Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday December 18, 2023 through Monday January 1, 2024.
The moon is at first quarter on Tuesday the 19th and then we’ll have a waxing gibbous moon until it reaches full on the night of December 26th. After the full moon, we’ll have a waning gibbous moon through the end of the year. The full moon of December is known as the Long Night Moon and the Moon Before Yule.
Mercury is at inferior conjunction on the 22nd when the planet will move between the Earth and Sun and then will begin to emerge in our morning skies.
Saturn ends the year in the southwest at sunset and is setting at 10:35 p.m. on December 18 and at 9:45 p.m. by year’s end.
Jupiter is high in the south as the sky darkens after sunset and is setting at 3:30 a.m. on the 18th and at 2:40 a.m. by the 31st. Look for Jupiter near the moon on the nights of the 21st and 22nd.
In the morning skies, Venus is rising at 4:15 a.m. on December 18th and at 4:35 a.m. at the end of the year.
Mars is still emerging from solar conjunction and will finish the year rising just 50 minutes before the sun.
The winter solstice for the northern hemisphere occurs at 9:27 p.m. central standard time on December 21 and marks the shortest amount of daylight of the year. For Austin, there will be 10 hours and 11 minutes of sunlight that day, compared to 14 hours and six minutes at the summer solstice.
In space anniversaries for the latter part of December, the 21st through 27th mark 55 years since the Apollo 8 mission took the humans to the moon for the first time. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders launched on December 21st on a Saturn V rocket, the first crewed mission to use that launch vehicle. The crew entered orbit around the Moon on the morning of December 24th and circled the Moon for 20 hours before beginning the return to the Earth. During orbit, the astronauts also became the first humans to witness Earthrise. The mission concluded by splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on December 27, 1968.
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.
