22 | THE COLONY NEWS | DECEMBER 2022 |
By Mike Vergara, 951- 461-2889
Has it really been a whole 'nother year? Time keeps
on slippin' slippin' slippin' into the future.
We've had the two largest planets in the sky for
quite a while. Jupiter and Saturn are still there for your
stargazing pleasure, and they will soon be joined by
another. The Red Planet, Mars, will be at "opposition"
on Wednesday, Dec. 7.
Opposition, as I've explained before, is when a
planet is directly opposite the sun in our sky. It's also
when a planet is closest to Earth and is the best time
for observing that planet. Mars is also in a period of
retrograde motion, where it appears to be moving
backwards against the background stars. This period
of backwards movement started in October and will
end in January.
And there's more! On the same night as Mars' full
opposition, the "Full Cold Moon" will eclipse Mars in the
sky. Just after 6:30 pm on that night, when the pair are
just about 23° above the horizon to the east-northeast,
Mars will slip behind the moon. The moon's movement
will keep Mars covered for about an hour, then it will
reappear starting around 7:25 pm.
Speaking of the Moon, other names for the December
full moon include "Full Snow Moon," "Moon Before Yule,"
and "Long Night Moon."
Finally, there's the last meteor shower of the year.
December hosts the "Geminids" meteor shower, which
always has a lot of bright, white meteors streaking
across the sky. With a late-rising, 3rd quarter moon
being up around the same time, watching may not be
as good as some years. But there will be meteors all
night long, so be sure to look up.
I hope everyone here in The Colony has a safe and
Happy New Year!
Visit http://skymaps.com/index.html to print your
own map of the sky for the month. For information
about satellites or the ISS, go to https://heavens-
above.com.
Clear skies!
december Sky december Sky
Lillian Price
In Memoriam
