Credit: NASA, ESA, F. Paresce (INAF-IASF, Bologna, Italy), R. O'Connell (University of Virginia, Charlottesville), and the Wide Field Camera 3 Science Oversight Committee
Check out this fantastic image from the Hubble Space Telescope. It shows a massive young stellar group called R136, which is only a few million years old and can be found in the 30 Doradus Nebula.
Check out the Hubble site for more images and videos.
So you watched the trailer created by Adrian West of Newbury AS and now it’s time to get out and Look Up.
You should be looking east/south east towards the constellation of Gemini and Orion (shown below)
The meteor shower will appear in the constellation of Gemini (hence it’s name) and is caused by an object called 3200 Phaethon which used to be thought of as an asteroid, but has since been discovered to be an extinct comet. Because the comet had too many encounters with the Sun it’s no longer a ‘dirty snowball’ but a rocky skeleton.
The meteor shower is expected to peak at around midnight of 13 December and it’s rumoured that if conditions are good it could be possible to see between 120 and 140 meteors an hour
It’s that time again. Check out this fantastic trailer for meteor watch which takes place this month.
Visual guide from Hubble Site.
Wednesday 2 December
Full Moon, the highest of the year.
Thursday 3 December
Moon occults M35.
16 Psyche in conjunction with Jupiter during the evening.
Friday 4 December
Moon at Perigee and also occults Delta Geminorum.
Saturday 5 December
Moon to the right of M44 during the evening.
Sunday 6 December
Moon can be found south of M44 during the morning.
Monday 7 December
Moon south of Mars during the morning.
Tuesday 8 December
The Moon lies below Regulus.
Wednesday 9 December
Last quarter Moon.
Monocerotids meteor shower peak.
Thursday 10 December
Moon south of Saturn.
Jupiter in conjuction with Gamma Capricorni.
Friday 11 December
Moon lies to right of Spica during the morning.
Saturday 12 December
Vesta is just south of 46 Leonis during the morning.
Sunday 13 December
Crescent Moon lies lower right of Alpha Librae.
Monday 14 December
Geminids meteor shower peak.
Uranus at quadrature.
Tuesday 15 December
Comet Kopff in conjunction with Uranus (the comet is very faint).
Wednesday 16 December
New Moon.
Thursday 17 December
Mercury is very low in the southwest half an hour after sunset.
Friday 18 December
Mercury at greatest elongation east.
Crescent Moon above left of Mercury.
Saturday 19 December
Cresent Moon is in conjunction with Beta Capricorni.
Sunday 20 December
Jupiter in conjunction with Neptune (last one until 2022)
Moon at apogee (furthest from the Earth).
Monday 21 December
Winter solstice
Moon above Jupiter and Neptune.
Tuesday 22 December
Ursids meteor shower peak.
Asteroid Juno at quadrature.
Wednesday 23 December
Moon to the upper right of Uranus and close to the Circlet of Pisces.
Thursday 24 December
First quarter Moon.
Friday 25 December
Saturn at quadrature.
Saturday 26 December
Moon close to Eta Piscium during the evening.
Sunday 27 December
Moon south of Beta and Gamma Arietis during the morning.
Monday 28 December
Moon to the right of M45 during the evening.
Tuesday 29 December
Moon ‘grazes’ M45.
Jupiter in conjunction with Mu Capricorni.
Wednesday 30 December
Moon lies to the right of M35.
Thursday 31 December
Full Moon.
Partial lunar eclipse
Mercury at perihelion.