quick and dirty TSTM

Feeling badly for not delivering The Sky This Month, I issued a quick bulletin on the RASC Toronto Centre Yahoo!Group... I had already done a bunch of the research.

Hi,

Due to a work conflict I could not attend the RASC meeting and deliver my The Sky This Month presentation.

Regardless, I wanted to share a list of upcoming events. Enjoy.

* Geminid meteor shower. Active until Dec 17. Peak this weekend! Can produce up to 120 meteors per hour! That's a higher rating than the Perseids. Associated with the Palladian asteroid.

* Quadrantid meteor shower. Active from Dec 28 - Jan 12, peaking on Jan 4. Up to 120/hr! Another good event! Moon should cooperate. Appear to radiate from a point between northern Boötes and the handle of the Big Dipper.

* Globe at Night. Measure sky brightness and submit your results. Runs until Dec 20. The January campaign starts Sun 11 Jan. http://www.globeatnight.org/

* Visible evening passes or flyovers of the International Space Station continue until Mon 29 Dec with a couple of bright ones on tap. Morning passes start 5 Jan. http://heavens-above.com/

* 3rd quarter Moon. Sun 14 Dec.

* Moon Anniversary. Sun 14 Dec. Last human visited the Moon (1972).

* Dark sky observing session star party at Long Sault Conservation Area. Weather permitting. First clear night of Mon 15 - Thu 18 Dec.

* Asteroid Bonk near earth. Tue 16 Dec.

* SpaceX Dragon launch to International Space Station, Commercial Resupply Mission 5. Fri 19 Dec. Revised date.

* New moon. Sun 21 Dec.

* Solstice! Sun 21 Dec.

* Young Moon near Venus. Mon 22 Dec.

* Jupiter night! Io's shadow, Io's transit in front of Jupiter, Ganymede's disappearing-reappearing act, Europa's reappearance, along with the Great Red Spot. Bonus: Moon near Mars. Wed 24 Dec.

* Keep an eye on NORAD! http://www.noradsanta.org/

* 1st quarter Moon. Tail end of Lunar X may be visible (we'll have many good chances in 2015). Sun 28 Dec.

* Moon very near Uranus. Mon 29 Dec.

* Another Jupiter night! Europa and Ganymede disappear in Jupiter's shadow. Io casts its shadow on the planet. Io transits. Along with the GRS!

* Mercury reappears in evening skies. Thu 1 Jan.

* Double moon shadow transit on Jupiter. Moon near Aldebaran. Fri 2 Jan.

* Solar observing session star party. Weather permitting. Sat 3 Jan.

* Earth closest to Sun (at perihelion). Full Moon. Sun 4 Jan.

* Double shadow transit on Jupiter. Tue 6 Jan.

* Yet another Jupiter night! GRS, Io's shadow, Io transiting, Ganymede disappearing. Apropos given the anniversary of Galileo discovering these moons. Earth's Moon near Jupiter. Wed 7 Jan.

* Mercury and Venus less than 1 degree apart! Starts Thu 8 Jan and continues to Mon 12 Jan.

* Jupiter show! Double shadows. Io and Europe transiting. Then reemerging. Amalthea at greatest elongation too.

* 3rd quarter Moon. Mon 12 Jan.

* Mercury at greatest elongation (or separation) from the Sun. Wed 14 Jan.

* Speakers night meeting. Wed 14 Jan.

Keep looking up!

regards,
Blake

It's better than bad; it's good.