Bootleg Astronomers

1	Moon near Saturn (22¡ from Sun, morning sky) at 8h UT. Mag. +0.6.
1	Moon near Mercury (15¡ from Sun, morning sky) at 23h UT. Mag. -0.7.
3	New Moon at 00:21 UT. Start of lunation 1125. • Lunation Number (Wikipedia)
4	Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) at 10h UT (360,067 km; angular size 33.2').
5	Moon near Venus (40¡ from Sun, evening sky) at 22h UT. Mag. -4.7.
9	First Quarter Moon at 15:12 UT.
10	Venus brightest at 2h UT. Mag. -4.7.
14	Geminid Meteor Shower peaks at 6h UT. Most active for 21 hours from 13h UT Dec 13. Produces bright, medium-speed meteors at its peak (up to 80 meteors/hour). Major meteor shower. Easy to observe (radiant shown on sky map). Best seen after midnight. Moonlight makes viewing conditions less than ideal this year. • Observing the Geminids (Gary Kronk) • Meteor Shower Calendar (IMO)
15	Moon near the Pleiades (evening sky) at 5h UT.
16	Moon near Aldebaran (evening sky) at 2h UT.
17	Full Moon at 9:28 UT.
19	Moon near Jupiter (morning sky) at 4h UT. Mag. -2.7.
20	Moon at apogee (farthest from Earth) at 0h UT (distance 406,269 km; angular size 29.4').
20	Moon near Beehive Cluster (morning sky) at 23h UT.
21	December solstice at 17:11 UT. The time when the Sun reaches the point farthest south of the celestial equator marking the start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere. • December Solstice (Wikipedia)
22	Moon near Regulus (morning sky) at 21h UT.
25	Last Quarter Moon at 13:49 UT.
26	Moon near Mars (morning sky) at 0h UT. Mag. +0.9.
27	Moon very near Spica (morning sky) at 2h UT. Occultation visible from NW Asia and Scandinavia. • Occultation of Spica (US Naval Observatory) • Occultation of Spica (IOTA)
29	Moon near Saturn (47¡ from Sun, morning sky) at 0h UT. Mag. +0.6.
30	Moon near Antares (morning sky) at 8h UT.

>>> All times Universal Time (UT). USA Central Standard Time = UT-6 hours. (DST = UT-5 hrs,)

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)