Do you sometimes wonder what constellations
and other objects are in the night sky? Well, just look up, and we'll walk
you through the December sky tonight. [theme music and chomping sound] As we head into December, our days
get shorter and our nights get longer. We finally begin to see our summer
constellations setting in the west and our winter constellations rising in the east. We can still easily see Mars,
Jupiter, and Saturn in the night sky, but Jupiter and Saturn will continue
to cre
ep closer towards each other. Then on December 21st we will get
to observe the Great Conjunction. We'll explain more about how
this happens later this month, but mark your calendars, as these two planets [meow]
won't be this close again until March of 2080! Starting in the southwest we
have our zodiac constellations found along the same plane as the planets. Capricornus the sea goat moves
closer to the western horizon, followed by Aquarius the water
bearer and Pisces the fish. Since we're h
ere, we'll also say
hello to Cetus the sea monster, who is not a zodiac, but sits just below Pisces. Aries the ram floats just above the ecliptic line, and rising in the east is
our newcomer Taurus the bull. Taurus marks the start of the winter
constellations in our night sky. It also features a giant
orange-red star called Aldebaran. This massive star is 65 light-years away from the Sun and is believed to host a planet
several times larger than Jupiter. Also, located in the shoulder of the
bull are the Pleiades or the seven
sisters, whom we met last month. Connected to Taurus is the
constellation of Auriga the charioteer. This constellation features the bright
star Capella, also known as the goat star. Another winter constellation is starting to peak
over the horizon: the great hunter named Orion. Orion is host to several fascinating stars and a nebula that we'll take a
better look at next month. And right off Orion's knee is the long
long constellation of Eridanus the rive
r. Eridanus is technically a southern hemisphere constellation, but we're able to see it at our low latitude. Moving to the north, we see our friends Perseus,
Andromeda, Pegasus, Cepheus, and Cassiopeia. Ursa Major is completely set now, so we'll rely on Cassiopeia to show us
the north star Polaris and Ursa Minor. Draco the dragon has chased
Hercules below the horizon, and the season is finally
setting on our Summer Triangle, with our old friends Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquila. Mid-month we'll be
treated to another meteor
shower that won't be obscured by the Moon. In the late evening of December 13th into the dawn of December 14th, we will encounter
the Geminid meteor shower. Look to the east for the constellation of
Gemini the twins and the bright star Castor. The meteors will appear to radiate from there. We hope you've enjoyed this
episode of Space Bites, and don't forget to like and
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