What’s Up in the Night Sky? – December 2023

Fred Barrett | Dec 06, 2023

Besides Christmas, there’s another spectacular splash of bright lights this December. The annual Geminid meteor shower will be upon us. This shower is active from December 4 to the 17th and is considered the most active and the best meteor shower of the year. It peaks on the 14th, but don’t forget that there will be plenty of flashes across the sky in the days leading up to the peak and afterwards as well. Its radiant or source direction is from the area near the bright star Castor in the constellation Gemini. Gemini rises above the eastern horizon by 6 pm and is about 65 degrees high by midnight. The Moon is 2 days old on the evening of the peak and that means that there will be absolutely dark, light less and ideal conditions for observing.. The Geminid meteor numbers are more than any other shower of the year! Expect 100 with possible peaks of up to 150 meteors per hour. That’s more than a meteor a minute!

The source of the debris trail is the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, discovered relatively recently in 1983. It’s unusual in that normally a comet provides the materials for a meteor shower. A possible explanation is that asteroid Phaethon may be either an extinct or dormant comet. A dormant comet is one where its volatile materials are trapped beneath its surface and one that’s extinct has lost all its volatile material. Scientists are still puzzling over how it is releasing debris into the meteor stream.

So bundle up, grab yourself a hot drink and enjoy the best meteor show of the year!

There’s another minor shower peaking on the 22nd is the Ursids This shower radiates from the handle area of the Big Dipper. Sadly, its hourly rate is much lower than the Geminids. I’m sure a few fanatics will be out there seeing what’s up.

Early in the month, Mercury is in an ideal position for viewing shortly after sunset low in the southwest. Be quick. It only hangs for about 40 minutes before it sinks below the horizon. It’s brightness fades after the 11th. Look for Saturn above it by about 50 degrees and diagonally up to the left in the south. Jupiter is bright and is visible for most of the night. You can pick it up early in the evening and follow it as it rises up to the south and falls down to the West by morning. It’s always a great view by eye, binocular or scope. Its dancing moons always fascinate from night to night. Uranus is a month past opposition and still in excellent position between Jupiter and the Pleiades star cluster for finding.

Venus is up by 4 am early in the month and pretty hard to miss. On the 9th, you can see a beautiful crescent Moon just south of Venus about noon time. Venus is so bright that you should be able to see it with only a little difficulty. A nice challenge! The Moon is 26 days old and very thin.

Don’t forget that Winter Solstice occurs at 10:27 pm. Welcome to Winter!

Highlights: December 5: Last Quarter Moon. December 9: Crescent Moon south of Venus at noon. December12: New Moon. December 14: Geminid meteor shower peaks. Not to miss! December 16: The Moon is at perigee – 365,764 Kms. December 17: The Moon passes 2 degrees south of Saturn at 5 pm. December 19: First Quarter Moon. December 21: Winter Solstice. December 26: Full Moon. This one is called the Full Cold Moon for obvious reasons. The Moon has a high trajectory in the night sky. This means that it will be in the sky longer than most Full Moons. With a coat of snow on the ground, it will be so bright that sunglasses might be a good idea. December 25: Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Keep looking up! And watch for those late night sporadic meteors and flying reindeer too!

Don’t forget to check out events at the North Frontenac Dark Sky site, or, as it’s known now, the North Frontenac Astronomy Park.

Also check the Lennox and Addington Dark Sky Viewing Area for observing opportunities this summer.

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) website https://rasc.ca has a listing of astronomy events for Ontario and the Kingston branch of the RASC website lists events happening, especially in our area.

Feel free to contact me with questions or observations at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A friend asked me a question recently. He saw a red flashing light pass in front of the Moon; a satellite? A UFO? Nope, I answered. It’s Santa out testing some new Earth positioning electronics for his sleigh and giving the reindeer a little work out. I added that I knew because I was in his contact list. Aren’t all good boys and girls?

Clear skies and long, dark nights!