Abstract
THE moon is full on Dec. 3d. 20h. 51m. U.T. and new on Dec. 18d. lOh. 20m. Lunar conjunctions with the planets occur on the following dates: Saturn on Dec. 2d. 9h., Saturn 2° N.; Jupiter on Dec. 4d. 7h., Jupiter 4° N.; Venus on Dec. 21d. 16h., Venus 4° S.; Mars on Dec. 26d. 22h., Mars 4° N.; Saturn on Dec. 29d. llh., Saturn 2° N.; Jupiter on Dec. 31d. 7h., Jupiter 4° N. Jupiter is in opposition to the sun on Dec. 8, and on Dec. 29 Venus attains its greatest brilliancy; the planet is then 38 million miles from the earth. Mercury is a morning star until Dec. 21, then an evening star. Venus, Mars, Saturn and Uranus are evening stars. Neptune is a morning star and Jupiter is a morning star until Dec. 7, then an evening star. The sun enters the sign Capricornus on Dec. 22, the winter solstice. About this time of the year we have the interesting phenomenon of the mornings decreasing in length while the afternoons and the whole periods from sunrise to sunset are increasing; this, as is well known, is due to the equation of time. The first magnitude star a Tauri (Aldebaran) is occulted on Dec. 30d. 22h. 23.4m., reappearance occurring at 23h. 46.6m. The Geminid meteor shower is active during Dec. 7–15, the radiant being close to a Geminorum. Many interesting objects can be seen during the month, such as the great nebulae of Orion and Andromeda, the open star clusters of Perseus, the Pleiades and the Hyades, and many well–known double stars and variable stars.
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The Night Sky in December. Nature 148, 659 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/148659d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/148659d0