December set to mark start of a new eye in the sky | The Sky Guy
A cosmic Webb.
On Dec. 18 a new era of telescopes is scheduled for launch. The James Webb Space Telescope is designed to study galaxies from the early Universe using the infrared spectrum. This is because the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths of light have been pushed into the red-end of the electromagnetic spectrum due to the expansion of the Universe: “red-shift.”
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At 21.3 feet in diameter, Webb is the largest space telescope built by NASA and its partners, the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency. The scope will travel about a million miles from Earth and will take six months to unfold and test its mirrors and other equipment.
The primary mirror is made up of 18 hexagonal segments. Webb is so large that it had to be folded up like an origami bird to fit into a rocket for launch.
There are an enormous number of technical procedures to get the observatory ready for use. This will be one for the record books.
Morning sky: Mars remains low in the east before sunrise all month long. You’ll need a clear view of the eastern horizon to see the red planet.
Evening sky: Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus form line in the west at sunset. Catch these planets while you can as they are getting closer to the Sun’s glare. Jupiter is very bright and can’t be missed almost directly south, southwest. Look for Saturn to the right (west) of Jupiter. Saturn has a ruddy, yellowish tint to it and is about half as bright as Jupiter. Brilliant Venus still dominates the western sky though it will remain low above the horizon after sunset. Mercury joins the group late in December.
Due to the coronavirus, there will be limited public viewings scheduled this month. If things change, we will post it on TAS’s events calendar.
1st: Check out Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus in the west at sunset.
4th: New Moon. Tallahassee Astronomical Society’s free planetarium show at the Downtown Digital Dome Theatre and Planetarium at the Challenger Learning Center (not recommended for children under 5). Doors close at 10 a.m. sharp so get there by 9:45 a.m. “December Skies over Tallahassee” will be repeated at 11 a.m.
6th: Moon near Venus.
7th: Moon near Saturn.
8th: Moon near Jupiter.
11th: First quarter Moon.
14th: Geminid meteor shower peaks in the early morning.
16th: Moon between Pleiades and Hyades star clusters.
18th: Scheduled launch date for James Webb Space Telescope.
19th: Full Moon.
21st: Moon near bright star Pollux in Gemini the Twins. Winter Solstice – longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
22nd: Moon near Beehive star cluster.
23rd: Moon near bright star Regulus in Leo the Lion.
27th: Last quarter Moon.
28th: Moon near bright star Spica in Virgo the Virgin.
31st: Thin crescent Moon near Mars and bright star Antares (“Rival of Mars”) in Scorpius before sunrise. Mercury near Venus low in west at sunset.
Check out TAS’s events calendar at www.stargazers.org
Ken Kopczynski is president of the Tallahassee Astronomical Society, a local group of amateur astronomers.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: December set for launch of new cosmic Webb telescope
