Astronomical observation has its own pleasures such as be able to recognize the planets in the sky. The month of December offers us an amazing view of the cosmic ‘wanders’ that will parade across the ecliptic and we show you How to locate the five planets that will be visible in the celestial vault.
The 5 planets in the December sky
Ancient astronomers were able to discover up to five planets in the sky only with astronomical observation, to which they named the ‘vagabonds’ since they did not have fixed positions in the celestial vault and that was precisely the reason why they realized that they were planets and not stars.
The wanderers are bright enough to be observed at first glance, but you can’t always see them all in the same frame, since they travel enormous distances through their orbits around the Sun and are not always positioned facing the side. night of the Earth.
But in December 2022, the cosmos will give us a beautiful family painting of the five wanderers. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will march one by one through the ecliptic and they will accompany the one that is almost at its maximum illumination.
How to locate the quintet of planets in the sky?
Be starting December 8 and during the rest of the month, when I can admire the 5 in the evening sky. To watch the spectacle you must turn to see the sky from the moment the Sun sets, although to do so you must have a clear view of the ecliptic.
in half horizontally, so it imaginarily passes through the diameter of each planet. This line runs from east to west and describes the transit of the Moon, the Sun, the planets and the 12 zodiacal constellations. Although it is not a simple and straight line, since we must remember that our planet, in addition to being a geoid body, has a complex axis of rotation with an angle of 23.5º. The result is a line that starts from the east and goes to the west but along the way it curves towards the south.
Mars, Jupiter and Saturn have been visible throughout the month, in fact, the Red Planet reached its opposition to the Sun on the night of December 7 when, according to the . But now Mars joins the family picture and can be seen further to the east, while Jupiter is further south and Saturn to the southwest.
For their part, Mercury and Venus have been closer to the Sun, so they could not be admired, but Starting on December 8, they can be seen in the west very close to the horizon just after sunset. As the days progress in the month, they will move further away from the Sun and they will be seen much better in the first hours of .
In this way you will be able to complete the quintet of planets in the sky of December 2022. Locate the ecliptic and on it look for: Mars in the east, Jupiter to the south, Saturn approaching to the southwest, and Mercury and Venus in the west.