December 2010

1. Sun
2. Mon
3. Tue
4. Wed
5. Thu
6. Fri
7. Sat
11. 1 20%
12. 2 11%
13. 3 5%
14. 4 1%
15. 5 New
16. 6 1%
17. 7 4%
18. 8 10%
19. 9 16%
20. 10 24%
21. 11 33%
22. 12 42%
23. 13 First qtr
24. 14 61%
25. 15 70%
26. 16 78%
27. 17 86%
28. 18 92%
29. 19 97%
30. 20 100%
31. 21 Full
32. 22 98%
33. 23 93%
34. 24 86%
35. 25 77%
36. 26 67%
37. 27 Last qtr
38. 28 44%
39. 29 33%
40. 30 23%
41. 31 15%

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

Events in December 2010

1. Wed, Dec 110:47 AM

   Mercury at greatest elongation

   21° from the Sun in the evening sky, its best showing after sunset.

2. Wed, Dec 12:48 PM

   Venus at its brightest

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

3. Sun, Dec 512:36 PM

   New Moon

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

4. Mon, Dec 64:46 PM

   Moon and Mars close together

   They pass 0.5° apart in the sky.

5. Tue, Dec 73:34 AM

   Mars, Mercury, and Moon gathered

   All within 5.7° of each other in the sky.

6. Tue, Dec 73:41 AM

   Moon and Mercury close together

   They pass 1.8° apart in the sky.

7. Sat, Dec 116:09 AM

   Moon and Neptune close together

   They pass 4.7° apart in the sky.

8. Mon, Dec 13

   Apogee

   The Moon's farthest point from Earth on this orbit: 404,400 km.

9. Mon, Dec 138:59 AM

   First Quarter

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

10. Mon, Dec 133:05 PM

    Jupiter, Moon, and Uranus gathered

    All within 6.6° of each other in the sky.

11. Mon, Dec 1311:09 PM

    Mercury and Mars close together

    They pass 1.0° apart in the sky.

12. Sun, Dec 198:16 PM

    Mercury at inferior conjunction

    Passes between Earth and the Sun and is lost in its glare.

13. Tue, Dec 213:14 AM

    Full Moon Cold Moon

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

14. Tue, Dec 213:16 AM

    Total lunar eclipse

    The Moon passes fully into Earth's shadow and turns a dim copper red.

15. Tue, Dec 216:38 PM

    December solstice

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

16. Sat, Dec 25

    Perigee

    The Moon's closest point to Earth on this orbit: 368,500 km.

17. Mon, Dec 2711:19 PM

    Last Quarter

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

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