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In the Sky this Week- December 12, 2017

By Robert Trembley  |  12 Dec 2017

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This entry is part 68 of 242 in the series In the Sky This Week

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 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 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…

Featureless, boring Sun 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 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 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 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.

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More Posts in this Series:
"In the Sky This Week"

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By Robert Trembley  |  7 Nov 2017

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