Well, with Christmas so close we begin to anticipate the clear, balmy night skies once again, remembering what is was like last year at this time.
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You may be surprised to now you are now looking at exactly the same night sky you did a year ago because every year the entire set of constellations revolves once overhead.
The stars are fixed, planets of course move. We get the name ‘planets’ from the ancient Greeks, they called them wanderers. The Australian sky is at its best at this time of the year with a wealth of astronomical goodies to choose from.
“If we could use the biggest telescope in the world, where would you go?” asked Dave Reneke, from Australasian Science Magazine.
“My choice would be Mars, now at its closest and absolutely stunning, even in tiny telescopes.”
Mars is on average about 10 light minutes away meaning when you look at the planet the light has taken all that time to reach your eye. Mars can be found low in our Western skies at sunset.
Got a telescope? Go get it.
The moon will be full this coming week. How many songs do you think have been written about our closest neighbour?
It is the only extraterrestrial body that has ever been visited by humans. It’s also the only body that has had samples taken from it. Only 60% of the moon’s surface is visible from earth. And did you know, the moon is moving away from us at the rate of 3 centimetres every year. True!
“Mercury is almost out of sight this month but Venus continues to shine brightly as the ‘morning star’ in the east before sunrise and still drawing the odd UFO report or two,” Dave said.
“People seem very disappointed when I tell them it’s a planet that’s been there for over 4 billion years!”
People seem very disappointed when I tell them it’s a planet that’s been there for over 4 billion years
The Southern Cross is now on its side in the southern sky and the two pointers, Alpha and Beta Centauri, sweep just above the southern horizon. Orion, the hunter is back in our skies late evening and will become an evening telescope favourite again in the New Year.
“Heading towards Christmas we’re heading into the best sky watching period when get interesting,” Dave said. “So, clean your telescope, I’ll scrub mine, and I’ll meet you out on the lawn next week.”
