2019-12-01_Astronomy

TRI

ARI

AUR PER

TAU

ORI

FOR

CAE

COL

ERI

LEP

LY N

GEM

CNC

MON

PUP

PYX

VEL

ANT

CRT

HYA

LEO

OPH

HER

LY R

CEN

CRV

COM

BOÖ

SER

VIR

LIB

SCO

TEL

SCT

SER

LUP

CrB

CVn

LMi

UMa

CMi

CMa

Celestial equator

Path^

of^ the^

Moon^

Path of the Sun (^) (ecliptic
)
Dawn Midnight
Moon phases
Sun
Uranus
Mars
Mercury
Astraea
Vesta
Comet
PanSTARRS
26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9
Mercury Mars
Venus
Ceres
Ceres
Uranus
Neptune
Saturn
Pluto
Mercury Venus
Jupiter
Mars
Earth
Winter solstice
is December 21
Jupiter
Solar conjunction
is December 27
40 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2019
THE PLANETS
IN THEIR ORBITS
Arrows show the
inner planets’
monthly motions and
dots depict the outer
planets’ positions at
midmonth from high
above their orbits.
To locate the Moon in the sky, draw a line from the phase shown for the day straight up to the curved blue line.
Date
Magnitude
Angular size
Illumination
Distance (AU) from Earth
Distance (AU) from Sun
Right ascension (2000.0)
Declination (2000.0)
PLANETS
Dec. 1
–0.6
6.3"
69%
1.066
0.362
15h06.7m
–15°13'
Dec. 15
–3.9
12.2"
86%
1.369
0.728
19h41.5m
–23°12'
MERCURY VENUS
PATHS OF THE PLANETS
THE PLANETS IN THE SKY
These illustrations show the size, phase,
and orientation of each planet and the two
brightest dwarf panets at 0h UT for the dates
in the data table at bottom. South is at the top
to match the view through a telescope.