| 1 |
First
Quarter Moon
at 6:15 UT. |
| 2 |
Moon
at apogee
(farthest from Earth) at 20h UT (distance 404,579 km; angular
size 29.5'). |
| 3 |
Moon
near Jupiter
(evening sky) at 0h UT. Mag. -2.6. |
| 4 |
Quadrantid
Meteor Shower
peaks at 7h UT. Active between December 28 and January 12.
Produces up to 120 meteors per hour. Radiant is in northern Boφtes.
Low moonlight makes for very favorable viewing conditions this
year.
The
Quadrantids (Gary Kronk)
The
Quadrantids (IMO) |
| 5 |
Earth
at Perihelion
(closest to Sun) at 1h UT. The Sun-Earth distance is 0.983284
a.u. or 147.1 million kilometers.
Sun
at Aphelion and Perihelion (Anthony Ayiomamitis) |
| 5 |
Moon
near the Pleiades
(evening sky) at 10h UT. |
| 6 |
Moon
near Aldebaran
(evening sky) at 6h UT. |
| 9 |
Full
Moon
at 7:31 UT.
Full
Moon Names (Wikipedia) |
| 10 |
Moon
near Beehive cluster
(morning sky) at 19h UT. |
| 12 |
Moon
near Regulus
(morning sky) at 9h UT. |
| 13 |
Friday-the-13th,
supposed to be unlucky. There are three Friday-13ths in 2012, 13
weeks apart from each other. Also, Friday falls on the 13th more
often than any other day of the week.
Friday
the 13th (Wikipedia) |
| 14 |
Moon
near Mars
at 1h UT (morning sky). Mag. -0.1. |
| 16 |
Moon
near Spica
(morning sky) at 5h UT. |
| 16 |
Last
Quarter Moon
at 9:08 UT. |
| 16 |
Moon
near Saturn
(morning sky) at 17h UT. Mag. +0.6. |
| 17 |
Moon
at perigee
(closest to Earth) at 21h UT (369,886 km; 32.3'). |
| 19 |
Moon
near Antares
(morning sky) at 12h UT. |
| 23 |
New
Moon
at 7:40 UT. Start of lunation 1102.
Lunation
Number (Wikipedia) |
| 26 |
Moon
near Venus
(39° from Sun, evening sky) at 14h UT. Mag. -4.1. |
| 30 |
Moon
near Jupiter
(evening sky) at 12h UT. Mag. -2.4. |
| 30 |
Moon
at apogee
(farthest from Earth) at 18h UT (distance 404,323 km; angular
size 29.6'). |
| 31 |
First
Quarter Moon
at 4:10 UT. |
|
The Zodiacal
Light
is caused by sunlight reflected off meteoric dust in the plane
of the solar system. Choose a clear, moonless night, about 1-2
hours after sunset, and look for a large triangular-shaped glow
extending up from the horizon (along the ecliptic). The best
months to view the Zodiacal Light is when the ecliptic is almost
vertical at the horizon: March and April (evening) and
October-November (morning); times reversed for the southern
hemisphere.
Zodiacal
Light (Wikipedia)
Astronomy
Picture of the Day (APOD)
Photographing
the Zodiacal Light (Weatherscapes) |
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