The waning crescent Moon joins Mars and Jupiter in the southeastern predawn sky for the next several days.
Southeastern sky before dawn, Dec. 12-15, 2017. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.The constellations Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades star cluster rise in the East with the dusk and are visible all night.
Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades in the eastern sky at 8:00 PM on Dec. 12, 2017. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades all set in the west around shortly before dawn.
Western sky before dawn, Dec. 12, 2017. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.Astronomical League’s Navigating the mid-late December Night Sky Map
Image Credit: Astronomical League.The Sun
There is a tiny little sunspot (near the center of the image), otherwise the Sun is doing what the Sun normally does when at solar minimum: practically nothing…
The Sun – Dec. 12, 2017 – Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI). Image courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.Both the Sun’s poles have coronal holes, and there are a couple smaller coronal holes near the equator. The solar wind speed is fairly typical at 489 km/sec, with a density of 7.0 protons/cm3.
The Sun in multiple frequencies – Dec. 12, 2017 – Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) 211, 193, and 171 angstroms. Image courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.You can view the Sun in multiple frequencies, in near real-time here: SDO-The Sun Now
The Sky Overhead
The Solar System
Position of the planets in the inner solar system, Dec.. 12, 2017. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
Position of Uranus and Neptune, Dec. 12, 2017. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.This is the position of the planets in the inner and outer solar system simulated using NASA Eyes on the Solar System.
Apps used for this post:
Stellarium: a free open source planetarium app for PC/MAC/Linux.
NASA Eyes on the Solar System: an immersive 3D solar system and space mission app – free for the PC /MAC.
