[The Month's Sky]
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Monthly Skywatchers' PageFor London and the UKThe Sun and eight major planets (plus KBO Pluto) to scale. Earth is third planet from the left.
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The planets resemble stars except that, generally, they do not twinkle. Unlike the stars whose patterns are fixed, planets wander through the sky changing their positions amongst the starry background. This means that their periods of visibility change as the relative position of the Earth, Sun and planet vary. In one year Mars may be visible in August at midnight. In another year it may be behind the Sun and invisible from Earth during August.
This page gives the details of visibility for the five naked eye planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. It also gives information about comets, meteor showers and non-regular phenomena like eclipses, transits and occultations.
The Observers' Glossary explains the terms used. Alternatively run the mouse cursor over terms in maroon.
All times on this page are London (UK) times. This is normally GMT (Greenwich Mean Time also known as Universal Time).
In the United Kingdom, the clocks go forward by one hour for British Summer Time (BST) between mid March and late October.
A 24 hour clock is used so that 7pm is written 19:00.
The planet will be setting in the South West about an hour and a half after the Sun and will be visible low above the horizon about 30 minutes after sunset.
Look for the planet on 24th above the thin crescent Moon. In the last week of the month Mercury will be joined by the more brilliant Venus, the two planets being at their closest on 29th.
In the last week of the month, Venus begins to appear in the evening sky close to Mercury. The two planets will be close to the Moon on 24th.
This is the beginning of a good evening appearance of the brightest planet, especially during the Winter and early Spring and will include conjunctions with Saturn and Jupiter, the latter being an eye catching close approach of the two brightest planets.
Mars is magnificently placed as far North as it can be among the stars of Taurus and above the distinctive Winter constellation of Orion.
The planet is now unmistakeable with its red colour obvious.
Mars is moving retrograde (from left to right as seen from the Northern Hemisphere) and will be seen to retrace its movement back towards the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters and the brightest star of Taurus, Aldebaran.
Mars will be seen close to the Full Moon on 8th.
Around 5am on the night of the 7th / 8th the planet will be occulted (covered) by the Moon for an hour, a rare event. Mars will take over 30 seconds to disappear behind the Moon. Binoculars may be helpful due to the glare of the Moon.
The entire occultation will be visible in the North West from the UK.
Jupiter will be above the Moon on 2nd.
Even a small telescope will show the four largest of its Moons, changing positions from night to night.
By the end of the month, Jupiter will be setting before midnight.
The planet sets around 9pm at the beginning of the month. Look for Saturn above the Moon on 26th.
By the end of the month the planet will be setting around 8pm.
This continues until 21:48 on 21 December, the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. This is the time of the Winter Solstice. On this day the Sun will be above the horizon for less than 7 hours 50 minutes, less than 30 percent of the 24 hours of a calendar day.
On the shortest day the Sun at noon will be only 15 degrees above the horizon as seen from London. Compare this to 62 degrees in June. The Sun is barely getting above the trees at this time of year. The low Sun and the few hours of daylight are the reasons the days are cold at this time of year.
The time of midday (when the Sun is due South and at its highest) begins December at 11:49. During the month, the time of midday moves forward reaching 12:00 on 24th and 25th. On these days, Sun Time is equal to Clock Time. This only happens four times a year. By the end of the month midday will be occurring at 12:03.
The fact that the time of midday is moving forward during the month has two effects. The shortest day is on 21st but the earliest sunset (15:51) is on 13th, eight days earlier. Also the latest sunrise (08:06) is at the end of December. This happens because the times of sunrise and sunset are almost stationary relative to the time of midday because we have reached the shortest day. The movement of midday forward is dragging these times forward with it.
The Sun begins December in Ophiuchus remaining in this constellation (which is ignored by astrologers) until 18th when it "enters" Sagittarius.
2000 years ago when the current Zodiac constellations were finalised by the Romans, the Winter Solstice began with the Sun among the stars of Capricornus (or Capricorn), hence the name of the Southern Tropic. After 2000 years the dates have drifted back by one day every 70 years. In 2022 the Winter Solstice occurs with the Sun "in" Sagittarius
Note that the astronomical Zodiac dates (the actual Zodiac dates that you can see by observation) do not tie in with astrology as astrologers are using dates from two thousand years ago.
Date | Sunrise | Midday | Sunset | Length of Day | Sun's Noon Altitude | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
01-Dec |
07:43 |
11:49 |
15:54 |
08h 11m |
16.7° |
|
02-Dec |
07:45 |
11:49 |
15:54 |
08h 09m |
16.6° |
Moon close to Jupiter |
03-Dec |
07:46 |
11:50 |
15:53 |
08h 07m |
16.4° |
|
04-Dec |
07:47 |
11:50 |
15:53 |
08h 05m |
16.3° |
|
05-Dec |
07:48 |
11:51 |
15:52 |
08h 03m |
16.1° |
|
06-Dec |
07:50 |
11:51 |
15:52 |
08h 02m |
16.0° |
|
07-Dec |
07:51 |
11:51 |
15:52 |
08h 00m |
15.9° |
8 hour day |
08-Dec |
07:52 |
11:52 |
15:51 |
07h 59m |
15.8° |
Full Moon at 04:08 (Taurus) Opposition of Mars Occultation of Mars (UK) |
09-Dec |
07:53 |
11:52 |
15:51 |
07h 57m |
15.7° |
|
10-Dec |
07:54 |
11:53 |
15:51 |
07h 56m |
15.6° |
|
11-Dec |
07:55 |
11:53 |
15:51 |
07h 55m |
15.5° |
|
12-Dec |
07:56 |
11:54 |
15:51 |
07h 54m |
15.5° |
|
13-Dec |
07:57 |
11:54 |
15:51 |
07h 53m |
15.4° |
Earliest sunset |
14-Dec |
07:58 |
11:55 |
15:51 |
07h 52m |
15.3° |
|
15-Dec |
07:59 |
11:55 |
15:51 |
07h 51m |
15.3° |
|
16-Dec |
08:00 |
11:56 |
15:51 |
07h 51m |
15.2° |
Morning Half Moon 8am sunrise |
17-Dec |
08:01 |
11:56 |
15:51 |
07h 50m |
15.2° |
|
18-Dec |
08:01 |
11:57 |
15:52 |
07h 50m |
15.2° |
|
19-Dec |
08:02 |
11:57 |
15:52 |
07h 50m |
15.1° |
|
20-Dec |
08:03 |
11:58 |
15:52 |
07h 49m 48s |
15.1° |
|
21-Dec |
08:03 |
11:58 |
15:53 |
07h 49m 42s |
15.1° |
Winter Solstice at 21:48 (shortest day) |
22-Dec |
08:04 |
11:59 |
15:53 |
07h 49m 42s |
15.1° |
|
23-Dec |
08:04 |
11:59 |
15:54 |
07h 49m 49s |
15.1° |
New Moon at 10:17 (Sagittarius) |
24-Dec |
08:05 |
12:00 |
15:55 |
07h 50m |
15.1° |
Moon close to Mercury and Venus |
25-Dec |
08:05 |
12:00 |
15:55 |
07h 50m |
15.2° |
Midday at 12:00 |
26-Dec |
08:05 |
12:01 |
15:56 |
07h 50m |
15.2° |
Moon close to Saturn |
27-Dec |
08:05 |
12:01 |
15:57 |
07h 51m |
15.2° |
|
28-Dec |
08:06 |
12:02 |
15:58 |
07h 52m |
15.3° |
|
29-Dec |
08:06 |
12:02 |
15:58 |
07h 52m |
15.3° |
Mercury close to Venus |
30-Dec |
08:06 |
12:02 |
15:59 |
07h 53m |
15.4° |
Evening Half Moon |
31-Dec |
08:06 |
12:03 |
16:00 |
07h 54m |
15.5° |
Latest sunrise |
The Moon will be close to Mars on 8th (occultation).
The Moon will be close to Mercury on 24th.
The Moon will be close to Venus on 24th.
The Moon will be close to Saturn on 26th.
This month's Full Moon occurs on 8th.
The Full Moon is always opposite the Sun. The Sun is at its lowest for the Northern Hemisphere on 21st. This month's Full Moon will be very high in the sky.
The Moon will rise in the North East and will climb very high above the southern horizon setting in the North West.
Binoculars will be helpful to see the planet close to the almost full Moon and to follow it as it disappears behind the Moon. A telescope will show the red planet "setting" behind the cratered lunar "horizon". The following table lists the times of the occultation from London.
For other parts of the UK the times will vary by a few minutes.
Place | Time of disappearance (GMT) |
Time of reappearance (GMT) |
---|---|---|
London | 04:57 | 05:57 |
It is easy to depend on astronomy or CMMS software to perform daily computational activities and to keep track of data. Astronomy enthusiasts can choose from a wide variety of software options, while facility managers may have fewer options if they require CMMS software for their business.
All times on this page are London (UK) times.
Sources: Astronomy Now magazine, Cybersky, Starry Night Pro, USA Naval Observatory and UK Nautical Almanac Office.
© 2022 KryssTal
All sky images by Starry Night Pro Plus 6
Eclipse predictions (maps) courtesy of Fred Espenak, NASA's GSFC
StarDate Online
An excellent online skywatchers' magazine featuring detailed monthly information about astronomical events.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
A different image each day with an extensive archive and explanations.
Telescope House
A London based source of astronomical equipment, telescopes, software, maps and books.
Starry Night Pro
Superb planetarium software. Simulate the sky from anywhere on the Earth and any time.