December 2011

1. Sun
2. Mon
3. Tue
4. Wed
5. Thu
6. Fri
7. Sat
12. 1 43%
13. 2 First qtr
14. 3 63%
15. 4 71%
16. 5 80%
17. 6 87%
18. 7 92%
19. 8 97%
20. 9 99%
21. 10 Full
22. 11 99%
23. 12 96%
24. 13 90%
25. 14 83%
26. 15 75%
27. 16 65%
28. 17 Last qtr
29. 18 42%
30. 19 31%
31. 20 21%
32. 21 12%
33. 22 6%
34. 23 1%
35. 24 New
36. 25 1%
37. 26 5%
38. 27 11%
39. 28 18%
40. 29 26%
41. 30 35%
42. 31 45%

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

Events in December 2011

1. Fri, Dec 24:52 AM

   First Quarter

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

2. Sun, Dec 43:44 AM

   Mercury at inferior conjunction

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

3. Mon, Dec 5

   Apogee

   The Moon's farthest point from Earth on this orbit: 405,400 km.

4. Tue, Dec 611:35 AM

   Moon and Jupiter close together

   They pass 5.0° apart in the sky.

5. Sat, Dec 109:31 AM

   Total lunar eclipse

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

6. Sat, Dec 109:37 AM

   Full Moon Cold Moon

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

7. Sat, Dec 177:48 PM

   Last Quarter

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

8. Wed, Dec 21

   Perigee

   The Moon's closest point to Earth on this orbit: 364,800 km.

9. Thu, Dec 2212:30 AM

   December solstice

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

10. Thu, Dec 2210:02 PM

    Mercury at greatest elongation

    22° from the Sun in the morning sky, its best showing before sunrise.

11. Thu, Dec 2210:10 PM

    Moon and Mercury close together

    They pass 2.6° apart in the sky.

12. Sat, Dec 241:06 PM

    New Moon

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

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