Hello ...
Here's your Cosmic Pursuits newsletter for December 2024!
1. The year 2024 winds down with all seven major planets making appearances in the evening and early morning skies this month. Jupiter reaches opposition in Taurus, and Mars also brightens considerably further east on its way to opposition next month. The Geminid meteor shower arrives at mid-month, although the nearly full Moon gets in the way this year. And the Sun reaches the December solstice on
the 21st marking the beginning of winter and summer in the northern and southern hemispheres, respectively. Here's what to see in the Night Sky This Month...
2. As Jupiter reaches opposition, our annual Jupiter Observing
Guide helps you find what to see on and around this immense world with a telescope or a simple pair of binoculars.
3. For our deep-sky tour this month, let's take a tour of some lovely star clusters and a carbon star in Cassiopeia along the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way.
4. The Atlantic magazine begins their advent calendar of astronomy photos from the Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes.
5. And finally, for some welcome perspective, Carl Sagan explains what he sees when he considers
Earth as a pale blue dot in an immense cosmos.
And the astronomy quote of the month:
“One lesson astronomy tells us is that we're a tiny mote in a hostile void, and help is too far away.”
- Sandra Faber
See you in 2025!
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Wishing you clear skies!
Brian Ventrudo
Publisher
CosmicPursuits.com
