The Sky This Week, 2013 December 10 - 17 Moon-washed meteors and winter's brightest lights.

The Moon moves from autumn's dim constellations to the bright stars of
the Great Winter Circle this week. She also waxes through the gibbous
phases to Full Moon, which occurs on the 17th at 4:28 am Eastern
Standard Time. Her bright light drowns out all but the brightest
object in the sky, but fortunately at this time of the year we have
many bright objects to enjoy in her glow. December's Full Moon is
variously known as the Cold Moon, the Long Night Moon, and the Moon
Before Yule. She seems to draw more attention than usual at this time
of the year due to her persistence in the sky on the year's longest
nights as well as her high declination in the northern sky. Look for
the Pleiades star cluster about six degrees north of Luna on the
evening of the 14th. On the following night she passes just two
degrees north of the bright star Aldebaran in Taurus, the Bull.

Luna's presence puts something of a damper on the annual Geminid
meteor shower, which should be at its peak in the early morning hours
of the 14th. Over the past several years this has been the most
dependable annual meteor display, with single observers in dark
locations able to spot some 50 meteors per hour. This year the waxing
gibbous moon will limit dark-sky visibility to the hour or two before
dawn on the 13th, but for those of you willing to brave the chill it
should be a fine display. This is one of the few annual showers whose
radiant rises well before midnight, so if you're willing to peer
through the moonlight you can expect to see a half-dozen meteors per
hour after around 10:00 pm. The shower is active for several days on
either side of the peak, so if you missed them on the night of the
13th/14th you should still see a few the next night. The Geminids
seem to be a relatively new shower, having first been identified in
the 1860's. Their hourly rate steadily increased from about a dozen
per hour to around 80 by the close of the 20th Century. For the past
dozen years they have stabilized at the current rate of 50-60 per
hour. They are associated with the unusual asteroid (3200) Phaethon,
the only meteor shower known that's not associated with a periodic
comet.
In these last frantic weeks before the holidays many of us will be out
running errands, visiting friends, and gathering with our families.
The late evening hours are a perfect time for a short stroll before
bed to work out the last of the day's kinks and to stop and have a few
moments of peace under the stars. By 10:00 pm the winter
constellations will be commanding your attention in the southeastern
sky, led by the striking figure of Orion, The Hunter. Orion's stars
blaze with a distinct bluish color with the exception of one, the star
that marks the Hunter's shoulder, Betelgeuse. This star has a
distinctive ruddy hue that sets it off from its companions.
Betelgeuse is red because it is a highly evolved star that's reaching
the twilight of its years. Changes in its internal structure have
caused it to swell to gargantuan proportions; if it were to occupy the
Sun's place in our solar system the Earth would be orbiting inside its
outer layers! This vast surface area thus glows with a cooler red
light than the surfaces of the younger blue supergiant stars that
populate the rest of the Hunter's figure.

Surrounding Betelgeuse are a dozen more bright luminaries from several
different constellations. In fact, nine of the 25 brightest stars in
the sky may be found gracing our longest nights.

The brightest object in this part of the sky is not a star at all, but
it is still a giant compared to Earth. Jupiter now rises shortly
after sunset and is now well-placed for viewing by 10:00 pm. Old Jove
is currently located among the stars of Gemini and beams a cheerful
light golden glow from his lofty perch. After the Moon, Jupiter is
far and away the most satisfying object to view in the telescope,
providing a good target for instruments of almost any size. Owners of
modest instruments of four inches or more aperture can watch the
shadow of Jupiter's innermost moon Io cross the planet's face on the
night of the 13th. On the following night you can watch the next
moon, Europa, project its shadow on the planet's billowing clouds.

In the early evening Venus is now at her best showing for the year.
She becomes visible in the southwest as soon as the Sun goes down, and
by the end of evening twilight she is a beacon in that part of the
sky. You'd better act quickly to catch her show, though. Over the
next couple of weeks she will beat a hasty retreat toward the Sun, and
by the year's end she will be wallowing in bright twilight.

The pre-dawn sky finds the rising stars of spring pushing the winter
constellations over to the west. High in the eastern sky look for
ruddy Mars diligently plodding eastward toward the star Spica. The
red planet is gradually brightening as Earth catches up to him, and
he's now second in brightness to the star Arcturus in this part of the
sky.

--
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Guy Ralph Perea Sr President of The United States
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