Moon and Jupiter Put On a Christmas Show
December 23, 2012 Leave a comment
Christmas evening conjunction as seen from Tucson at 7:00 pm. Created with Stellarium.
This Christmas evening the Moon and Jupiter will make a beautiful pair. The image to the right shows what the two will look like from Tucson around 7 pm local time. The Moon is not quite full as Full Moon isn’t till Dec 28.
As close as the two get from each other for northern observers, the Moon will actually pass in front of, or occult, Jupiter for skywatchers from central South America to southern Africa. A map and list of times can be found at the International Occultation Timing Association.
On Christmas eve, the Moon will be located near the Pleiades which is the small “little dipper”-looking star clusters near the top of the image to the right.
About Carl Hergenrother
