EYES TO THE SKY
December 9-22, 2019
Venus and Saturn, Full Cold Moon Winter Solstice
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Today’s sunset, earliest of the year, down to the second, is at 4:28:30pm. Sunset time is seconds later beginning tomorrow, until it is nearly one minute later, 4:29:27 on December 15. Afternoons will be noticeably lighter by month’s end. Sunrise today, 7:08:02, is 12 minutes earlier than the latest sunrise, 7:20:13 on January 6.
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By week’s end, Jupiter is going bye-bye and Venus is closing in on Saturn. (The blue 10 degree scale is about the width of your fist at arm’s length.)
Courtesy of SkyandTelescope.com
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By about 5pm tonight, planet Venus’ light appears as the Evening Star in the afterglow of sunset above the southwestern horizon. Also following in the path of the Sun, planet Jupiter, below and to the right of Venus, is dimmer and closer to the Sun. Binoculars will help locate Jupiter before it sets at 5:29pm today; it will soon disappear from view. Saturn, dim compared to Venus, is a few degrees above Venus today and closest to the Evening Star tomorrow and Wednesday. Going forward, Venus climbs higher above the skyline and Saturn loses altitude. Venus sets at 6:31pm this evening; Saturn at 6:46pm.
December’s Full Cold Moon reaches full phase at 12:12am EST on the 12th.
Rising and setting times for horizon views follow. Plan to meet the round moon glistening with reflected sunlight when it rises at 4:18pm on Wednesday the 11th, sets at 7:26am on the 12th, and rises again that evening at 5:04pm. Find a location with unobstructed visibility to both the east and west to enjoy the thrill of observing sunrise opposite moonset and moonrise opposite sunset.
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December 10.
Courtesy of EarthSky.org
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The Winter Solstice occurs at 11:19pm EST on Saturday, December 21. Observe sunrise at its furthest south of east location for the year and sunset furthest south of west. Appreciate the Sun’s short arc above the horizon. Savor daylight – 9 hours and 16 minutes – and the longest night of the year, close to 15 hours of darkness.
Be vigilant about protecting the night from light pollution. Switch off lights between uses. Shade windows. Prevent light trespass.
Join the work of New York IDA, http://nyida.org/
a chapter of the International Dark Sky Association https://www.darksky.org/
Judy Isacoff