The Sky this Week, December 6-12

“The Sky This Week” appears every Tuesday. It is written by Ian Clarke, Director of the Hatter Planetarium at Gettysburg College.  The planetarium offers regular educational presentations about the stars and the skies; there’s something for early elementary through adults. Field trip requests are welcome. NOTE: field trip request form for 2022-23is now live. Shows have concluded for Fall 2022, but we will post the schedule for the next semester around the new year.

Two big Mars events are happening this week. The most time-critical occurs on December 7 when the Moon passes just barely above the planet from our vantage point. For much of the US, the moon will actually cover up (occult) the planet, but not here near the east coast. The closest the two come for us will be at 11:00 p.m., but if you go out earlier (6:00 p.m., for example) you’ll see the almost-full moon about two finger-widths away from Mars. The red planet will be the brightest object in the night sky except for the moon. As the hours pass, the moon will slowly approach the planet from west to east, until the moon passes barely above it at 11:00 p.m. Since we can’t see the occultation from the east coast, you may want to check out one of the livestreams linked in this article: https://www.space.com/mars-opposition-lunar-occultation-watch-online-dec-2022

occult

As if the occultation/near-occultation isn’t enough, Mars is also at opposition on December 7. Mars and Earth are lined up in their orbits so Mars is opposite the sun in our sky that day. Opposition is also when Mars is at its brightest. The good news (especially since the bright moon is so close on the date of opposition itself) is that the planet does not fade immediately. In fact, it will remain brighter than any star in the sky through December.

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Ian Clarke is the director of the Hatter Planetarium at Gettysburg College. In addition he has taught introductory astronomy labs and first-year writing there for over 30 years (not necessarily all at the same time). He was educated at Biglerville High School, the University of Virginia, and the University of Iowa. He lives in Gettysburg.

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