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Saturn through telescope 20217/28/2023 Now look in the opposite direction from the Moon a little less far, and just a bit up from there, and you're at the brightest two or three stars of Aries. ■ This evening, spot orange Aldebaran about two fists at arm's length lower left of the Moon. How late into the night, and into the advancing season, can you keep Altair in view? The Triangle's third star, Altair, is farther to Vega's left or lower left. Start by spotting bright Vega, magnitude zero, in the northwest right after dark. ■ The Summer Triangle is sinking lower in the west as the season turns, and Altair is the first of its stars to go (as seen from mid-northern latitudes). See Bob King's Precious Hours with the Geminids. Want to do more? This year the International Meteor Organization is asking for help in determining the effect of bright moonlight on meteor activity, by means of careful counts for at least one hour and careful determinations of your limiting magnitude. Layer up even more warmly than you imagine you'll need remember about radiational cooling! Find a dark open spot with no local lights to get in your eyes, lie back in a reclining lawn chair, and gaze up into the stars. But those that do appear will be Earth-grazers skimming far across the top of the atmosphere. In early evening the meteors will be fewer because the shower's radiant point (in Gemini) will be low. Under suburban light pollution, maybe more like one a minute. Under a really dark sky during that time, you might see two or three meteors per minute on average. You have about three excellent dark-sky hours between then and the first light of dawn. By then the shower will be in full force, with its radiant high overhead. The light of the waxing gibbous Moon will wash out faintest meteors until the Moon sets around 3 a.m. ■ The Geminid meteor shower, often the best of the year, should be at its peak late tonight. By that time Cassiopeia has wheeled over to the high northwest and stands nearly upright on the bright end of its W shape. It's entirely below the north horizon if you're as far south as Miami.īut by 11 or midnight the Dipper stands straight up on its handle in fine view in the northeast. ■ The Big Dipper lies shyly down at its lowest just after dark, due north. By 9 or 10 he displays himself high in the southeast in full wintry glory. ■ Orion strides up clear of the east-northeast horizon by 7 p.m. ■ Have you seen any early Geminid meteors yet? The shower is due to peak in two days, late on the night of December 13-14. All this means that Pluto, at magnitude 14.4, is 50 million times fainter that Venus! And it's a lot farther from the illuminating Sun as well as from us. ■ Not that you'd have any possible way to see it, but this evening Pluto is less than 1° from Venus, 100 times farther in the background. It will continue to do so into the beginning of January. Venus, on the other hand, is enlarging while becoming a thinner, more dramatic crescent. Jupiter and Saturn are far past opposition, so don't be disappointed by the less-than-optimal telescopic views. As twilight fades, dimmer Saturn emerges between them. ■ Venus and Jupiter continue to blaze during and after twilight in the southwest and south-southwest, respectively. ■ Algol, high overhead in Perseus after dark, should be at minimum light (magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1) for a couple hours centered on its mid-eclipse time of 8:27 p.m. At dusk the Moon shines far off the upper-left end of the Venus-Saturn-Jupiter line, turning it into an immense, gently curving series of four objects. ■ First-quarter Moon tonight (exactly so at 8:36 p.m. For the world's mid-northern latitudes, tomorrow morning is your last chance to catch it at peak brightness in a dark sky. Later this week the comet will reappear very low in the west during evening twilight see December 16th below. On Sunday morning the 12th Comet Leonard may be just a trace brighter, but it'll be much lower and more involved in morning twilight. Use the finder chart at the bottom of See Comet Leonard at its Best to help you locate the exact place among the stars you need to examine. You'll almost certainly need binoculars or a wide-field telescope to detect it. The comet will be about 10° above horizontal. Go out just before the very first light of dawn, meaning about 90 or 100 minutes before your sunrise time. ■ Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) is right now at its best! It's about magnitude 5.5, low due east tomorrow morning the 11th.
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