CRESCENT MOON JOINS THE GREAT CONJUNCTION: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look southwest. An exquisitely slender crescent Moon is approaching Jupiter and Saturn on the eve of their Great Conjunction. They form a must-see trio on Dec. 16th and 17th, followed by the Great Conjunction itself on Dec. 21st. No telescope is required! Sky maps: Dec. 16, 17; Dec. 21. Tips: How to Photograph the Conjunction.
Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau sends this picture from Rafaela, Argentina:
"The planets Jupiter and Saturn are getting closer every night until, on Dec. 21st, they will be so close that they will appear as one," says Poupeau. "Today the conjunction of planets had a special extra ingredient: the crescent Moon. This old windmill seemed to me the ideal companion to portray this event."
Realtime Spaceweather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
GEMINID METEOR RECAP: 2020 was a good year for Geminid meteors. On Monday, Dec. 14th, as many as 150 meteors per hour erupted from the constellation Gemini when Earth passed through a stream of debris from "rock comet" 3200 Phaethon. Alan Stankevitz of Hokah, MN, saw a lot of them:
"The clouds parted for 90 minutes early Monday morning," says Stankevitz. "During that short time I video-recorded more than 169 meteors. I laboriously edited an hour of footage to take out all the dead space. The resulting time-lapse video is a good representation of what someone would have seen watching the display with their naked eyes."
Realtime Meteor Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
GIFTS FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE: Christmas is less than two weeks away. Are you looking for a far-out gift? Check out the Earth to Sky Store. It's filled with unique items that have flown to the edge of space onboard cosmic ray research balloons. From now until Christmas, all gifts are 10% off:
Carried aloft by giant helium balloons, these unique gifts have flown above 99.7% of Earth's atmosphere, experiencing space-like blasts of cosmic rays, extreme cold, and a wild ride parachuting back to Earth after the balloon explodes. Even Amazon doesn't carry items this far out.
All items come with a greeting card showing the gifts in flight, and telling the story of their journey to the edge of space and back again. Don't forget to enter coupon code "SPACESANTA" at checkout for a 10% holiday discount!
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter