“December meteor shower, lunar eclipse, Jupiter views - AZCentral.com” |
| December meteor shower, lunar eclipse, Jupiter views - AZCentral.com Posted: 24 Nov 2010 01:24 PM PST by John Stanley - Nov. 24, 2010 02:26 PM December brings stargazers a sleighful of astronomical gifts, among them a lovely lunar eclipse, terrific views of Jupiter and an always reliable meteor shower. One of the best lunar eclipses in several years (at least for observers in North America) starts around 11 p.m. Dec. 20 and ends about 3:30 a.m. Dec. 21. During totality (12:41 a.m.-1:53 a.m. Dec. 21), the moon may appear brick red, cuprous orange or dull brown, depending on atmospheric conditions. Lunar eclipses are striking to the naked eye, and riveting when viewed through a telescope, as the dark line of Earth's shadow creeps across feature after feature on the moon's surface. Meteors One of the strongest and most reliable annual meteor showers takes place in mid-December. Astronomers expect the peak of the Geminid meteor shower to occur around 4 a.m. Dec. 14. But you're likely to see some Geminids any time after dusk on the 13th through dawn on the 14th. You may even spot a few on the evening of the 14th. The Geminids appear to radiate out of the constellation Gemini, which, in December, rises a couple of hours after sunset and is high in the west-northwest before sunrise. From an urban back yard, you may see 30 to 60 meteors an hour. You'll see far more if you observe from a dark location. Because you don't need any special equipment, viewing meteor showers can be a fun activity for friends and families. Dress warmly, make some hot chocolate, lie back on a blanket or reclining lawn chair and enjoy the show. Planets Jupiter, always a terrific sight through a telescope, is particularly well-positioned for evening viewing throughout December. You can't miss it - just look for the big, bright "star" in the southeast after sunset. Its four largest moons are visible with binoculars, and even modest backyard telescopes will reveal several of Jupiter's atmospheric bands, which appear as faint, parallel rows of pink and cream. Venus is the startlingly bright "star" in the southeast before sunrise. Solstice Winter officially arrives - for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere - at 4:38 p.m. Dec. 21. Spaceflight anniversary 1968 was a rough year for America: the Tet offensive in January, the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in April and of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in June, rioting outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August. But Apollo 8 gave the nation a reason to rejoice when it slipped into lunar orbit on Christmas Eve. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders made 10 orbits of the moon and shot the iconic photo of the Earth rising over the lunar horizon. Their Christmas Eve reading from the Book of Genesis was, at the time, the nation's most watched TV broadcast. Commander Borman gave his audience goose bumps with his benediction: "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas and God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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