This year in December, there will be many wondrous nights that will hold many surprises and excitement to see in the night sky. Here’s what some will be:
Supermoon-On December 4th, there will be a final moon phase of the year called a supermoon. A supermoon is when the space rock’s full phase joins with Earth with a close approach. At this time, it will look like the moon is 14 times larger and 30 percent more bright than a regular moon.
Mercury reaches its biggest elongation on December 7th. Mercury will reach its closest elongation to the sun. It’s very rare for Mercury to reach this sort of elongation cause it hardly ever gets really close to the sun, but it will happen every now and then. It will be visible in the eastern horizon of the sky. To see it best, watch it as the moon comes out around sunset.
Geminid Meteor Shower-On December 13-14th, the Geminid Meteor Shower will cross through the night sky, where it will look like tons of sky confetti. It is said to be one of the most historic meteor showers. It is expected to produce between 60 to 120 meteors through the sky. The meteor shower is expected to start around 10 P.M on December 13th. Be sure to watch the night sky around that day and time to try and see the Meteor Shower.
Optimal Orion Nebula-On is expected on December 15th, the Orion Nebula, a heap of dust and gas that forms stars, will be a faint object for the human eye to see in the sky. It’s highest point and best time to see it is midnight on December 15. You will find this luminous star maker beneath Orion’s familiar three-star belt.
There are many incredible things that will happen in the night sky of December. They don’t all happen very often, and some might be pretty hard to see due to the location in the sky, and what time they’ll be visible may not be readily available, but they are important to know. If you decide to go and see them, you might just enjoy them very much!
Resources:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/december-night-sky-events-2025
https://starwalk.space/en/news/night-sky-tonight-december
