The Sky This Month: December 2003÷January 2004
| Dec 12 | Fri | Mars smaller than 10" | |
| Dec 13 | Sat | 11pm | Geminid meteors peak |
| Dec 15-18 | Mon-Thu | Deep sky observing sessions: first clear night | |
| Dec 16 | Tue | 12:42pm | Last quarter Moon |
| Dec 20 | Sat | 8:21pm | Occultation
of TYC4665-01041-1 by 114
Kassandra http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/2003_12/1221_114_1354.htm |
| Dec 22 | Mon | 2:04am | Winter Solstice |
| Dec 23 | Tue | 4:43am | New Moon |
| Dec 30 | Tue | 5:03am | First Quarter Moon |
| Dec 31 | Wed | 4pm | Saturn at opposition |
| Jan 4 | Sun | 1am | Quadrantid meteors peak |
| Jan 4 | Sun | 1pm | Earth at perihelion |
| Jan 7 | Wed | 10:40am | Full Moon |
Starhopping 101: Orion and Friends
The sky in the east in the early evening at
this time of year is made spectacular, even in the city, by the array
of bright winter stars, with Saturn sitting right in the middle like
the jewel in the crown. Because the nights are cold, observers may not
want to spend long prriods of time hunting down faint fuzzies. Here's a
list of ten bright double and multiple stars, most of them easy to
locate and delightful to observe in a sparkling winter sky. I've left
the "colour" column blank so that you can enter your own observations
of the star colours. All can be split with even the smallest
telescopes, but some, like Rigel, are a bit challenginmg because of the
exteme difference in the brightness of the star components.
| AL |
Star | Colour | Magnitude | Separation | Position Angle |
| 18 | Beta Orionis Rigel | 0.1 6.8 | 9.5" | 202¡ | |
| 20 | Delta Orionis | 2.2 6.3 | 52.6" | 359¡ | |
| 22 | Lambda Orionis | 3.6 5.5 | 4.4" | 43¡ | |
| 23 | Theta-1
Orionis (in M42) The Trapezium |
6.7 7.9 5.1 6.7 | 9" 13" 22" | 31¡ 32¡ 96¡ | |
| 24 | Iota Orionis | 2.8 6.9 | 11.3" | 141¡ | |
| 27 | Zeta Orionis | 1.9 4.0 9.9 | 2.4" 58" | 162¡ 10¡ | |
| 29 | Theta Aurigae | 2.6 7.1 | 3.6" | 313¡ | |
| 30 | Epsilon Monocerotis | 4.5 6.5 | 13.4" | 27¡ | |
| 34 | Delta Geminorum | 3.5 8.2 | 6.8" | 211¡ | |
| 36 | Alpha Geminorum | 1.9 2.9 | 2.2" | 171¡ |
