The march of Jupiter and Saturn towards the sun in December 2019 continues with Jupiter in conjunction – disappearing directly behind the Sun - on December 27 and Saturn on January 13. Both will begin to be visible before sunrise in the southeast by the end of the month.
Venus is continuing its climb into the evening sky and is an easy target all month after sunset. There is an interesting animation of Venus’s path through the evening sky at https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/tracking-venus-in-late-2019-and-early-20. Since Venus moves more quickly than the Earth, it will reach its greatest eastern elongation March 24, then start moving westward again and will pass between Earth and Sun on June 3. It will be possible to see the phases of Venus with a small telescope or even good binoculars by about mid-March. For the sake of your eyesight, however, do not attempt to use a scope or binoculars until the Sun has completely set.
The Geminid meteors were supposed to show up from the 4th through the 16th of December but we were clouded out every night. We get another shot early in January, however; the Quadrantids are forecast to peak the night of Jan. 3. They should radiate from a point in the east, below the end of the handle of the Big Dipper. No visual aids are required, only warm clothing and a good view of the whole sky. Midnight to dawn is recommended. Another interesting website can be found at: www.heavens-above.com. You can generate sky maps for any place and time, track satellites and much more. Simply use Google maps to get your latitude and longitude and enter them at the bottom of the “change location” page. Just remember to enter longitudes west of Greenwich as negative numbers.
– Richard Corbet, Sunshine Coast Astronomy Club
