View of the total solar eclipse from a commercial flight while overflying La Serena, Chile, on July ... [+]
What a month for sky-watchers! On December 18, 2021 NASA will launch its $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope, which looks set to spark a new era in astronomy. It’s going to be a nervous watch. That also applies to December 4’s total solar eclipse, which a few hundred people have traveled to Antarctica to witness. Add the possibility of a naked-eye comet, a parade of planets and a fabulous full “Cold Moon” rising and December should be quite the month for sky-watchers all around the world.
Here’s everything you need to know about the celestial highlights for December 2021:
1. A total solar eclipse
When: 07:33 Universal Time (02:33 a.m. EDT) on Saturday, December 4, 2021
Where: Antarctica
The Moon, will reach its New Moon phase—and be the closest New Moon of the 2021. A “Super New Moon,” if you will. As it reaches that “new” moment it will cross the face of the Sun to cause a total solar eclipse, though it will only be visible from Antarctica. Eclipse-chasers will be in planes above, and on expedition cruise ships on, the Scotia Sea. They’ll feel the Moon’s shadow rush towards them and the temperature drop while the light plunges to twilight. With naked eyes in clear skies they’ll see the last ray of sunlight form a beautiful “diamond ring” around the Moon before the big reveal of the Sun’s delicate ice-white corona spraying into space.
Totality will last for just under two minutes, depending on the exact location. Expect spectacular photography if there are holes in the clouds.
The "Bailey's Beads" effect is seen during a total solar eclipse viewed from the Lowell Observatory ... [+]
2. A parade of planets and the Moon
When: Just after sunset on December 6, 7, 8 and 9, 2021
Where: low on the western horizon
For three successive nights a slim crescent Moon will make its way past—and close to Venus (December 6), Saturn (December 7), sit between Saturn and Jupiter (December 8) and Jupiter (December 9).
A trio of Geminid meteors over the Chiricahua Mountains in southeast Arizona, with Orion and the ... [+]
3. Geminid meteor shower
When: Monday/Tuesday, December 13/14, 2021
Where: all-sky
The Geminid meteor shower is typically one of the astronomical highlights of the year. As well as being the most prolific and reliable display of shooting stars, it’s also the most colorful. This year its peak night is set to be drowned-out somewhat by a waxing gibbous Moon. However, despite less-than-ideal conditions, at least some of the 150 multicoloured “shooting stars” each hour should get through between late evening and dawn on December 13-14, 2021.
The Geminids are the result of a large astroid called 3200 Phaethon. Only discovered in 1983 and named after the son of Helios (the Greek god of the Sun), 3200 Phaethon is a near-Earth asteroid that orbits the sun every 1.4 years.
The full Cold Moon rises behind the EdgeNYC outdoor observation deck in New York City on December ... [+]
4. A ‘Cold Moon’ Rising
When: Sunday, December 19, 2021 (consult the moonrise and moonset times for your location)
Where: Rising in the east
Although a full Moon is a global event taking place at precisely the same time the world over, timezones mean that the moment of 100% illumination happens on Saturday, December 18, 2021 in North America. However, seeing the full Moon when it peaks at 100% illumination is missing the point—you want to witness a full moonrise just after sunset, which is when it’s at its most magical-looking. For North America that’s dusk on Sunday, December 19, 2021. Look to the northeast.
The mirror on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has 18 hexagonal-shaped mirror segments designed ... [+]
5. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launches
When: Saturday, December 18, 2021
Where: European Spaceport, French Guiana
The future of astronomy is in South America—for now. Having completed a 16-day ocean voyage that covered 5,800 miles/9,300 kilometers), the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is now in French Guiana, a French territory on South America's northeastern coast.
Once in space it will spend a decade, at least, observing the cosmos in infrared light. That will enable it to look 13 billion years into the past at light created just after the Big Bang. Cue the first stars and galaxies—and relative close-ups of exoplanets and their atmospheres.
But first comes the nail-biting launch. If it all goes well then Webb will begin a 29-day unfolding of its solar arrays and sunflower-like sunshade as it moves into position at the gravitationally stable Earth-sun Lagrange Point 2. That’s about a 930,000 miles/1.5 million kilometers from Earth ... so way too far away to ever be fixed. probably. Hence the nail-biter of a launch. This cannot go wrong.
Comet Neowise streaks over the ancient stone circle and lone silhouette figure in Wiltshire, UK A ... [+]
6. A ‘Christmas Comet?’
When: Pre-dawn before Sunday, December 12, 2021
Where: near Arcturus in the eastern night sky
Never predict that a comet will get bright enough to see with the naked eye! That’s the first rule about stargazing, and yet in the wake of 2020’s Comet NEOWISE there is a real possibility that Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) could become just that in mid-December.
Discovered in early 2021 by Greg Leonard at Arizona’s Mount Lemmon Observatory, this comer tis due to round the Sun on January 3, 2022 and get closest to Earth on December 12, 2021. It won’t be close—a massive 22 million miles/35 million kilometers, but it could be visible to the naked eye in time for Christmas. It’s going to be close to the bright star Arcturus, which is handy.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
