Something About Astronomical Events

Go waiting for the stars to come showering down.

I found myself staring upward a couple evenings ago and wondered about this month’s astronomical phenomenon. It turns out there are a few interesting things going on out there as our friends at SeaSky.org note on their astronomy calendar of celestial events for Dec. 2020:

• December 13-14: Geminids Meteor Shower. It is produced by debris left behind by an asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon, which was discovered in 1982. The shower runs annually from December 7-17. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Gemini, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
• December 14: New Moon. The moon will located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky.
• December 14: Total Solar Eclipse. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon completely blocks the Sun, revealing the Sun's beautiful outer atmosphere known as the corona. The path of totality will only be visible in parts of southern Chile and southern Argentina. A partial eclipse will be visible in most parts of southern South America, the southeastern Pacific Ocean and the southern Atlantic Ocean.
• December 21: December Solstice. The South Pole of the earth will be tilted toward the Sun, which will have reached its southernmost position in the sky and will be directly over the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.44 degrees south latitude. This is the first day of winter (winter solstice) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of summer (summer solstice) in the Southern Hemisphere. 
• December 21: Rare Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. This rare conjunction of these two planets is known as a great conjunction. The last great conjunction occurred in the year 2000. The two bright planets will appear only 7 arc minutes of each other in the night sky. They will be so close that they will appear to make a bright double planet. Look to the west just after sunset for this impressive and rare planetary pair.
• December 21-2: Ursids Meteor Shower. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tuttle, which was first discovered in 1790. The shower runs annually from December 17-25. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Ursa Minor, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

And today in 1885 is the date Jedediah Clabbernong wrote his last entry in his journal: "It comes." It of course is the Capharnaum County meteorite, which landed in a farm outside New Zebedee later in the year. And what a mess it made of things.