Highlights of the Night Sky in December

Here are some of the highlights of the December sky:

6 PM, southwestern sky – Mars over the southwestern horizon just after sunset
5:30 PM, southwestern sky – Venus joins Mars low over the horizon later in the month
11:30 PM, eastern sky – Jupiter rises in the east
6:30 AM, southeastern sky – Saturn rises before sunrise
8 PM, northeastern sky – Perseus constellation with the open cluster Messier 34 and the Double Cluster, located between Perseus and Cassiopeia constellations
8 PM, northeastern sky – Cassiopeia constellation with the familiar W asterism, the double star Eta Cassiopeiae, and the open star cluster Messier 103
1 AM, southeastern sky – Geminid meteor shower, with a radiant in Gemini, peaking on the night of December 13 to 14, with up to 60 meteors per hour
3 AM, northern sky – Ursid meteor shower, radiating from the bowl of the Little Dipper in Ursa Minor, peaking on the night of December 22 to 23
Pleiades cluster (Messier 45) in Taurus near an almost full Moon on December 4 and 5 in the eastern sky a few hours after sunset
7 PM, southwestern sky – Comet Siding Spring in Ophiuchus constellation and Comet PanSTARRS in the direction of Sculptor on December 23