Mars, now much fainter at about magnitude 0.0 (and proving just how relative things are,) is still a prominent shiny ruby in the southern sky. Drifting into Pisces, it moves north of the celestial equator and the ecliptic this month.
Jupiter takes center stage, shining at an approaching headlight brightness of -2.0 in Leo. By the end of the month it rises around 10:30 pm local time.
Saturn, rising around 7:00 pm on the 1st, is approaching us in space. Thus it is as large and as bright as it gets, as seen from Earth, in a 30-year cycle. (The last time it did this, I was a senior in high school. Sigh...) It shines at magnitude -0.5, and is at opposition on the 31st.
The Moon picks up and discards a series of dance partners throughout the month, brushing by Mars on the 1st and Saturn on the 10th. It flirts with Jupiter on the 15th, and gets seasonal with its proximity to Venus on Christmas. It also greatly hinders the Geminid meteor shower, which peaks on the 14th, but favors the smaller Ursid meteor shower during its peak on the 23rd.
The Geminid meteor shower, which has actually been our most dependable meteor shower over the past couple decades, usually produces about 100 medium-speed, bright meteors per hour during the peak. This year's peak is expected around 11:30 UT, which favors the Far East and western North America. Because this shower can be observed prior to midnight, northern observers have a couple hours of dark sky available before moonrise. And even then, facing away from the moon, it's worth checking out.
The peak of the Ursid meteor shower, which usually puts out about 10 meteors per hour but is prone to the occasional outburst, coincides with the New Moon. It is another of those minor showers which is in need of more detailed observation.
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