December 1973

1. Sun
2. Mon
3. Tue
4. Wed
5. Thu
6. Fri
7. Sat
14. 1 37%
15. 2 First qtr
16. 3 57%
17. 4 67%
18. 5 76%
19. 6 85%
20. 7 92%
21. 8 97%
22. 9 Full
23. 10 99%
24. 11 96%
25. 12 90%
26. 13 82%
27. 14 72%
28. 15 61%
29. 16 Last qtr
30. 17 40%
31. 18 30%
32. 19 21%
33. 20 14%
34. 21 8%
35. 22 3%
36. 23 1%
37. 24 New
38. 25 1%
39. 26 4%
40. 27 8%
41. 28 14%
42. 29 22%
43. 30 30%
44. 31 40%

• Moon phase
• Perigee or apogee
• Eclipse
• Planets
• Equinox or solstice

Events in December 1973

1. Sun, Dec 28:29 PM

   First Quarter

   Half of the disc is lit. The Moon is high at sunset and sets around midnight.

2. Thu, Dec 67:17 AM

   Moon and Mars close together

   They pass 4.2° apart in the sky.

3. Sun, Dec 98:35 PM

   Full Moon Cold MoonSupermoon

   The whole disc is lit. The Moon rises around sunset and stays up all night.

4. Sun, Dec 98:44 PM

   Partial lunar eclipse

   Part of the Moon passes through Earth's dark inner shadow.

5. Mon, Dec 10

   Perigee

   The Moon's closest point to Earth on this orbit: 358,000 km.

6. Mon, Dec 107:25 PM

   Moon and Saturn close together

   They pass 0.7° apart in the sky.

7. Thu, Dec 139:29 PM

   Mercury and Neptune close together

   They pass 1.0° apart in the sky.

8. Sun, Dec 1612:13 PM

   Last Quarter

   Half of the disc is lit. The Moon rises around midnight and is up through the morning.

9. Fri, Dec 217:08 PM

   December solstice

   The shortest day in the northern hemisphere and the longest in the southern.

10. Sat, Dec 2212:57 AM

    Venus at its brightest

    Shines at magnitude -4.9, as bright as it gets this time around.

11. Sat, Dec 228:19 AM

    Moon and Neptune close together

    They pass 3.4° apart in the sky.

12. Sun, Dec 2312:35 AM

    Saturn at opposition

    Opposite the Sun in the sky: up all night and at its brightest for the year.

13. Sun, Dec 231:21 PM

    Moon and Mercury close together

    They pass 0.0° apart in the sky.

14. Mon, Dec 2410:01 AM

    Annular solar eclipse

    The Moon passes in front of the Sun but is too far away to cover it, leaving a ring of light.

15. Mon, Dec 2410:07 AM

    New Moon

    The Moon passes between Earth and the Sun and cannot be seen. These are the darkest nights of the month.

16. Tue, Dec 25

    Apogee

    The Moon's farthest point from Earth on this orbit: 406,500 km.

17. Thu, Dec 273:08 PM

    Moon and Venus close together

    They pass 3.2° apart in the sky.

18. Thu, Dec 278:35 PM

    Jupiter, Moon, and Venus gathered

    All within 4.5° of each other in the sky.

19. Thu, Dec 279:13 PM

    Moon and Jupiter close together

    They pass 4.5° apart in the sky.

Times are local to America/New York. Each Moon is drawn as it looks at midday.