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SUNSET PLANETS: Tonight when the sun is about to set, you've got to go outside and look. In the south, Venus is shining at its maximum brightness for all of 2005. (Through a telescope, Venus appears to be a tiny crescent--very pretty.) And in the east, Mars and the Moon are having a close encounter. Try to catch them before the sky fades to black. The sight of bright planets glowing in the twilight has a special beauty: sky map.
HOUR OF THE GEMINIDS: The 2005 Geminid meteor shower peaks on Dec. 13th and 14th. Bad timing. The glaring almost-full Moon will be out on those nights, wiping out all but the brightest meteors. There is, however, one hour when the shower can be seen in full force. (continued below)
Right: Geminid meteors over Texas in 2004. Credit: Jason A. C. Brock. [gallery]
Between about 4:30 AM and dawn (local time) on Dec. 13th, the Moon will be at or below the horizon, briefly leaving the sky dark for Geminid meteors. If you're awake and watching, you might see dozens of shooting stars. [sky map]
EXTRA: Too much moonlight? If you can't see the Geminids, try listening to them via meteor radar: live audio.
DIAMOND DUST: Sky watcher Don Brown is no stranger to icy halos around the sun. He's seen them many times from his home in Park City, Utah. But the ones he saw at daybreak on Dec. 7th were special--they were so close by, it seemed you could reach out and touch them. Says Brown, "what a beautiful display."
"Winter mornings are the time to see halos in a new guise, apparently close by, suspended in front of distant trees and hills," says atmopheric optics expert Les Cowley. "Summer's halos are made by ice crystals high in cold cirrus clouds. In winter the air at ground level can hold millions of the tiny 'diamond dust' crystals that make some of the very best halos. The Utah display has tall sundogs, parts of a 22 degree halo and upper and lower sun pillars. Some of the individual specks of diamond dust can be seen glinting [near the top of Don's photo]."
"On the next cold morning," Cowley urges, "go see them for yourself!"