Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday December 11 through Sunday December 17.
The new moon for the month of December is on Tuesday the 12th and then we’ll have a waxing crescent moon in the early evening skies for the remainder of the week.
Mercury is sinking back towards the sun after greatest elongation last week and is setting at 6:35 p.m., about an hour after the sun.
Saturn is up in the southwest as the sky darkens after sunset and is setting at 10:50 p.m. at midweek. Look for Saturn next to the crescent moon on Sunday evening.
Jupiter is shining brightly high in the east-southeast shortly after sunset and is setting at 3:50 a.m. at midweek.
In the morning skies, Venus is rising at 4:05 a.m., a little over three hours before sunrise.
The Geminids meteor shower peaks on the night of Thursday the 14th and this year, it comes just two days after the new moon, giving us good viewing conditions. The Geminids get their name because they appear to come from a point in the constellation Gemini, which is fully above the eastern horizon by 8:00 p.m. The meteors are caused by the Earth passing through the debris left by the object 3200 Phaethon, which may be a Palladian asteroid, and can have about 120 meteors an hour around the peak and under optimal conditions.
In space anniversaries this week, Monday December 11 marks 25 years since the launch of the Mars Climate Orbiter mission. The spacecraft was due to go into orbit around Mars on September 23, 1999, but contact was lost with the satellite as orbital insertion began. An investigation later reveal that the failure was probably due to a mismatch between imperial and metric units in two software systems.
Public viewing on UT Campus telescopes has finished for the Fall 2023 semester. Spring 2024 semester viewing will start in the second half of January. Please check back for details on starting dates and times.
Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers Report.
