Watch best holiday lights: How to see Geminids meteor shower from Florida
Pull out a comfortable chair or a blanket, get away from city and holiday lights, and head outside for some sky gazing this month.
From the Geminid meteor shower to the Cold Moon, there's plenty to see, even without a telescope.
December 2023 meteor showers: Can I wiew Geminids and Ursids from Florida?
Get ready for two separate meteor showers that peak in December, the Geminids and the Ursids.
Geminid meteor shower in December is one of the “the year’s most reliable meteor shower,” according to NASA, and is considered the "king of the meteor showers," according to Sea and Sky.
When to see Geminids meteor shower: See most activity between Dec. 4 and 17, with the peak time overnight Dec. 13-14.
How many meteors? Under ideal conditions, you might be able to see 150 meteors every hour during the peak night. Otherwise, you may be able to see 50 meteors an hour.
When to watch: While the meteor shower is best viewed throughout the night and predawn hours, activity typically begins around 9 or 10 p.m., according to NASA.
Will the Geminids be visible in Florida? Yes. The meteors will be visible across the globe.
Where to look: Look to the south. Remember it takes about 30 minutes in the dark for your eyes to adapt to the dark. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Gemini, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
Where did the Geminids come from? Scientists say the debris that causes the Geminids may be from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, which has an eccentric 1.4 year orbit that takes it out as far as the main asteroid belt and much closer to the sun than Mercury, according to NASA.
Special note: The Geminids are known as the best and most reliable of the annual meteor showers. In December 2023, they'll peak around the time of the new moon so moonlight won't interfere with your view.
When to see Ursids meteor shower: The Ursids is considered a minor meteor shower. The shower runs annually from Dec. 17-26 and will peak Dec. 22-23.
How many meteors? The Ursids produces 5 to 10 meteors per hour at its peak, according to The Sky.
When to watch: The Ursid meteor shower will be active all night long but the best time to watch will during the hours right before dawn. The moon will block out most of the faintest meteors this year.
Will the Ursids be visible in Florida? This shower is best viewed from northern latitudes.
Where to look: Best viewing will be just after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Ursa Minor — also known as the Little Dipper — but can appear anywhere in the sky, according to The Sky. It takes about 30 minutes for your eyes to adapt to the dark.
Where did the Ursids come from? The Ursids are the dust grains left behind by comet Tuttle, according to The Sky.
Special note: After the moon sets, you should have about three moonless hours before sunrise to see the meteors. There have been some years more meteors have been observed. About 100 meteors per hour happened in 1945 and 1986, according to EarthSky.
Best stargazing events of 2023: What you may have missed and what you can still see
December solstice arrives Dec. 22
The winter solstice arrives at 10:27 p.m., Dec. 21.
The winter solstice is the shortest day and longest night of the year and marks the day when the North Pole is tilted away from the sun. There will be 9 hours, 26 minutes and 13 seconds of daylight, according to NASA.
It marks the first day of astronomical winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
Astronomical vs meteorological seasons: When is the winter solstice and what does it mean?
Planets to watch for in December 2023
Planets visible in the Northern Hemisphere this month include:
Mercury: This planet, the closest to the sun, can be seen very low above the southwestern horizon in the evening in Sagittarius at the beginning of the month. On Dec. 4, Mercury will be at its maximum distance from the Sun in our sky. On Dec. 7, Mercury will reach its highest point but will still be only about 2 degrees above the horizon, according to NASA.
Venus: On Dec. 9 Venus will appear about 4 degrees to the left of the moon in the east-southeastern horizon at 3:46 a.m.
Jupiter: Look for Jupiter at 51 degrees above the southeastern horizon on Dec. 26 in Aries. The planet will be visible all night long, according to NASA. Jupiter will be at its highest point in the sky since 2015 for those in the Northern Hemisphere, according to Astronomy.com.
Saturn: Look for Saturn 33 degrees above the south-southwestern horizon in the evening in Aquarius. It will set by 9 p.m. local time at the end of December. You might be able to spot Titan, the brightest of Saturn’s moons, roughly north of the planet Dec. 12 and Dec. 28.
Uranus will be in Aries and Neptune will be in Pisces but you'll need binoculars or a telescope to see them. Neptune will be visible all evening, though it sinks very low in the west before midnight.
The Cold Moon
December’s Cold Moon reaches peak illumination on Tuesday, Dec. 26, at 7:33 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac. It will be the first full moon after the winter solstice.
The Cold Moon is a Mohawk name that conveys the frigid conditions of this time of year.
December's full moon has also been known as Long Nights Moon and the Moon before Yule, according to Time and Date.
Other names that allude to the cold and snow include Drift Clearing Moon (Cree), Frost Exploding Trees Moon (Cree), Moon of the Popping Trees (Oglala), Hoar Frost Moon (Cree), Snow Moon (Haida, Cherokee), and Winter Maker Moon (Western Abenaki).
Comets to watch for in December, but you'll need binoculars or telescope
Here are some of December's best comets to watch for, although most will be visible only through binoculars or a telescope.
62P/Tsuchinshan will reach its perihelion — closest point to the sun — Dec. 25, Christmas Day. The comet will be best seen from the Northern Hemisphere. Find it about 1 a.m. in the east above Regulus, the heart of Leo, according to astronomy.com. Discovered in 1965, Tsuchinshan 1 returns every 6.2 years.
12P/Pons-Brooks is gradually brightening on its way to perihelion on April 21, 2024. In December 2023, keep an eye out for sudden outbursts of brightness. On Oct. 5 and Nov. 14, it brightened. In the Northern Hemisphere, the comet will gradually get lower.
Asteroid 4 Vesta to pass by Earth in December 2023
Asteroid 4 Vesta is one of the largest and earliest known asteroids. It has a mean diameter of 330 miles.
Vesta is considered a protoplanet because it's a large body that almost became a planet, according to NASA. It completes one orbit around the sun every 3.63 years,
Find Asteroid 4 Vesta in the constellation Orion, well above the horizon for most of the month. It'll reach opposition on Dec. 21. You'll need binoculars or a small telescope to keep track of it during the month.
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft circled Vesta from July 16, 2011, until Sept. 5, 2012, when it departed and began its journey to dwarf planet Ceres.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Meteor showers December 2023: Geminids, Ursids , planets winter views
