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sky_highlights [2015/12/05 09:27]
edose add December 2015, remove November
sky_highlights [2016/10/31 21:41]
edose
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-====== Sky Highlights and NEKAAL Events for DECEMBER 2015 ====== +====== Sky Highlights and NEKAAL Events for NOVEMBER 2016 ====== 
-  * No NEKAAL Events for December--happy holidays! +  * November 8   --  ​First Quarter 
-  * December 3   --  ​Last Quarter ​(moon absent from evening sky)\\ +  * November 14  ​--  ​Full Moon 
-  * December 11  ​--  ​__**New ​Moon**__\\ +  * November 21  ​--  ​Last Quarter 
-  * December 18  ​--  ​First Quarter\\ +  * November 17  ​--  ​General Meeting, Mater Dei Catholic School, 7 pm. Join us! 
-  * December 25  ​--  ​Full Moon +  * November 19  ​--  ​**Open House** at Farpoint Observatory, 7:30 pm to ? Join us! 
-  * January 28, 2016 -- First General Meeting of the New Year, Topeka Library, 7 pm.+  * November 29  --  New Moon
  
-===== PLANETS in December 2015 =====+===== PLANETS in November 2016 =====
 Evening Sky: Evening Sky:
-  * **Mercury** -- low in southwest +  * **Mercury** ​  -- in southwest 
-  * **Uranus** ​ -- in southeast +  * **Venus** ​  -- in southwest 
-  * **Neptune** -- in south+  * **Mars** ​   -- in south 
 +  * **Saturn**  ​-- in southwest 
 +  * **Uranus** ​ -- in east 
 +  * **Neptune** -- in southeast
  
 Midnight: Midnight:
-  * **Jupiter** -- in east +  * **Uranus**  -- in southwest 
-  * **Uranus**  -- in west+  * **Neptune** -- in west
    
 Morning Sky: Morning Sky:
-  * **Saturn**  -- in southeast +  * **Jupiter** -- in southeast
-  * **Venus** ​  -- in southeast +
-  * **Mars** ​   -- in southeast +
-  * **Jupiter** -- in south+
  
-===== CONSTELLATIONS well placed in evening during ​December 2015 ===== + 
-North to South, at 7-pm:+===== CONSTELLATIONS well placed in evening during ​November 2016 ===== 
 +North to South, at 8-10 pm:
   * **Ursa Minor**, the Little Bear, also the Little Dipper   * **Ursa Minor**, the Little Bear, also the Little Dipper
   * **Cepheus**,​ the King of Ethiopia   * **Cepheus**,​ the King of Ethiopia
-  * **Cassiopeia**,​ the Queen of Ethiopia+  * **Cassiopeia**,​ the wife of King Cepheus 
 +  * **Draco**, the Dragon
   * **Lacerta**,​ the Lizard   * **Lacerta**,​ the Lizard
-  * **Andromeda**, daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia +  * **Cygnus**, the Swan 
-  * **Pegasus**,​ the winged horse +  * **Sagitta**,​ the Arrow 
-  * **Aries**, the ram +  * **Pegasus**,​ the Winged Horse 
-  * **Pisces**, the fishes (who had been Aphrodite and Eros) +  * **Delphinus**, the Dolphin 
-  * **Cetus**, the sea monster+  * **Aquarius**, the Water Bearer 
 +  * **Capricornus**, the Sea-Goat 
 + 
 +===== SKY EXTRAS in November 2016 ===== 
 +  * Still LOTS of evening planets in November! Check out the planet list above. Uranus is easily visible in binoculars, even visible naked-eye with deep dark-vision adaptation, from very dark skies. Jupiter'​s back with us, but you'll have to see it in the morning now, low in the eastern twilight. 
 +  * Best evening comet should still be C/2016 A8 (LINEAR), fairly high in the southern sky and large but fading slowly, so you'll need a scope of at least 8" aperture, an eyepiece giving low magnification...and patience. 
 +  * The Leonids meteor shower peaks November 17, but a nearly full moon once again washes out the show.  
 +  * And speaking of bright moons--the November 14 full moon is only 2.5 hours after the closest perigee (approach to earth), so this will be the largest full moon of 2016.
  
-===== SKY EXTRAS in December 2015 ===== 
-  * **Venus** puts on a show in December'​s pre-dawn hours, in the southeast sky, spending some time near bright star Spica. Look a little higher for orange-red **Mars**, and higher still for bright yellow-white **Jupiter**. 
-  * **Mercury**'​s back in the evening sky, late in December. Look above the southwestern horizon just after sunset. Binoculars help--by the end of the month it may well be visible naked-eye on very clear evenings. 
-  * The **Geminid meteor shower** will be moonless this year, peaking early morning December 14. Look at 1-3 am, in a wide region almost directly overhead. ​ 
-  * Comet **Catalina C/2013 US10** will be visible in binoculars all month, rising through the eastern sky during December. Look in Virgo, moving into Bootes by month end. 
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