** The NORTHERN LAPWING [Vanneau Huppé] continued its stay in St. Martins
on Saturday and received a large audience. According to various reports, it
seemed to be moving between the West Quaco beach and the campground.
** Clouds were moving in and out on Saturday evening but Brian Stone was
able to get a photo# of the MOON [Lune]. The moon will go into its first-quarter
phase this afternoon, Dec. 28.
This Week’s Sky
Highlights, Dec. 26 – Jan. 3
This is the time of year when Orion shines in
the east-southeast in early evening. The three-star Belt is still nearly
vertical. The Belt points up toward Aldebaran and, beyond Aldebaran, the
Pleiades. In the other direction, the Belt points down to where bright Sirius is
about to rise and twinkle
furiously.
On Sunday, December 28, the moon enters
its first-quarter phase meaning it will rise at noon and set at midnight.
Gemini rises into nice evening view this
season, with Castor shining over Pollux in the east.
On Wednesday, December 31, (New Years
Eve)after midnight at the turning of 2015, step outside into the silent dark.
Look south. There shines Sirius, the highest you'll see it. Upper right of it
stands Orion. Upper left of Sirius is Procyon. Off your right shoulder, the
gibbous Moon hangs in the west. And off your left shoulder, bright Jupiter
dominates the east.
Saturday, January 3
By Saturday, January 3, 2015 Venus and
Mercury are just 2½° apart, in the afterglow of sunset low in the southwest.
Brilliant Venus is on top. They're drawing closer together; they will appear
closest, just 0.6° apart in a week
On Saturday, December 27, the sun rose at
8:01 a.m. and set at 4:40 to give 8 hours 39 minutes of daylight. On Saturday,
January 3, the sun will rise at 8:02 a.m. and set at 4:45 p.m. to give 8 hours
44 minutes of daylight.
.
This Week's Planet
Roundup
Mercury
is emerging into view deep in the glow of sunset. Look for it this week 2° to 4°
to the lower right of much brighter Venus. Binoculars help. They'll shine higher
and even closer together through the first half of
January.
Venus
(magnitude –3.9) shines low through the glow of sunset. Look for it just above
the southwest horizon 30 or 40 minutes after sundown.
Mars
(magnitude +1.1) still glows in the southwest during and after twilight. And it
still sets around 9 p.m.
Jupiter
(magnitude –2.4) rises in the east-northeast around 8 p.m. About 45 minutes
later, fainter Regulus (magnitude +1.4) rises below it. By dawn they shine in
the west-southwest — with Regulus now to Jupiter's upper
left.
Saturn
(magnitude +0.5) glows fairly low in the southeast before and during dawn. As
dawn brightens, look below it (by 11°) for Antares twinkling
away.
To view the photos mentioned in this edition go to http://nminfoline.blogspot.ca/.
To see them in higher resolution if the original photo was taken that way, click
on the Nature Moncton Photo bucket option at the Blogger site. In Photo Bucket,
hovering on the photo will show the Photo Credit.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
MOON.DEC. 27, 2014. BRIAN STONE
