december 2008 night sky

the night sky welcomes us to the month of december with an alignment of two very bright "stars" (the planets venus and jupiter) and the moon. on DECEMBER 1, look up to spot a small crescent moon right next to venus (the brighter planet) and jupiter!


the first day of winter (summer) in the northern (southern) hemisphere occurs on DECEMBER 21 at 7:00 EST with the solstice!

the ursid meteor shower occurs this month on DECEMBER 22. look towards the north (the direction that the spoon of the big dipper opens up to)...


jupiter continues its venture down along the ecliptic so that on DECEMBER 31, jupiter will be about a degree away from mercury in the night sky. enjoy!