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Comet Machholz (C/2004 Q2) will be visible in the evening sky all month (sky map shows its path). During December the comet will brighten from mag. 6.2 to 4.3 and become a fine binocular object.
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5
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Last Quarter Moon at 0:53 UT.
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5
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Venus 1.2° from Mars at 23h UT (28° from Sun, morning sky). Magnitudes -4.0 and +1.7.
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7
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Moon very near Jupiter at 11h UT (morning sky). Occultation visible from the eastern-half of USA and southern Canada between 4-5 a.m. EST on Dec. 7.
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9
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Moon near Mars at 23h UT (morning sky).
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10
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Moon, Venus, and Mars within a circle diameter 3.5° at 1h UT (morning sky).
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12
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New Moon at 1:29 UT. Beginning of lunation 1014.
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12
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Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) at 22h UT (distance 357,984 km; angular size 33.4').
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14
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Geminid Meteor Shower peaks at 18h UT. Produces bright, medium-speed meteors at its peak on the night of December 13-14 (up to 80 meteors/hour). The parent body of the Geminids is a mysterious asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon believed to be an "extinct comet." The shower radiant is indicated on the sky map.
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18
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First Quarter Moon at 16:40 UT.
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21
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December solstice at 12:40 UT. The time when the Sun reaches the point farthest south of the celestial equator marking the start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
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23
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Moon near the Pleiades at 17h UT (evening sky).
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26
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Full Moon at 15:06 UT. The full Moon of December is called the "Moon Before Yule" in old almanacs.
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27
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Moon at apogee (furthest from Earth) at 19h UT (distance 406,489 km; angular size 29.4').
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29
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Mercury at greatest elongation, 22° west from the Sun (morning sky) at 20h UT. Mercury (mag. -0.3) visible at dawn low in the southeast 1.2° above much brighter Venus (mag. -3.9).
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31
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Mercury 1.1° from Venus at 6h UT (22° from Sun, morning sky). Magnitudes -0.3 and -3.9.
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All times Universal Time (UT). (USA Eastern Standard Time = UT 5 hours)
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