PATHOF THE
PLANETS
The planets
in the sky
These illustrations show the size, phase, and orientation of each planet and the two brightest dwarf planets
for the dates in the data table at bottom. South is at the top to match the view through a telescope.
The planets in December 2015
PER
AUR
TAU
ORI
CAE
COL
ERI
LEP
LY N
CNC
MON
PUP
PYX
VEL
ANT
CRT
HYA
SEX
LEO
OPH
HER
DRA
LY R
CEN
COM
BOÖ
SER
VIR
LIB
SCO
TEL
SCT
SER
LUP
CrB
CVn
LMi
UMa
CMi
CMa
Objects visible before dawn
Celestial equator
Path^
of^ the^ S
un^ (ecli
ptic)^
Path^
of^ the^ S
un^ (ecli
ptic)^
Moon phases Dawn Midnight
Sun
Saturn
Jupiter
Venus
Mars
Asteroid Psyche reaches
opposition December 9
The Moon occults Venus
in daylight December 7
Asteroid Euterpe reaches
opposition December 24/25
Nausikaa
Comet
Catalina
(C/2013 US10)
13 12 11 10 89 7 6 345 2 1
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23
Venus
Mercury Mars
Ceres
Uranus
Saturn
Neptune
Pluto
10"
S
WE
N
Jupiter
40 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2015
Planets MERCURY VENUS MARS CERES JUPITER SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE PLUTO
Date Dec. 31 Dec. 15 Dec. 15 Dec. 15 Dec. 15 Dec. 31 Dec. 15 Dec. 15 Dec. 15
Magnitude – 0. 5 – 4.1 1.4 9. 3 –2 .1 0. 5 5. 8 7.9 14. 2
Angular size 7.1" 15. 8 " 5 .1" 0. 4 " 37.1" 15. 3 " 3. 6 " 2. 3 " 0 .1"
Illumination 53% 72% 92% 98% 99% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Distance (AU) from Earth 0.947 1.054 1.845 3.489 5.316 10.868 19.557 30.207 33.915
Distance (AU) from Sun 0.330 0.719 1.663 2.977 5.413 10.011 19.977 29.960 33.003
Right ascension (2000.0) 20h02.4m 14h38.7m 13h11.3m 21h14.2m 11h32.8m 16h37.9m 1h01.4m 22h36.1m 19h01.2m
Declination (2000.0) –21°28' –13°04' –5°57' –24°49' 4°12' –20°27' 5°51' –9°41' –21°04'