Dec 29 - Planets Lined Up

December 29 Planets Lined Up by:

Before sunrise … See 3 planets in a line Draw an imaginary line from the red planet Mars through the king planet Jupiter to find elusive Mercury near the sunrise point on your horizon.  Oumuamua's path in our solar system You've probably read about this unprecedented visitor from interstellar space.  Astronomer Guy Ottewell thought you'd like to see its trajectory through our solar system. Supermoon ahead at next full moon There are 2 full supermoons ahead, both in January. For Earth's western hemisphere, the 1st one happens on the first night of 2018. Eastern hemisphere? Your fullest supermoon is January 2. Time to see Mira the Wonderful This star varies in brightness over about 11 months.  In late December 2017, it might be near its peak brightness, easily bright enough to be viewed with the eye alone.

Welcome 2018 with an EarthSky lunar calendar Our lunar calendar shows the moon phase for each day of the coming year. Also ... check out the new colors and designs of our EarthSky Cares Tees. A percentage of proceeds collected will be donated to select organizations.

See 3 planets in a line This is the view in late 2017, early 2018. As the days pass in January 2018, Saturn will join the scene, and some conjunctions will occur. Click in for more charts and info.

Pine Island iceberg under midnight sun  In September, a new iceberg calved from Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier, and weeks later, shattered into more than 20 fragments. On December 15, near midnight, the Landsat 8 satellite captured this image of the broken iceberg. Submit your photo to EarthSky here!

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