![]() ![]() All four will remain visible all evening, as no occultations or transits are taking place right now.Ĭomet C/2020 V2 (ZTF) continues its trek near the North Celestial Pole, now 5° from Polaris and less than 4° from the open cluster NGC 188 this evening. Its four Galilean moons are on ready display, with Europa (farthest) and Io to the west, and Ganymede (closest) and Callisto to the east. Through a telescope, the gas giant spans an impressive 40″. There, magnitude –2.4 Jupiter hangs in Pisces, sitting left (southeast) of the Circlet asterism. You can easily catch a glimpse of the solar system’s other gas giant, Jupiter, by simply looking to the pair’s upper left (east). Third-magnitude Deneb Algedi sits between the Moon and Saturn the planet will appear brighter than the star, helping you identify them correctly. Readily visible is the large, round Sea of Crises, whose dark, lava-flooded floor is now fully illuminated by the Sun. The Moon, which sits to the planet’s left (southeast) in the evening, is now 18 percent lit, showing off more of its eastern limb (which appears west in the sky). ![]() Saturn, now magnitude 0.8, is a gorgeous telescope target with rings stretching 36″ across. You can spot the pair, located in Capricornus, above the southwestern horizon after dark. The Moon passes 4° south of Saturn at 11 A.M. Magnitude 4.6 S Monocerotis is at the base of the trunk, while 7th-magnitude HD 47887 marks the sparkling “star” at the top of the tree. Note that the tree may appear upside-down through your optics, with the top of the tree just meeting the trip of the Cone Nebula. You’ll likely see it as a fuzzy glow to the lower right of Alzirr binoculars or a telescope will bring out some 10 or 15 stars, which through a telescope will form up into the rough shape of a triangular Christmas tree, including the trunk. The Christmas Tree Cluster shines at magnitude 3.9, making it a nice naked-eye target in dark skies. NGC 2264 sits just over 3° south-southwest of magnitude 3.4 Alzirr (Xi Geminornum). local time but if possible, give it an hour or two to climb above the turbulent air at the horizon before searching out our quarry. The region rises in the east around 6 P.M. You’ll find it in northwestern Monoceros the Unicorn, near the feet of Gemini the Twins. This conifer-shaped grouping of stars lies within NGC 2264, which encompasses both the cluster and the Cone Nebula. Tonight is the perfect night to step outside and enjoy the Christmas Tree Cluster shining in the sky. Train your scope along the delicate lit edge of the Moon to enjoy the play of light and shadow along the rugged landscape slowly revealed by the terminator separating night and day. Venus, by contrast, is almost fully lit (97%) and stretches 10″ in width. Through a telescope, Mercury’s disk appears 7″ across and is nearly half (49 percent) lit. Mercury, at magnitude –0.5, is to the Moon’s upper right, while Venus (magnitude –3.9) is to our satellite’s lower right together the three form a triangle against the fading twilight. EST, the Moon stands east of Mercury and Venus in the southwestern sky some 30 minutes after sunset. After passing 3° south of Venus at 6 A.M. ![]() At that time, our satellite will be 222,619 miles (358,271 kilometers) away.Īlthough now just a thin crescent, the Moon will take part this evening in a beautiful tableau. The Moon reaches perigee, the closest point to Earth in its orbit, at 3:27 A.M. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. *Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. ![]() Today, nestled in the center of the mess is the Crab pulsar, a rapidly spinning neutron star born from the crushed core of a once-brightly shining sun. That supernova was so bright that it outshone Venus and was visible during the day for nearly a month. This seemingly innocuous glow is the guts of a massive star whose supernova was seen in the sky in the year A.D. You’ll likely see an oval-shaped smudge of light, like a faint fingerprint - but don’t let that disappoint you. Despite the amazingly detailed pictures you may be used to seeing, though, don’t expect too much from your telescope. (Though if you can manage it, larger telescopes will make this object easier to find by gathering more of its light.) Shining at magnitude 8, the Crab stretches about 6′ by 4′ oriented northwest to southeast and has a relatively high surface brightness. In such a dark sky, even a 3-inch scope should net the Crab for you. Wait for full dark, then swing your scope just over 1° northwest of 3rd-magnitude Alheka, which marks the tip of the Bull’s easternmost horn. Let’s start the week at the top of the Messier catalog: M1, more famously known as the Crab Nebula, is rising in Taurus at sunset. ![]()
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