December sky | Astronomical events predict a meteor shower until the end of 2022

2022 brought quite interesting astronomical events to observe and the month of December ends the year with a beautiful meteor shower. Know when and how to see!

We are already in December and, therefore, the year 2022 is drawing to a close. Many astronomical events have taken place in the last eleven months, admired and even photographed by lovers of the night sky – and this now starting month also brings fantastic phenomena to observe.

• Astronomical events of 2022

• What is the meteor shower?

Astronomical events in December 2022

December 14: Peak of the Geminids meteor shower

This meteor shower begins to be active from December 4th and lasts until the 17th, but its peak is expected for the night of the 14th, continuing until dawn on the 15th.falling stars” you can see!

Some isolated meteors already begin to appear from 21:30, but, at this time, the Geminids radiant will still be very close to the horizon.

This radiant is the constellation of Gemini, positioned to the right of Orion, the one that hosts the famous “three Marys” on the Belt. To locate the constellation Gemini, just draw an imaginary line from Orion’s Belt towards the bright star Betelgeuse. Crossing it, you will then see Castor and Pollux, very suggestive stars that form the “heads” of the brothers of the constellation Gemini.

If you look north at the sky after 11pm, depending on where you are, you can already see the radiant and then wait for the light trails of the Geminid meteors to appear. Around 2am the radiant will be quite high above the horizon and, therefore, this rain is usually best observed at dawn, well into daybreak.

Geminid is expected to produce up to 120 meteors an hour tonight. For better observation, it is recommended to be inside places far from large urban centresfar from light pollution which hinders the visualization of nocturnal celestial phenomena.

December 21: Summer Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere

The longest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere falls on the summer solstice, December 21st. It is because, on this day, this part of the Earth is tilted in such a way with respect to the Sun that it ends up receiving more solar rays than on other days.

Likewise, the Northern Hemisphere gets less sunlight on such a day, so December 21 will be the shortest day of the year for North Americans.

December 23: New Supermoon

When a new moon is at its perigee, the point in its orbit where it is closest to Earth, a “super new moon” occurs. And since the new moon isn’t visible to us, that means the sky is darker tonight, without the “interruption” of reflected light from our natural satellite. In other words: it’s a great opportunity to admire the night!

It is worth saying that “supermoon” is not an astronomical term per se. It is a popular designation, or “affectionate nickname” for when the Moon is at its closest point to Earth. When in its full phase, the supermoon appears to be about 5% larger than an average full moon and up to 14% larger than a full micromoon, the name given to when the Moon is at its apogee, its farthest point from Earth.

Moon phases in December 2022

Below, you can check the lunar calendar for December, with the days and times when the main phases of the moon🇧🇷

• December 8 at 1:08: full moon
• December 16 at 5:56: waning quarter
• December 23 at 7:16: New moon
• December 29 at 10.29 pm: First quarter

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Camila

Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.