NARIT reminds people of five astronomical events in December
NARIT highlights five key astronomical events in December, including meteor showers, lunar conjunctions, and the winter solstice.
The National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) on Tuesday reminded the public about five upcoming astronomical events this month.
NARIT stated that the events include two lunar-planet conjunctions, the greatest western elongation of Mercury, a meteor shower, and the shortest day of the year.
According to NARIT, the five astronomical events in chronological order are:
December 7: Jupiter-Lunar Conjunction. The Moon and the planet Jupiter will appear very close together in the night sky.
December 8: Mercury’s Greatest Western Elongation. The planet Mercury will be visible at its greatest distance from the Sun to the west, from 3:30 am until dawn.
December 14 to dawn of December 15: Geminid Meteor Shower. The meteor shower will peak with up to 150 meteors per hour from 8:00 pm on December 14 to 2:30 am on December 15.
December 21: Winter Solstice. December 21 will mark the shortest day or longest night of the year, known as the winter solstice, when one of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun.
December 31: Pleiades-Lunar Conjunction. The Moon will appear to pass very close to the star cluster known as the Pleiades, also called the "Seven Sisters."
