LUNAR PHENOMENA 2016

The Crescent Moon & the bright morning planets

Some astronomical events can be quite spectacular, and make great photo opportunities for Astro photographers if they get to know about them in advance. Planning is important so all of the elements fall nicely into place to make that truly assume photo.

Clear skies permitting over the next two mornings, the crescent Moon will be seen close to all three bright planets, a prelude of what's to come in December. 

The lovely image was taken by David Blanchflower (Newcastle Upon-Tyne. UK) : Venus, Jupiter, and the Moon (through clouds). 06:04 UT 6 November 2015. Canon 1200D. 55mm zoom. Handheld.

PLANETARY CONJUNCTIONS:

On the morning of 6th November the crescent Moon will be 2ºN of Jupiter, and on the morning of 7th November the Moon is 2ºN of Mars and 1.2º N of Venus, for some amateur astronomers it will be a trial run for next month's double occultation event.

PLANETARY OCCULTATIONS:

At 03am on 6 December the Moon will pass in front of Mars – the Red planet-- hiding it from view, an event known as an occultation. This rare event is visible from Central & East Africa, South Arabian Peninsula, the Southern tip of India, Indonesia and Australia.

Then at 07am on 7 December the Moon will occult the brilliant planet Venus. This event is visible from North & Central America, and the Caribbean.

Sadly in other area of the Earth the Moon is below the horizon when the occultations take place. Nevertheless there are going to be some great photos of these events in face book groups, something for you to look forwards to. Clear skies. R.P.

December 2015 Visibility of the bright planets

At the beginning of December Venus lies about 5 degrees above and to the left of Spica, the brightest star in Virgo (The Virgin). Shining at mag -4.2 it cannot be mistaken as it is so brilliant.

Venus is the second planet in order of distance from the Sun, inside the Earth's orbit, so that it shows a series of phases just like our moon. Even a small telescope will show the the phases of Venus.

The time of Dichotomy (half phase) occurred on 26 November 2015, so that the planet is now moving away from the Earth towards Superior Conjunction (Full phase) which will be on 6 January 2016.

The angular size of Venus during this period changes from 17 arc seconds at the beginning of December 2015, to 15 arc seconds at Superior conjunction when the planet is at the far side of it's orbital path around the Sun.

Venus is therefore getting lower & lower in the SE sky, moving into the adjacent constellation of Libra (The scales) on 11 December 2015 towards invisibility in the daytime sky.

Venus is 0.6ºS of the Moon on 12 December, and 0.1ºS of Saturn on 9 January 2016.