Guide to the brightest planets in December 2020 | Astronomy Essentials


Click on the name of a planet to know more about its visibility in December 2020: Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, Mercury

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Chart: The crescent moon near the star spica, and the illuminated side of the moon towards Venus near the horizon.

Are you an early riser? Then, on December 10, 2020, find the moon near the bright star Spika, twice the height of the shining planet Venus. read more.

Chart: Three positions of a very thin crescent moon relative to Venus.

On December 12, 2020 at or near the center, look for a thin invisible crescent moon to connect with Venus shining in the morning sky for several days. read more.

Chart: The four positions of a thin crescent moon correspond to two bright points very close together.

Look for a waxing crescent moon near Jupiter and Saturn on December 16 and 17, 2020. Enjoy Jupiter and Saturn this month. They will be able to reach them Great connection On December 21, only 1/5 moon-diameter appears except. read more.

Chart: 3 positions of the Moon with Mars and an arrow pointing towards the location of the planet Uranus.

Look for the waxing gibbous moon near the red planet Mars on the sky dome for several days, centered on or around December 23, 2020. Note: On our chart the moon appears much larger than in the real sky. read more.

Chart: 3 positions of a thin crescent-shaped moon with Mercury near the horizon and star Formalhout.

You probably won’t see Mercury, the underlying planet, until January 2021. The young moon will help you locate Mercury after sunset on January 14, 15 and 16, 2021. read more.

Jupiter And Sat. The first thing to come out on the night of December 2020, and continue to do so until the end of the year. At night these two worlds look bright and beautiful, though they sit low in the southwest sky. Day by day, at night these two sides appear a little lower in the sky, and are arranged sooner after dark. To see this world, look for an unobstructed horizon in the direction of the sunset.

Around the world, Jupiter and Saturn rise about 3/3 hours after the sun in early December. Near the end of the month, the twins follow the sun below the horizon around 1 1/2 hours after sunset.

For the first time since 2000, Jupiter and Saturn will have a great union this year on December 21, 2020. The Great Convention of these two vast worlds takes place every 20 years, but this year’s event will be the closest to the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction since year 1૨23. Astronomers use the term attachment to describe the seats of planets and other objects on our celestial dome. They use the term Great connection To describe the meeting of Jupiter and Saturn. The last great Jupiter-Saturn conjunction was May 28, 2000. The next one will be on December 21, 2020. Watch this world come together and closer during the first three weeks of December 2020.

Read more: Before 2020 ends, a great connection to Jupiter and Saturn

If you have a telescope, it is best to use it when Jupiter and Saturn are at their highest at night. In other words, you have to catch it immediately after sunset. Typically, Jupiter’s four main moons and Saturn’s magnificent rings are viewed sharply through a telescope while these worlds are low to low. The thickness of the Earth’s atmosphere near the horizon obscures the view of Jupiter’s moon and Saturn’s coils.

Jupiter’s Moon Position by Sky and Telescope

First look for the brilliant Jupiter; Saturn is the immediate brightest object in the east direction of Jupiter for the first three weeks of December. Even though Saturn is easily as bright as the 1st-magnitude star – as bright as the brightest stars in our sky – the colored planet King cannot compete with the planet Jupiter, which defeats Saturn about 11 times. Finally, Jupiter almost always ranks as the fourth brightest celestial body, after the Sun, Moon, and Venus, respectively (although Mars temporarily ruled as the fourth-brightest celestial body – and Jupiter as the fifth-brightest – in October 2020). .

Look for the moon in the neighborhood of Jupiter and Saturn for a few days on December 16 and 17.

Sky Chart: Saturn on the line of Jupiter and Eclipse, and Chipio Asterism.

If you see only one object in the sky after sunset, it could be a very bright Jupiter. This planet defeats all the stars, plus it is close to another bright planet, Saturn. You can’t miss these two. Jupiter and Saturn are the highest at night. Before the end of 2020, there will be a great union of Jupiter and Saturn.

Mars The Lord is included in the southeastern sky as darkness falls in December from the northeast latitude. From the Southern Hemisphere, Mars is seen high in the northern sky at night. Its fiery-red splendor illuminates well into the night time during midnight. In 20 October 2020, Mars will be brighter again than it was in September 2035. This is because – on October 13, 2020 – Mars reached the opposition in our sky, when it was opposite the sun visible from Earth. At the time of the protest, the earth was clearing between Mars and the sun. Now – in its small, fast orbit – Earth is now running alongside Mars. Thus, in the coming months Mars will slowly but surely fade into our night sky.

Nevertheless, Mars remains bright and beautiful during December. Let the moon guide your eye to Mars for a few nights centered on or near December 23rd.

With the crescent moon above the telephone line, d points in the deep blue sky before sunup.

Look at the Earthsky community photos. | From Paul Armstrong, who took a photo of Mars, Saturn and Jupiter on the morning of April 15, 2020, from Exmor, UK. Jupiter, up left, Mars is left, Saturn is between them. In May 2020, Jupiter and Saturn were together, while Mars was far away from Jupiter and Saturn. Thanks, Paul!

Fri. – The brightest planet – 12 or 13 August (depending on your time zone) reached its largest extent from the sun in the morning sky. But the shining Venus will be as bright and beautiful as the morning “stars” for the rest of this year and for the first few months of 2021.

At mid-northern latitudes, Venus rises about 2/2 hours before the sun in early December, falling about 1 1/2 hours by the end of the month.

At and around the equator, Venus rises 5/6 hours before the sun in early December, falling to 1/2 hour by the end of the month.

At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Venus rises slightly less than 1/2 hour from the Sun during December.

Figure showing the position of Venus in orbit and the minimum and excellent connection of its phases.

The secondary connection – when Venus rotates between the Sun and the Earth – occurred on June 3, 2020. About 10 weeks later, Venus reached its maximum length in the morning sky on August 13, 2020 (when its disk was illuminated by sunlight). In December 2020, the beginning of the month of Venus will publish about 89% and then the end of the month will publish about 94%. Image by UCLA.

During December, Venus will continue to move farther and farther away from Earth in its orbit around the Sun. As seen through a telescope, Venus’s waxing gibbous phase will widen, although the overall size of its disc will decrease. The Venus disk is 89% released in early December, and 94% by the end of the month; On the other hand, the angular diameter of Venus will decrease by about 91% of its initial size by the end of December.

Look at the invisible crescent moon shining with Venus in the morning sky for several days, centered around December 12th.

Mercury It won’t be easy to catch up from anywhere in the world this month. The month of Mercury begins in the morning sky and the month ends in the sky. Look at this world in your western sky after sunset in January 2021.

The young moon and Mercury adorn the twilight of January evenings

You probably won’t see Mercury, the underlying planet, until January 2021. The young moon will help you locate Mercury after sunset on January 14, 15 and 16, 2021. read more.

What do we mean by bright planet? By luminous planet, we mean any solar system planet that is easily visible without ical support and has been seen by our ancestors since time immemorial. In their outer order from the Sun, the five brightest planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These planets really look bright in our sky. They are usually brighter – or brighter than – brighter stars. Also, this near-world tends to glow with static light rather than distant, twinkling stars. If you try, you can find them and get to know them as faithful friends.

Silhouette of a man in front of the sunset sky with a bright planet and a crescent moon.

Predrag at Gatonovich’s Skyw Cher Char.

Bottom line: December 2020 presents three bright planets in the evening sky: Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, plus the brightest planet in the morning sky: Venus. Jupiter and Saturn will have a once-in-20-year connection on December 21st.

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Bruce McClure

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