December and January will bring several interesting items to observe, but if you wish to see them, remember to dress warmly. Northern Maine has a habit of being sub-freezing and even sub-zero during these months, so keeping warm will be important.
A nice thing about living this far north is the length of the nights. Sundown happens before 4 p.m. and sun up occurs after 7 a.m. That’s close to 15 hours of night time.
The first thing I would like to point out is that the International Space Station (ISS) will be making several close passes to bright stars and a planet. The interesting thing with these events is that the ISS may help you identify the object it is passing. Many of these passes will actually be closer than the diameter of the full moon. Look for the following passes:
Mars–12/01
Capella–12/08, 12/13
Altair–12/15, 12/19
Vega–12/17, 01/11
Deneb–01/04
Pollux–01/13
There are two fairly good meteor showers occurring in December and January. The first is the Geminid Meteor Shower. This shower peaks on Dec. 13 with about 32 meteors per hour. But the moon is full on the day this shower peaks, so only the brightest meteors will be visible.
The second meteor shower is the Quadrantid Meteor Shower. This meteor shower is named after a now extinct constellation and actually emanates from the constellation Bootes. This meteor shower has the potential to be large with as many as 50 or 60 meteors visible in an hour. This meteor shower will peak on Jan. 3 when the moon is at First Quarter, so the moon will not be a factor for viewing. The only problem will be the ice-cold temperatures we will be experiencing at that time of the year. Remember, the best way to watch a meteor shower is from a comfortable lounge chair. Just remember a heavy jacket and a good sleeping bag or quilt.
Finally, we may have a comet that may be bright enough to be visible to the naked eye at the end of January and in February. Comet 45P–Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusak–will be coming out of the sun’s glare in late January. When it does, it will be bright enough to see with binoculars and may be bright enough to see with the unaided eye. As a side note, 2017 may be a bumper year for comets. Current estimates suggest that we may have comets that may be visible through binoculars and one or two that may be bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye. For more information about comets, go to https://in-the-sky.org/data/comets.php.
THE NIGHT SKY
The International Space Station is visible as follows:
Evenings – Through Dec. 21
Mornings – Dec. 29 through Jan. 20
Evenings – After Jan. 27
For the times of other events, go to www.calsky.com. You will need to register at this site and load your location to be able to get exact times. The University of Maine at Presque Isle is located at 68d00m7.8s west longitude and 46d40m45.6s north latitude.
To get a free sky chart, go to www.skymaps.com.
Sun and Planet Visibility
12/15/2016
07:09 Sunrise.
15:44 Sunset.
16:00 – 17:00 Mercury.
15:42 – 19:12 Venus.
16:18 – 20:54 Mars.
01:36 – 06:54 Jupiter.
Not visible–Saturn.
01/01/2017
07:16 Sunrise.
15:55 Sunset.
Not visible—Mercury.
15:54 – 19:54 Venus.
16:30 – 20:54 Mars.
00:36 – 07:00 Jupiter.
05:48 – 06:42 Saturn.
01/15/2017
07:11 Sunrise.
16:11 Sunset.
05:36 – 06:36 Mercury.
16:12 – 20:18 Venus.
16:48 – 21:00 Mars.
23:48 – 06:54 Jupiter.
05:00 – 06:00 Saturn.
12/01 17:54 ISS 0.2 degrees from Mars.
12/07 04:03 First Quarter Moon.
12/08 16:44 ISS 1.3 degrees from Capella (Alpha Aur).
12/10 07:00 Saturn in conjunction with the sun – Opposite side of the sun and farthest from the Earth.
12/10 15:43 Earliest Sunset for Presque Isle.
12/10 23:36 Mercury at greatest elongation east (20.8 degrees) – best seen in the night sky.
12/12 18:35 Moon at perigee – closest to the Earth.
12/13 02:00 Geminid Meteor Shower – 18/hr.
12:13 16:00 Geminid Meteor Shower Maximum – 32/hr.
12/13 17:13 ISS 1.1 degrees from Capella (Alpha Aur).
12/13 19:05 Full Moon.
12/14 02:00 Geminid Meteor Shower – 30/hr.
12/15 18:40 ISS 0.2 degrees from Altair (Alpha Aql).
12/17 16:56 ISS 0.8 degrees from Vega (Alpha Lyra).
12/19 16:49 ISS 0.3 degrees from Altair (Alpha Aql).
12/20 20:55 Last Quarter Moon.
12/25 01:02 Moon at apogee – farthest from the Earth.
12/28 13:48 Mercury at inferior conjunction – between the Earth and the sun.
12/29 01:53 New Moon.
01/01 01:37 Mars 1.1 minutes from Neptune.
01/01 07:16 Latest Sunrise of the year for Presque Isle.
01/03 06:00 Quadrantid Meteor Shower – 53/hr.
01/03 09:00 Quadrantid Meteor Shower Maximum.
01/04 06:08 ISS 1.1 degrees from Deneb (Alpha Cygnus).
01/04 09:17 Earth a Perihelion – Closest to the sun.
01/05 14:47 First Quarter Moon.
01/08 05:52 ISS 1.0 degrees from Deneb (Alpha Cygnus).
01/09 04:03 Mercury 6.8 degrees from Saturn.
01/10 01:08 Moon at perigee – closest to the Earth.
01/11 06:28 ISS 1.3 degrees from Vega (Alpha Lyra).
01/12 06:34 Full Moon.
01/12 08:18 Venus at greatest elongation east (47.1 degrees) best seen in the night sky.
01/12 16:04 Venus 0.3 degrees from Neptune.
01/13 06:19 ISS 0.3 degrees from Pollux (Beta Gemini).
01/13 17:12 Mercury at half phase.
01/14 08:30 Venus at half phase.
01/19 04:42 Mercury at greatest elongation west (24.1 degrees) best seen on the morning.
01/19 17:13 Last Quarter Moon.
01/21 19:17 Moon at apogee – farthest from the Earth.
01/27 19:07 New Moon.
01/29 06:00 Comet 45P – Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusak–at its brightest. Possibly visible to the naked eye.
01/30 17:46 ISS 0.6 degrees from Alnilam (Epsilon Orion).
