worlds since alpha, or lead star Castor, is less bright1623! As the 21st approaches, it is possible than Pollux. You should be able to to watch the two planets move closer compare the colours of the two stars withtogether during their orbits around the the naked eye, Castor being blue-whitesun each night with Jupiter leading and and Pollux a pale orange tone. If you don'tSuturn following. On the 16th and 17th already have one, I really recommendthey will be particularly close as a thin getting a Planisphere which can help youcrescent Moon passes by them. At around find your way around the constellations on6.30pm you can see any night of the year.them close together towards the south west. If you don't already have one, I really recommend getting a Planisphere which can help you Meteor showers: The Geminids and Ursids The Moon and Planets in December The traditional name for the full moon this month is the Full Cold Moon. The Native American Indians used special names each month to help keep track of the calendar. You can view the 100% full moon if you are up and about at around 4.30am on the morning of the 30th. The New Moon (the night when it is not visible as it is too close to the sun) is on the 14th so this is a good time to see so much more in the night sky without the bright light of a moon to outshine many other objects. As mentioned above Jupiter and Saturn continue to move across the southern evening skies all month and Mars fades rapidly. It may be possible, on the 12th, to spot Venus and a thin crescent Moon rising close together in the morning twilight around 7.30am in the southeast. Venus continues to be a morning object The Geminid meteor shower is always much anticipated in the astronomical calendar as it is one of the most active, with a possible peak rate in some years of up to 100 per hour. It will peak this year on the 13th - 14th, just after the new moon, so conditions are very good for observation, weather permitting. You could view Geminid meteors during the period of the 3rd to the 16th. As always, prepare your eyes for spotting these 'shooting stars' for thirty minutes, getting used to the darkness. The longer you look the more details you will pick up in the skies above you. It will be possible to start observing Geminids from before midnight. Lying back under as wide open a view as possible will give you the best chance of catching some of these slower meteors. They can also fragment into many smaller points of light. find your way around the constellations on any night of the year for most of this month. On the 4th, at 7am, The Ursid meteor shower is active between a 'gibbous' (more than half phase) Moon the 17th and 25th with its peak on the 21st forms a line in the western sky with the to 22nd of the month. You can expect two stars Castor and Pollux. around 10 per hour, but as the Moon is Constellation of the Month: Gemini much brighter the conditions will be less favourable for observation. Gemini is very well placed at this time of year and really easy to find in the night The Milky Way high to the North sky. The two most prominent stars in the At this time of the year fainter parts of our constellation of Gemini (The Twins) are Milky Way are much higher in the

By Claire Wardlaw

Claire Wardlaw, originally from Edinburgh, lives in the Charente with her husband. Since their move over 4 years ago, Claire has become passionate about astronomy. Northern skies. This is therefore a good time to observe the area which stretches out between the constellations of Cassiopeia, towards the north west and Gemini and Orion in the north east. The best nights to see more of the Milky Way are - as ever - when the Moon is less bright or preferably when it is New Moon. You can begin to see the vast collections of stars which will initially look like clouds . As always, the longer you gaze the more you will start to see.

Astronomy News! Nasa confirms a new Discovery on the Moon

'S.O.F.I.A' has made an astonishing discovery on the sunlit surface of the Moon, NASA announced in October. S.O.F.I.A is a jumbo jet - the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy is I think my favourite observatory as it is built inside a jumbo jet which flies and makes observations at heights of 41,000ft and above. At these heights it flies above 99% of the water vapour in the atmosphere so it can make more detailed observations than any ground based observatories. It has been able, for the first time, to discover water molecules (H2O) in a sunlit 'Crater Clavius'. It had previously been thought that water molecules could only be present in shaded areas of the Moon. Now it is known to be present, although in relatively small amounts, this could raise new questions about how water is created and how it can persist in the very different airless atmosphere of the Moon. Happy Stargazing!