Winter City Astronomy

Autumn ends. Rain, mud and slush are a thing of the past, and continuous clouds get a chance to be torn by a cold atmospheric front or anticyclone. The days are short, and in the morning and in the evening you can see the stars. You just have to look up. What will be interesting in the sky this winter?

Moon

Photo by ansiivan Astroforum .

The moon is a holiday that is always with you. Well, almost always, considering the new moon. Or even "sometimes" if you take the amendment for the weather. All the more interesting to look at the sky - is the moon visible today? Now the moon is in the phase of the old moon, and is visible in the morning, gradually shifting to the east (at the same time, for example, when you go to work, it will be all east). The new moon is expected on November 22, after which the moon will be visible in the evenings. Gradually moving to the east, the moon will reach the full moon on December 6th.
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Jupiter

Photos by Ast_forum From_nord . Spring 2012, on top of Venus, in the middle of the Moon, below Jupiter.

This year, Jupiter is visible in the mornings rather high in the south as a very bright non-blinking star. For example, half past six in the morning of Monday, the southern part of the sky:



By the New Year, Jupiter will be visible from the evening in the east, here is the scheme for midnight:

Venus

Photo of user Upsilon Astroforum

Now Venus is not visible - it is very close to the Sun. But from the beginning of December it will already be visible in the west, gradually becoming ever higher and brighter.

The moon, Jupiter and Venus are those objects that are visible even in the center of the metropolis, despite any illumination.


Photo of user 4D Astroforum . Spring 2012.

Mars

LightFly Astroforum user photo , spring 2012

Mars is now visible in the evenings low in the west. Before him, almost two astronomical units and the distance is increasing:



Therefore, Mars, although it will rise higher for some time, will be increasingly dim.

Saturn

Photo of user Upsilon Astroforum .

Now Saturn is not visible - it is behind the Sun. But already in January, it will gradually begin to rise higher in the southeast before dawn. Here is the scheme for the New Year's morning:

Pleiades

Photo by ansiivan Astroforum .

The Pleiades are now visible in the evenings in the east. Even on the outskirts of the city, they are clearly visible with the naked eye, if the atmosphere is sufficiently transparent.

Hyades

Hyades are several stars located to the left and below the Pleiades and forming a noticeable letter V.

Orion Constellation

Orion, also known as the “Hunter,” is one of the most conspicuous constellations. Just as the Big Dipper is a ladle, just as Orion is a figure of a man with a sword at his belt and a bow.

In winter, the Pleiades, Hyades and the constellation of Orion form such beauty:


Photo of pavel S Astroforum

It is already visible in the middle of the night in the south.

Meteor showers

Photo by Yuri Beletsky . The photo was taken in Chile, in the southern hemisphere, therefore Orion is upside down from the top left.

November 18, the maximum will reach the flow of Leonid. This year it is not very abundant - about 15 meteors per hour. But in the area on December 14 there will be one of the most powerful meteor showers of the year - the Geminids. The Gemini constellation in our latitudes is located in the southern part of the sky, so you should look to the south.

Non-astronomical beautiful winter phenomena

The cooling of the atmosphere gives two interesting effects that can be observed in winter. These are not astronomical phenomena, but meteorological, but this does not make them less beautiful.

Light poles

Photo by user Andrey Lozhkin Astroforum .

When the air temperature in winter drops, the atmospheric moisture condenses into snow crystals even without the formation of clouds. If you watched the weather, you probably saw that light snow could come from a clear sky. If the crystals are flat or hexagonal, then atmospheric "light guides" can form, along which the light from the earth rises up with a beautiful light column.

Halo

A source

Under the same conditions, when there are ice crystals in the atmosphere, a halo can form around the Sun or the Moon.


A sign of increased likelihood of a halo or light pillars is cooling. The probability is especially high if a few days is clear, cold, and windless weather. Be careful and do not miss the beauty.

Now smartphones are very powerful devices with a large amount of memory. Do not be lazy, set yourself a planetarium program, and a program showing the phases of the moon.

Additional Information

When writing the publication resources were used:
Astronomical events by week, month and year - astronet.ru ;
Maps of the sky, the solar system, comets, ISS, satellites and other things - heavens-above.com ;
And if you want to see more beautiful photos - the Astroforum's astrophotography section ;
Source KDPV .