Take a look at the evening Milky Way while the Moon is out of view in this week’s stargazing guide, Star Diary 4 to 10 December 2023.
Chris: Hello and welcome to Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. You can subscribe to the print edition by visiting skyatnightmagazine.com or to our digital edition by visiting iTunes or Google Play.
Ezzy: Greetings listeners, and welcome to Star Diary, a weekly guide to the best things to see in the northern hemisphere's night sky. As we are based here in the UK, all times are in GMT. In this episode, we'll be covering the coming week from 4th to 10th December. I'm Ezzy Pearson, and I'm joined this week by our reviews editor, Paul Money. Hello, Paul.
Paul: Hello, Ezzy time for some more interesting events, eh?
Ezzy: Ooh, really. Please do tell us. I'd love to hear what we've got coming up for us in the week's night sky.
Paul: Well, let's start. Sadly, just into the morning sky, not late into the morning sky, but just into it, about 1AM on 4th, and you can find the Moon actually lying above Regulus.
I always like these conjunctions with bright stars sort of thing because we always get comments from people saying, what was that star next to the Moon? Sometimes it's a planet sort of thing, but this time it really is a star and it's Regulus and Eta Leonis will be directly above the moon as well, which has the name Algeba as well.
I don't know whether I pronounced that right, but some of these name pronunciations are quite tricky. That's the last quarter Moon at 1AM on 4th, so very early into the morning sky we start. Now, if the Moon's at last quarter, it does mean that in the evening sky, yeah! We've got dark skies, there's no Moon, because it rises quite late.
So with the Moon out, it's surprising how much of the Milky Way we can still see. Because we've still got the Milky Way in sort of like Serpens, Aquila, moving up through Cygnus, then arching right overhead through Cepheus, and then we've got Cassiopeia, Perseus, Auriga, and down towards, sort of like, Taurus, and even the top end of Orion.
So we've got a huge swathe of the Milky Way to actually explore and image loads of targets actually in there, as long as you haven't got much in the way of light pollution. So the Milky Way goes from the west southwest through the zenith down to the east northeast horizon. And, I mean, what's more, you've got the parade of the planets as well.
The giant planets are all on display below the Milky Way because, of course, the ecliptic and the galactic plane are two different things. So, Lots to see there, and lots to image and visually observe as well. A great night if you like deep sky, I have to say, and it's a great week for it, because the Moon's out the way.
I know, the Moon lovers, I know, but you'll have to get up in the morning for the Moon, but it's now time for the deep sky observers to be able to observe at a nice, convenient time in the evening, because there's lots going on.
Now, all week, we've got... follow the minor planet Vesta. Vesta is slowly heading towards its opposition.
Not quite there yet, but in the late evenings, early mornings, you can use binoculars to spot Vesta. It's magnitude +6.6 so some would argue if you got perfectly black skies, you know, really pitch black skies, no light pollution whatsoever, and perfect vision – which means it needs to be somebody younger than me, I have to say.
Actually, a lot, a lot younger than me. But, magnitude +6.6, they often say magnitude +7.0 for really keen eyed people, sort of thing, you know. You can spot a seventh magnitude star.
Now, I, I used to be able to do that, but I'm afraid... wearing spectacles now, that's diminished that, but do have a try and identify it by its motion sort of thing, you observe it after a couple of nights.
That's if you get a couple of nights consistent clear weather, although recently I did have a string of two nights, two nights clear on the trot! Good grief, that's a shock isn't it sort of thing, so it's one of those, but you always take advantage of those clear nights.
The interesting thing about this is that it's gradually heading towards a nice deep sky object, which is a brilliant target for astrophotographers. I know they often photograph this. It's called the Monkey Head Nebula, NGC 2174.
So Vesta by the end of the week stops just short of being under it, so we can return to this next week.
But you could take a sequence of pictures, and so you do a deep sky picture showing the field around the Monkey Head Nebula, and then one dot. Per night will be moving if you get a string of good clear nights. One dot will appear to be moving as it creeps closer towards the Monkey Head Nebula. So there we are, sort of thing.
Have a look for Vesta this week. Now, that was a mixture between late evening moving into the morning sky. We have to stay now.
Back to the morning sky, and we're looking around 6am, roughly from 7th to 10th December, so it's basically towards the end of the week. And you can watch the Moon's phase shrink, and it goes from a thick crescent on 7th, when it'll lie right to the... just to the right of Porimma in Virgo.
Then on 8th, the crescent Moon lies to the upper right of Spica, so we had Venus last week, passing Spica. Now we've got the moon going past it. The phase is getting slimmer, so you'll start to see the Earthshine becoming more and more noticeable as it gets thinner. So, great photo opportunity, because on 9th, the crescent Moon lies level with Venus and quite close to Venus.
This will be a great photographic opportunity. You know, we always love photographs being sent in, don't we, Ezzy? Put them in the gallery, you know, and on the website. So definitely do that.
Ezzy: We do. Every month, we have a gallery featuring some of the best images that have been sent in by our readers, and we always love to see them.
You can find out details about how to submit your own photos, either on our website, skyatnightmagazine.com, or there should be a link down in the description below.
Paul: And of course with Venus and the Moon next to each other, I mean, it's so, I think it's just ethereal. You've got this crescent and the Earthshine and then you've got this brilliant planet, the goddess of love, just to the left of the Moon as well.
I mean, there you are, take your loved one outside at 6am in the morning and say, "Look, there's the goddess of love right next to the crescent moon". Whether you'll still be in a relationship after that would be debatable.
Ezzy: 6am in December.
Paul: Yes! Well, quick story, my wife and I were in the Algarve, and I had been observing all night, and as I came in to go to bed, at about that silly sort of time sort of thing, there was the crescent moon in the twilight sky, with I think Saturn and Mars next to it, and it was so beautiful, I had to wake Lorraine.
And I'm glad to say, sort of thing, when she got to the actual sliding open doors and looked out, she said "oh, that really is nice." So I thought, good, and I survived. And then probably went back to bed and got a good night's sleep in the morning. But, you know, but she did, she looked at it and she said, "oh, now that was worth".
There are some things that are worth getting up for, you know, and sometimes it's just such a gorgeous view.
But to finish off then for the week sort of thing, then the next morning the actual moon will be really low down, begin to rise at 6am, so it's quite low down, but it'll just to be the right of Alpha Libra, which is Zubin El Genubi, which is a really nice double star.
In fact, you can split it in binoculars, when you look. So it is actually quite a wide. double star and you've got the Moon nearby as well as a very, very slim crescent. So there we are. What a great way to finish week two, even if it is in the early hours of the morning.
Ezzy: Thank you very much for taking us through that Paul.
It does definitely sound like there's a lot of really great things to see in the sky this week. If people at home want to be sure to keep up to stargazing highlights, please do subscribe to the Star Diary podcast. And we'll be back next week.
But to summarise this week's observation highlights, on 4th December, the Moon is going to be above the star Regulus. It's a great opportunity to see those two together.
The Moon is also going to be out of the way in the evening sky. Giving a great opportunity to see the Milky Way, which is still visible at this time of year. And also be a great opportunity for deep sky observers to get to grips with the deep night sky.
So take advantage of that early evening with the Moon out of the way.
Throughout the week, asteroid Vesta is going to be visible in the night sky. It's heading towards opposition, so it's bright enough that it might just be visible with the naked eye, if you've got some good luck, good eyesight, and good skies.
It's heading towards the Monkey Head Nebula at the moment, so we'll have a bit more about that next week as well. So if you fancy a bit of a project, maybe, keep tracking that as it's going across the night sky. Then to finish up the week between 7th and 10th of December, the Moon's phase is going to be continually shrinking and it'll be a nice thin crescent in the morning sky.
You'll start to be able to see some of its Earthshine but also the crescent Moon is going to be near to the planet Venus in the morning sky. Uh, that's a beautiful pairing to be able to see, so definitely worth getting up for maybe a bit earlier than you might like to be able to see those two together.
And then finally, you will also be able to see the Moon rising by the double star Zubin El Genubi as well. So a great chance to see all of those things in the night sky.
Thank you very much for joining us and we hope to see you here next week.
If you want to find out even more spectacular sights that will be gracing the night sky this month, be sure to pick up a copy of BBC Sky at Night magazine, where we have a 16 page pull out sky guide, with a full overview of everything worth looking up for throughout the whole month.
Whether you like to look at the moon, the planets, or the deep sky, whether you use binoculars, telescopes, or neither, Our Sky Guide has got you covered, with detailed star charts to help you track your way across the night sky. From all of us here at BBC Sky at Night Magazine, goodbye.
Chris: Thank you for listening to this episode of the Star Diary podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
For more of our podcasts, visit our website at skynightmagazine.com or head to Acast, iTunes or Spotify.
Listen to next week's episode, Star Diary 11 to 17 December 2023.
