December moon goes by many names

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Moon myths and legends

The full moon of December is higher in the sky and remains in view for more hours than any other full moon during the year. Not surprisingly the most common name for this moon is The Long Night Moon. It also is known as the Moon Before Yule, Cold Moon and Oak Moon.

Names given it by American Indians include: Moon When Wolves Run Together (Lakota Sioux), Big Moon (Abenaki), and the Wolf Moon (Passamaquoddy). A reference also is made to the Hunger Moon (Passamaquoddy) but it is unclear as to whether this refers to the full moon of December or January.

Focus on the planets

Mercury may be found in the southwest about half an hour after sunset to the lower right of Venus. It will reach its highest point in the sky around the 13th and then rapidly descend below the horizon.

Venus cannot be missed shining brilliantly above the southwest horizon at dusk. Use Venus as a guide to spotting much less impressive Mercury to its lower right.

Mars may be found glowing with its distinctive reddish-orange color in the south at sunset as the month opens. While still bright, Mars is rapidly becoming a mere shadow of its glory days during the past summer when it made its closest approach to Earth in 59,000 years.

Jupiter rises in the east around midnight by mid-December. The gas giant will appear larger and brighter as the weeks wear on and the distance between Earth and Jupiter diminishes. Viewers who are willing to brave cold December mornings can watch the movements of Jupiter’s four major moons.

Saturn may be spotted high on the western horizon at dawn by mid-month. The two stars above it are Castor and Pollux of Gemini. Saturn remains tilted so that its ring system is readily differentiated by telescope.

Uranus lies to the west of Mars in Aquarius where it may be spotted with the aid of powerful binoculars and a finder chart.

Neptune lies to the west of Uranus in Capricornus and will require a telescope to spot it.

Pluto is lost to view in December.

Our celestial neighborhood

How would you like to try and spot a 2-inch lump of coal at a distance of 12,400 miles at twilight? This improbable feat is just what astronomers did last March according to an article in the December, 2003 issue of Sky & Telescope. The “lump of coal” in question is the nucleus of Halley’s comet, which was last in view in 1986 and is now 28 astronomical units, or AU, from the sun. An AU is the distance from the Earth to the sun, or 93 million miles.

Astronomers at the very large telescope facility in Chile were able to take a photograph of Halley’s nucleus, which is a black, dirt-encrusted lump of ice measuring about 10 miles by 5 miles. Not satisfied with this feat, they hope to take a picture of the comet at its greatest distance of 35 AU in the year 2023.

December events

7 The moon is at apogee, or greatest distance from the Earth, today.

8 Full moon, 3:38 p.m. See Moon Myths and Legends for the various names given the full moon of December.

9 Saturn lies below the Moon in the east tonight. Tonight, about 40 minutes after sunset, is the best time to view Mercury to the lower right of Venus in the southwest .

13 St. Lucy’s Day, once considered to be the middle of the winter. The Geminid meteor shower will peak over the next two nights. Normally a plentiful shower, the moon will obscure all but the brightest ones this year. Still there should be enough left to make them worthwhile.

16 The moon is in last quarter, 12:43 a.m. Look for Jupiter to the right of the moon during the early morning hours.

18 The sun enters Sagittarius on the ecliptic.

22 Winter Solstice, 2:02 a.m. This marks the sun’s southern most point below the equator and it will now begin its journey back to the northern hemisphere. The sun enters the astrological sign of Capricornus at the solstice but astronomically has just entered Sagittarius. The moon is at perigee, or closest approach to the Earth, tonight.

23 New moon, 4:44 a.m.

25 Merry Christmas! Celebrate by checking out the crescent moon and Venus in a close pairing on the southwest horizon at dusk.

30 Moon in first quarter, 5:04 a.m.

31 Saturn is at opposition, or opposite the sun as seen from Earth, and is closest and brightest for the year. Sunrise, 7:13 a.m.; sunset, 4:04 p.m.

Clair Wood taught physics and chemistry for more than a decade at Eastern Maine Technical College in Bangor.