December Stargazing

Keep lookin' up!

Stargazing Summary

The longest nights of the year offer bounteous time for skywatching. Even if your outdoor time is limited to early evening, there is plenty to see. Orion is in splendid view, already peeking into view as night falls, with the brilliant stars of the Winter Circle looping around orange Betelgeuse. Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, shimmers icily in the south, with perhaps a glimpse of the second-brightest star, Canopus, farther south. December also features the year's best eclipse.

More stargazing information: http://stardate.org/nightsky

Radio Program Highlights

Hear StarDate every day on more than 360 radio stations nationwide or subscribe to our podcast: http://stardate.org/feeds/podcast.xml

December 1-5: Hot and bright. The Moon scoots past Venus this week. The planet blazes as the brilliant "morning star." Despite its beauty, though, it's a place you wouldn't want to visit -- a celestial version of hell.

December 6-12: The little guys. One of the reasons Pluto isn't a planet any more is the discovery of a larger object beyond it. That spurred astronomers to create a new category of object: dwarf planet. We'll have details on several of them this week.

December 13-19: The final frontier. The planet Vulcan may not exist, but chips of rock known as vulcanoids may, and we'll tell you about the search. We'll also talk about a step toward "shields" for space explorers. Join us for a trek through the solar system.

December 20-26: Holiday skies. The week gets off to an impressive start with a total lunar eclipse, segues into the winter solstice, and ends with some beautiful encounters with the Moon. Spend some of your holiday week with StarDate.

December 27-31: Moon meanderings. The Moon passes by the giant planet Saturn early this week, then slips past the star Spica and the planet Venus -- the brilliant "morning star." Join us this week for details on the Moon's meanderings across the sky.

December Program Schedule: http://stardate.org/radio/calendars
Find an Affiliate: http://stardate.org/radio/affiliates.php

News From The Observatory

Texas Astronomer Wins Japanese Physics PrizeAstronomer Eiichiro Komatsu of The University of Texas at Austin has been awarded the 25th annual Nishinomiya-Yukawa Memorial Prize for physics. Komatsu, director of the Texas Cosmology Center at the university, is being honored for his studies of the early universe as a member of NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) science team.

Read more: http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/2010/1028.html