Sky Guide December 2016

What to look out, and up, for in December. Our highlights of this month’s skies with the planet on offer to observers and imagers: Venus shining brilliantly in the evening sky Mercury at greatest elongation on 11th December Jupiter returns to our late night skies Next up is the meteor showers and December brings us the greatest of them all: The Geminids peaking on the night of 13/14th December Then we each take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Jeni – IC 1396 - The Elephant Trunk Nebula in Cepheus Paul – M78 – a reflection nebula in Orion Ralph – NGC 246 the Skull Nebula in Cetus And we finish this sky guide with December’s moon phases.