December 2024 Night Sky Astronomy

Night Sky viewing guide for December 2024 including Moon phases, occultation of Mars, conjunctions, Geminid meteor shower and Deep Space Objects to see.

The annual Geminid Meteor Shower takes place in December, with the peak on the 13th. It's one of the favourite observing events of the year with many bright meteors expected to be visible.

The Geminid meteor shower reaches peak activity around 14th December, making 13th and 14th December ideal times to look for meteors. The Geminids provide good activity prior to midnight as the constellation of Gemini is well placed from 10pm onward.

The Ursids is a minor meteor shower producing about 5-10 meteors per hour. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tuttle, which was first discovered in 1790. The shower runs annually from December 17-25. It peaks this year on the the night of the 21st and morning of the 22nd. This year the moon spoils the show as it will be very bright in the sky. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Ursa Minor, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

Jupiter will make its closest approach to Earth on December 7th. The Sun will completely illuminate its face making it brighter than at any other time of year and visible all night. This is an excellent opportunity to observe and photograph Jupiter and its moons. Some of the features of Jupiter's cloud bands should be visible with a medium-sized telescope. Jupiter's four largest moons, which appear as bright spots on either side of the planet, should be visible with a good pair of binoculars.

On December 25th, Mercury will be at its greatest western elongation. Mercury has a maximum western elongation of 22 degrees from the Sun. Mercury will be at the highest point above the horizon in the morning sky, making this the best time to observe it. Just before sunrise, look for the planet low in the eastern sky.

The Orion Nebula (M42 and M43) are prime targets in the winter months hanging in the South Eastern sky. They are easy to locate as they form the sword hanging from Orion's Belt.

Taurus contains two glorious winter deep sky objects - the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters. Both can bee seen with the naked eye and are wonderful sights in binoculars, and small telescopes will further reveal the glittering array of bright, blue stars that make up the Pleiades. The Crab Nebula (M1) is almost directly overhead during the early evening hours. You do need a dark, clear sky, for to see the Crab nebula as it has a tendency to get lost in light pollution. It may be just barely visible as a dim patch of light in good binoculars, whilst telescopes greater than 3" should be able resolve more detail.

A short hop into neighbouring Auriga will bring you to the three exquisite open clusters - M36, M37 and M38 all of which can be spotted with binoculars and lie in the region between Beta Tauri and Delta Aurigae.

With dark skies, you should be able to spot the double cluster Perseus with the naked eye. It's another great target for small telescopes and consists of the clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884.

The Andromeda galaxy is a favourite of mine, directly overhead in December and slowly setting towards the west during January and into February. This large galaxy can be seen as a faint fuzzy blob with the naked eye under dark skies, but its really best to see through binoculars. Through a telescope the Andromeda Galaxy looks quite diffuse. Use your lowest power; the full extent of the galaxy is huge - five times as large as the full moon. It is the most distant object you can see with your naked eyes being two million light years away.

In this table, the observation month represents the month in which the object reaches its highest point in the sky. It can also be viewed a few months before and after depending on your location. Direction is the compass direction in which the object is located, with Z meaning Zenith or overhead.

#	Image	Common Name	Constellation	Coords	Direction	Mag	Size (arcmin)	Type	Star Chart
M31 NGC 224		The Andromeda Galaxy	Andromeda	00h 42.7m RA 41° 16m Dec	SW	3.34	190x60	Galaxy	🔍︎
M32 NGC 221		Le Gentil	Andromeda	00h 42.7m RA 40° 52m Dec	W	8.08	8x6	Galaxy	🔍︎
M33 NGC 598		Triangulum Galaxy	Triangulum	01h 33.9m RA 30° 39m Dec	SW	5.72	70x41	Galaxy	🔍︎
M34 NGC 1039		Spiral Cluster	Perseus	02h 42.0m RA 42° 47m Dec	S	5.50	35	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M35 NGC 2168		Shoe-Buckle Cluster	Gemini	06h 08.9m RA 24° 20m Dec	SE	5.30	28	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M36 NGC 1960		Pinwheel Cluster	Auriga	05h 36.1m RA 34° 08m Dec	SW	6.30	12	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M37 NGC 2099		Salt and Pepper Cluster	Auriga	05h 52.4m RA 32° 33m Dec	SW	6.20	24	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M38 NGC 1912		Starfish Cluster	Auriga	05h 28.7m RA 35° 50m Dec	SW	7.40	20	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M41 NGC 2287		Little Beehive Cluster	Canis Major	06h 47.0m RA -20° 44m Dec	S	4.50	38	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M42 NGC 1976		The Orion Nebula	Orion	05h 35.4m RA -05° 27m Dec	S	4.00	65x60	Diffuse Nebula	🔍︎
M43 NGC 1982		de Mairan's Nebula	Orion	05h 35.6m RA -05° 16m Dec	S	9.00	20x15	Diffuse Nebula	🔍︎
M45		The Pleiades	Taurus	03h 47.0m RA 24° 07m Dec	SE	1.60	110	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M46 NGC 2437			Puppis	07h 41.8m RA -14° 49m Dec	S	6.10	27	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M47 NGC 2422			Puppis	07h 36.6m RA -14° 30m Dec	S	4.20	30	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M48 NGC 2548		Starfish Cluster	Hydra	08h 13.8m RA -05° 48m Dec	S	7.40	20	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M50 NGC 2323		Heart-Shaped Cluster	Monoceros	07h 03.2m RA -08° 20m Dec	S	5.90	16	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M77 NGC 1068		Cetus A	Cetus	02h 42.7m RA -00° 01m Dec	S	9.60	7.1x6	Galaxy	🔍︎
M78 NGC 2068		Casper the Friendly Ghost Nebula	Orion	05h 46.7m RA 00° 03m Dec	S	8.30	8x6	Diffuse Nebula	🔍︎
M79 NGC 1904			Lepus	05h 24.5m RA -24° 33m Dec	S	8.56	8.7	Globular Cluster	🔍︎
M93 C71 NGC 2447		Butterfly Cluster	Puppis	07h 44.6m RA -23° 52m Dec	S	5.80	22	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M110 NGC 205			Andromeda	00h 40.4m RA 41° 41m Dec	W	8.92	21.9*11.0	Galaxy	🔍︎