Astronomical phenomena December 2013

Calendar with astronomical events of December. The most important event for amateur astronomers this month should definitely be comet ISON which this month it would had make its appearance in our sky, most likely to be seen with the naked eye. But, on November 28, comet ISON in which we've put so much hope that it would be spectacular in the sky of December, suffered an "accident" at the meeting with Sun unfortunately. Best photos of the comet remained those from November.

03 december 2013 - New Moon. Moon will be between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth. This phase takes place at 00:22.




04 december 2013  - Moon at the Perigee  at 12:15 Moon reaches perigee, the closest point to Earth: 360,065 km from Earth.

13, 14 december 2013 - Geminid meteor shower- is considered by many to be the best meteor shower on the the sky. Geminids are known to produce up to 60 multicolored meteors per hour at their peak. Most usually appear on, or around 13 by December and 14, although some meteors should be visible between 06 and 19 December. They radiate from the constellation Gemini and originates from the asteroid 3200 Phaeton. This year, New Moon will guarantee a dark sky, so it would be a wonderful show. The best observation is to the east after midnight in a dark area.

17 december 2013 - Full Moon. Earth is between the Sun and the Moon and so the Moon will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth. This phase occurs at 09:28.


20 december 2013- Moon at the Apogee   at 1:49 Moon reaches apogee, the farthest point from Earth: 406,269 km from Earth.

21 december 2013 -The December solstice occurs at 13:12. South Pole of the Earth will be tilted towards the Sun, and will reach the most northern position in the sky. This makes it the first day of winter (winter solstice), the northern hemisphere, and the first day of summer (summer solstice), in the southern hemisphere.

22 december 2013 - Mercury at Aphelion . Mercury reaches the farthest point from the Sun at 02:00.


26 december 2013 - Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON), In December 26, 2013 will be closest to Earth, 64 million miles. The comet will be at perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 28 November 2013, at a distance of 0.012 AU (1.8 million km) from the center of the Sun.

29 december 2013 - Saturn 0.9 ° N of Moon, ocultation at  03:42.




Previous calendar:  Astronomical phenomena November 2013

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Astronomical phenomena November 2013

Calendar with astronomical events of November. The most important event for amateur astronomers this month will definitely be comet ISON which this month will make its appearance in our sky, most likely to be seen with the naked eye.


Early November: Comet ISON may be seen with the naked eye for observers.

 

01 november 2013  Venus reaches the highest elongation: 47.1°E at  11:00

03 november 2013 - New Moon. Moon will be between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth. This phase takes place at 12:50.



05 November 2013 - ISON crossing the border of the constellation Leo in Virgo.

06 november 2013  - Moon at the Perigee  at 11:28 Moon reaches perigee, the closest point to Earth: 365,362 km from Earth.

06 november 2013-  Saturn-Sun Conjunction  at 13:00.



08 november 2013  Mercury at Aphelion . Mercury reaches the farthest point from the Sun at 02:00.

 08 November 2013 - ISON passes through the equinoctial in Virgo.

17 november 2013 - Full Moon. Earth is between the Sun and the Moon and so the Moon will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth. This phase occurs at 15:16.

17, 18 november 2013 - Leonids - meteor shower.- Leonids meteor showers are one of the best for observation. You will see about 40 meteors per hour.Leonids have a cyclic peak year every 33 years when hundreds of meteors can be seen each hour. Last time this phenomenon occurred in 2001. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo after midnight and the meteors originates from the tail of the Comet Temple-Tuttle.

18 November 2013 - ISON pass just 0.38 degrees north of the bright star Spica.

18 november 2013  Mercury reaches the highest elongation: 19.5°W  at  04:00. 


22 november 2013  - Moon at the Apogee  at 11:50 Moon reaches apogee, the farthest point from Earth: 405,446 km from Earth.

22 November 2013 - ISON passes in the constellation Libra.


23 November 2013 - ISON  lies 4.7 degrees SSW of Mercury and 4.9 SW of Saturn.
25 November 2013 - ISON  visits another famous comet, passings just 1.2 degrees south of the comet 2P/Encke within which may shine at magnitude 8.

26 november 2013- Mercury - Saturn: 0.3° at  07:00.

27 November 2013 - ISON  enters SOHO's coronagraph LASCO C3.

28 November 2013 - ISON  reaches perihelion, the closest point to the Sun, at ~18:00 PM EST / 23:00 UT.

 Observing the planets:

Early evening: Venus, at south-west.

In the morning, before sunrise: at west, Jupiter, and Mars at east.

30 minutes before sunrise: Mercury and Saturn will be visible at the horizon to the east, starting November 20.

Sun:

November 22: Sun enters the astrological sign of Sagittarius

November 23: The Sun enters the astronomical constellation Scorpio

November 30: Sun enters the astronomical constellation Ophiuchus, the thirteenth constellation of the zodiac

Previous calendar:  Astronomical phenomena October 2013

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Astronomical phenomena October 2013

As an important astronomical event is the penumbra lunar eclipse on October 18, when it will be of course, Full Moon.
On October 13 is the Astronomy Day.



03 october 2013 -  Uranus in oposition..  The blue-green planet will be closest to Earth and it will be fully illuminated by the Sun. This is the best time to observe and photograph Uranus. Because of its distance, it will appear only as a small blue-green dot.

03 october 2013 -  Venus at the Aphelion . Venus reaches the farthest point from the Sun at 21:00.

05 october 2013 - New Moon. Moon will be between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth. This phase takes place at 00:34.



06 october 2013 - Mercury 3 ° S. of Moon.

07 october 2013 - Draconid Meteor shower. The Moon will be illuminated 5%.

09 october 2013 Mercury at the highest elongation:  25.3°E at 12:00.

10 october 2013 - Saturn 5.4 ° north of Mercury (conjunction).

11 october 2013 - Moon at the Perigee  at 1:06 Moon reaches perigee, the closest point to Earth: 369,813 km from Earth.

15 october 2013 - Mars - Regulus: 0.9°N at  05:51.

 

18 october 2013 - Full Moon. Earth is between the Sun and the Moon and so the Moon will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth. This phase occurs at 23:38.

18 october 2013 -  Penumbral Lunar Eclipse. The eclipse will be visible all over the world at 1:51 pm, except in Australia and extreme eastern Siberia.

21, 22 october 2013 - Orionid meteor shower. Orionids are a meteor shower of medium intensity, which produces about 20 meteors per hour. A good view is in any morning from October 20 to 24. The first Quarter Moon will set before midnight, leaving a dark sky. The best cardinal point to see will be to the east after midnight.Orionids originates from Comet Halley.


25 october 2013- Moon at the Apogee. at 4:25 p.m. the Moon will reach its peak, the farthest point from Earth: 404,561 km from Earth.

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Astronomical phenomena September 2013

On September 1, 2013 you will see the planet Jupiter over the Moon after 3am.

September 1 Jupiter-Moon

Venus conjunction with Spica on September 6, it will not be too much visible because both go down immediately after the Sun. The same situation will be when on September 8, Venus will be 0.4 degrees by the Moon.

September 8 Venus-Moon

 
 Conjunction of Mars and Beehive star cluster on September 8, will be visible after 3:30 am to the northeast.


On September 15, 2013, the Moon reaches perigee, the nearest point to Earth; the Moon can be seen all night and will be 80% sunlit as seen from Earth.

 This is how astronomical calendar of September 2013 looks like:

05 september 2013 - New Moon. Moon will be between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth. This phase takes place at 11:36.

06 september 2013 - Venus-Spica: 1.5°N at 02:37.




08 september 2013 - Mars - Beehive: 0.5°S la ora 12:00.

08 september 2013 - Venus 0.4 ° N of the Moon, occultation at 11:04 p.m..




15 september 2013  - Moon at the Perigee  at 6:34 p.m. reaches perigee, the closest point to Earth: 367,388 km from Earth.

19  september 2013 - Full Moon. Earth is between the Sun and the Moon and so the Moon will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth. This phase occurs at 11:13.


22 september 2013 - September Equinox.September Equinox occurs at 14:49 UT. The Sun will shine directly on the equator Days and nights will be almost equal in the whole world. This is also the first day of fall (autumn equinox) on the northern hemisphere, and the first day of spring (vernal equinox), in the southern hemisphere.

25 september 2013 - Mercury - Spica: 0.7°N at 00:29.

27 september 2013- Moon at the Apogee.  at 8:17 p.m. the Moon will reach its peak, the farthest point from Earth: 404,309 km from Earth.

To see August's astronomical calendar, visit Astronomical phenomena August 2013 .

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Astronomical phenomena August 2013

As an important event in this period, the Perseid mateor shower will reach its highest peaks on August 12, 13 . With the Moon being less than a week old and setting before midnight, this is a good year for the Perseids.
Venus stays low on the northwestern horizon for an hour after sunset.

This calendar will be modified with events which will appear in time, such as evolving asteroids or other objects in the sky.
Here's how it looks:

03 august 2013 - Moon at the Apogee.  at 10:53 Moon reaches apogee, the farthest point from Earth: 405,834 km from Earth.

06 august 2013 - New Moon. Moon will be between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth. This phase takes place at 21:51.



12 august 2013  Mercury at Aphelion . Mercury reaches the farthest point from the Sun at 03:00.

12.13 august 2013 - Perseid meteor shower.   Perseids are one of the best meteor showers that produce up to 60 meteors per hour at their peak hours. Radiant point is in the constellation Perseus, and the meteors originates from the tail of Swift-Tuttle Comet.Find a place away from city lights and look to the northeast after midnight.



19 august 2013 - Moon at the Perigee  at 3:26 Moon reaches perigee, the closest point to Earth: 362,265 km from Earth.

21 august 2013 - Full Moon. Earth is between the Sun and the Moon and so the Moon will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth. This phase occurs at 01:45.

27 august 2013 -  Neptune will be in oposition. The planet will be closest to Earth and it will be fully illuminated by the Sun. This is the best time to observe Neptune. Because of its distance, it will appear only as a tiny blue dot.


For those who like my astro pictures or my articles, it would be great if you could pay attention on advertising that appear in the blog by a click and maybe one day I could buy a better telescope.

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