News on what is visable in this months sky as posted by Adrian Zielonka's in his monthly sky notes.

Thank you Adrian and thank you CADAS.

Hi All

Here is the astronomy news for December.

From Adrian Zielonka

Astronomy
News

Night Sky 2018 - December

Sunrise	Sunset	Mercury Rises	Venus Rises
1st – 7:52am 10th – 8:03am 20th – 8:11am 30th – 8:15am	1st – 4:07pm 10th – 4:04pm 20th – 4:06pm 30th – 4:13pm	1st – 6:59am 10th – 6:10am 20th – 6:26am 30th – 7:03am	1st – 4:10am 10th – 4:02am 20th – 4:03am 30th – 4:13am
Moon Rise	Moon Set	Moon Rise	Moon Set
1st – 12:34am 2nd – 1:50am 3rd – 3:04am 4th – 4:18am 5th – 5:30am 6th – 6:41am 7th – 7:48am (New) 8th – 8:49am 9th – 9:44am 10th – 10:30am 11th – 11:08am 12th – 11:40am 13th – 12:07pm 14th – 12:30pm 15th – 12:52pm (FQ)	1st – 1:55pm 2nd – 2:18pm 3rd – 2:40pm 4th – 3:04pm 5th – 3:30pm 6th – 4:00pm 7th – 4:35pm (New) 8th – 5:17pm 9th – 6:06pm 10th – 7:00pm 11th – 8:00pm 12th – 9:02pm 13th – 10:06pm 14th – 11:11pm 16th – 12:17am	16th – 1:12pm 17th – 1:32pm 18th – 1:54pm 19th – 2:19pm 20th – 2:48pm 21st – 3:26pm 22nd – 4:13pm (Full) 23rd – 5:12pm 24th – 6:23pm 25th – 7:41pm 26th – 9:01pm 27th – 10:21pm 28th – 11:39pm 30th – 12:54am 31st – 2:08am	17th – 1:24am 18th – 2:34am 19th – 3:47am 20th – 5:02am 21st – 6:18am 22nd – 7:33am (Full) 23rd – 8:42am 24th – 9:41am 25th – 10:28am 26th – 11:05am 27th – 11:36am 28th – 12:02pm 29th – 12:25pm (LQ) 30th – 12:47pm 31st – 1:10pm
A useful site: www.heavens-above.com Heavens-Above www.heavens-above.com The end of Iridium flares? The first generation of Iridium satellites are being replaced with satellites of a new design which, unfortunately, are not expected to produce predictable flares.	A S Zielonka

There is a planned launch this month of a Chinese Long March 2D rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China. The Gaofen-6 remote sensing satellite will join the country's primary civilian Earth Observation
infrastructure comprising a variety of differently-instrumented satellites operating from different orbits to capture a comprehensive set of land, ocean and atmospheric parameters. It carries a package of three cameras, one for black-and-white imaging at a
two-meter ground resolution, one for colour imaging at eight-meter resolution and one for wide-angle colour imaging at a 16-meter GSD. It is intended as a replacement for the first Gaofen satellite launched in 2013.

On the 1^st & 2^nd Comet 46P Wirtanen will just 2 degrees from the 4.4 magnitude star Tau Eridani in the constellation of
Eridanus. Its location at 11:30pm is approximately 12 degrees above the horizon in the SSW. It was at 6.5 magnitude on 14^th November. For further information please see the “Comet Section” in the website above.

On the 1^st at 7:00am the 1st magnitude star Spica in Virgo is 6 degrees to the right of Venus in the SE.

At 7:00am on the 2^nd the 2.7 magnitude star Porrima is just 1½ degrees below the Moon.

There is a scheduled launch on the 3^rd* at 11:31am* from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques and Oleg Kononenko of
the Russian Space Agency Roscomos are the next crew to launch to the International Space Station (ISS). See News Extra below.

On the 3^rd at 6:00am in the SE the Moon will be approx midway between Zeta Virginis (3.3 Mag) and Spica in Virgo with Venus 8 degrees
below left of the Moon.

On the 3^rd & 4^th at 7:00am Comet C/2018 L2 Atlas will be just 2½ degrees from the 2nd magnitude star Rasalhague in Ophiuchus.
On the 2^nd it was at perihelion (1.712AU) and a distance 2.424AU from Earth. It was at 10th*** magnitude on the 6^th November. For further information please see the “Comet Section” in the website above.

From the 3^rd – 8^th Mars will be passing close to the star Lambda Aquarii and the planet Neptune. At 6:00pm on the 4^th
the star Lambda Aquarii will be just ¾ of a degree above right of Mars in the south. At 6:00pm on the 7^th Mars and the Neptune will be just a small fraction of a degree apart.

There is a scheduled launch on the 4^th* at 6:38pm* from Cape Canaveral, Florida. An uncrewed SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft will lift off on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40. It will deliver
supplies and equipment to the ISS.

At 6:00am on the 4^th Venus is 6 degrees to the above right of the crescent Moon.

On the 5^th at 7:00am Mercury is 4 degrees above the horizon and 7½ degrees below left of the crescent Moon.

At 7:30am on the 6^th a thin crescent Moon is 5½ degrees above the SE horizon with Jupiter 4 degrees below it and Mercury 6 degrees
above right of the Moon.

On the 8^th at 4:30pm a very thin crescent Moon will be 4½ degrees above the horizon in the SW with Saturn 7 degrees above left of the
Moon. The 3.8 magnitude star Mu Sagittarii in Sagittarius is 1.8 degrees above left of the Moon.

An occultation of Saturn by the Moon occurs on the 9^th at 5:00am over central Siberia.

At 5:00pm on the 9^th low in the SW a thin crescent Moon will be 6½ degrees above the horizon with Saturn 5½ degrees to the lower right
of it. The 2.8 magnitude star Pi Sagittarii in Sagittarius is 2¼ degrees to the upper left of the Moon.

Around the 10^th Comet 64P Swift-Gehrels will be within the constellation of Triangulum and at a distance 0.571AU from the Earth. On
the 14^th November it was at 9th magnitude. For further information please see the “Comet Section” in the website above.

At 5:30pm on the 11^th the asteroid Vesta is 3 degrees to the lower right of the Moon. For further information please see “Asteroid”
section in the website above.

Comet C/2018 V1 Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto is at perihelion (closest to the Sun in its orbit) 0.387 AU on Dec 12^th.

Comet 46P Wirtanen is at perihelion on the 12^th. At a distance 1.055AU from the Sun.

On the 12^th at 6:00pm the star Phi Aquarii (4.2 Mag) in Aquarius is a ¼ of a degree below Mars.

An occultation of Pluto by the Moon occurs on the 12^th at 4:00am over Siberia, Japan and most of China.

Around 8:30pm on the 12^th as the Moon approaches the horizon in WSW, the 3.6 magnitude star Nashira in Capricornus is less than ½ a
degree above the Moon.

On the 13^th at 9:00pm Mars will be 16 degrees above left of the Moon in the south west, with Neptune just 4 degrees below right of
Mars.

From the 14^th - 17^th Comet 46P Wirtanen will be at its closest to the Earth at a distance of 0.078AU (7,254,000 miles).
It is in the constellation of Taurus. It was at 6.5 magnitude on 14^th November. For further information please see the “Comet Section” in the website above.

Comet 38P/Stephan-Oterma was at perihelion on the 10^th November. Its closest to Earth from the 14^th - 19^th December
when it is at 0.766AU (71.238 million miles). Its in the constellation Lynx which is to the left Castor and Pollux in Gemini. It was at 10^th magnitude on the 14^th November. For further information please see the “Comet Section” in the
website above.

At 10:00pm on the 14^th Mars will be 4½ degrees above right of the Moon in the WSW. Neptune is just 4 degrees to the right of the Moon.

The Geminids meteor shower reaches its peak on the 14^th
at 10:30am, so the best viewing period maybe before dawn.

Mercury is at maximum western elongation from the Sun on the 15^th.

On the 15^th at 6:30pm the Moon will be due South with Mars 8½ degrees to the right of it.

A 10:00pm on the 17^th the Moon will be in the south west with Uranus 7½ degrees directly above it. The 4.2 magnitude star Omicron is
1½ degrees below Uranus.

On the 18^th at 9:45pm Uranus is 8 degrees to the right of the Moon. The 4.3 magnitude star Xi Ceti 11484 is just 1 degree left of the
Moon and by midnight they will be less than ¼ degree apart.

At midnight on the 19^th the 3.7 magnitude star Xi Tauri in Taurus is just 3½ degrees to the lower left of the Moon.

On the 20^th* the astronauts Serena Auñón-Chancellor, Alexander Gerst and cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev will undock their Soyuz spacecraft from the International Space Station (ISS) and land in Kazakhstan.

From the 20^th - 22^nd Mercury and Jupiter will be passing very close to each other. On the 21^st low in the south
east and just a few degrees above the horizon, Mercury is 1 degree above Jupiter.

On the 20^th at midnight the 3.6 magnitude star Gamma Tauri in Taurus is 1¼ degrees to the lower right of the Moon.

Just before 6:00am on the 21^st low in the WNW the Moon will be 2 degrees above the horizon with Aldebaran (0.8 Mag) 1½ degrees to the
left of it.

On the 22^nd at 6:30am the Moon is 7½ degrees above the horizon and due WNW with the 2.9 magnitude star Zeta Tauri in Taurus just 2
degrees above it.

Venus is a just under 3 degrees and above left of the star Zubenelgenubi (2.7 Mag) in Libra on the 22^nd.

At midnight on the 22^nd the 2.8 magnitude star Mu Geminorum is 2 degrees upper left of the Moon.

The Ursids meteor shower reaches its peak at 6:00am on the 23^rd.

At 6:00am on the 23^rd the 4.1 magnitude star Nu Geminorum is 1 degree below the Moon in the west.

On the 23^rd at 10:00pm the 3.5 magnitude star Wasat in Gemini is just 1¼ degrees to the upper left of the Moon.

The Comae Berenicids meteor shower reaches its peak between 4:00 – 5:00am on the 26^th.

Venus is at perihelion (closest to the Sun in its orbit) on the 26^th.

At 7:00am on the 26^th the bright star Regulus in Leo will be just 6¾ degrees to the left of the Moon.

On the 27^th at 6:00am the asteroid Ceres is approximately 3 degrees to the upper left of Venus in the direction of the 2.6 magnitude
star Zubeneschamali in Libra.

At 7:15am on the 29^th the star Porrima in Virgo is just 4 degrees to the lower left of the Moon.

On the 30^th at 6:20am in the south the asteroid Pallas will be 2½ degrees below the Moon.

On the 30^th at 7:00am Jupiter is due south east and 7½ degrees above the horizon.

If any of you are up on the morning of the 1^st January at 7:00am you will see the Moon in the SSE with Venus 7 degrees to the lower
left of it and Jupiter 6 degrees above the horizon in the south east.

* = Dates and times are subject to change.

Facts: Yuri Gagarin (b.1934) became the first man in space in April 1961. He entered into an apprenticeship at the age of 16 as a foundryman at the Lyubertsy Steel Plant near Moscow. After graduating
from both the seventh grade and vocational school with honours in moldmaking and foundry work, he was selected for further training at the Saratov Industrial Technical School, where he studied tractors. At a local flying club in Saratov he learned to fly a
biplane and a Yak-18 trainer.

News Extra: Anne McClain (b.1979) was born and raised in Spokane, Washington. She graduated from the United States Military Academy, where she earned a bachelor,s degree in mechanical engineering.
McClain then came to England where she attended the University of Bath where she earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering, and the University of Bristol where she earned a master's degree in international security. McClain is also an avid rugby player
and plays at a competitive level. Her army commitments thwarted her international career and prevented her participation in the 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup. In June 2013 she was selected by NASA as part of Astronaut Group 21, becoming the youngest astronaut
on the NASA roster.

David Saint-Jacques (b.1970) was born and raised in Quebec. He is married and has three children. He began his career as a biomedical engineer at the Quebec firm Electromed. His studies also included
theoretical work on astronomical observation and design, fabrication and commissioning of instruments for the Cambridge Optical Aperture Synthesis Telescope and for the William Herschel Telescope in the Canary Islands. He was selected in May 2009 by the Canadian
Space Agency.

Oleg Kononenko (b.1964) is married and have
a son and daughter. In March 1996 he was selected as a cosmonaut candidate. His first mission to the ISS was as a flight engineer that was launched in April 2008. In his previous three missions to the ISS he has spent a total of 533 days in space.