Astronomy

12345

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

SUN. MON. TUES. WED. THURS. FRI. SAT.

`

`

`

b

¡

c

d

+

c

¡

a

i

d

e

`

d

_ a

a

a

a

a

r

`

_

_

_

b b

_

_

_

`

_

`

a

_

LACERT

A

DRAC

O

LY R A

SAGITTA

VULPECULA

DELPHINUS

EQUULEUS

QUARIUS

CYGNUS

PISCIS

AUSTRINUS

PEGASUS

TOR

AQUILA

CAPRICORNUS

M57

Vega

M27

M15

Enif

Deneb

Fomalhaut

Altair

Path of the Sun (

ecliptic)

WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 39

Open cluster

Globular cluster

Diffuse nebula

Planetary nebula

Galaxy

W

NW

SW

MAP SYMBOLS

Note: Moon phases in the calendar vary

in size due to the distance from Earth

DECEMBER 2015and are shown at 0h Universal Time.

Calendar of events

3 Last Quarter Moon

occurs at 2:40 A.M. EST

4 The Moon passes 1.8° south of

Jupiter, 1 A.M. EST

5 The Moon is at apogee (251,531

miles from Earth), 9:56 A.M. EST

The Moon passes 0.1° south of

Mars, 10 P.M. EST

7 The Moon passes 0.7° north of

Venus, noon EST

9 Asteroid Psyche is at

opposition, 9 A.M. EST

11 New Moon occurs at

5:29 A.M. EST

17 The Moon passes 3° north of

Neptune, 3 A.M. EST

18 First Quarter Moon

occurs at 10:14 A.M. EST

19 The Moon passes 1.2° south of

Uranus, 8 P.M. EST

21 The Moon is at perigee

(228,924 miles from Earth),

4:00 A.M. EST

Mars passes 4° north of Spica,

7 A.M. EST

Winter solstice occurs at

11: 4 8 P.M. EST

23 The Moon passes 0.7° north of

Aldebaran, 3 P.M. EST

24 Asteroid Euterpe is at

opposition, midnight EST

25 Full Moon occurs at

6:11 A.M. EST

26 Uranus is stationary, 6 A.M. EST

28 Mercury is at greatest eastern

elongation (20°), 10 P.M. EST

31 The Moon passes 1.5° south of

Jupiter, 1 P.M. EST

SPECIAL OBSERVING DATE

14 The annual Geminid

meteor shower peaks

under a Moon-free sky.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY

ASTRONOMY

: ROEN KELLY

BEGINNERS: WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT HOW TO READ A STAR CHART AT http://www.Astronomy.com/starchart.