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Venus joins Jupiter, Saturn

December 2019 begins with some interesting action in the southwest in the early evening. Jupiter and Saturn have both been prominent low in the southwest just after sunset and they are now joined by Venus.
astronomy

December 2019 begins with some interesting action in the southwest in the early evening. Jupiter and Saturn have both been prominent low in the southwest just after sunset and they are now joined by Venus. While Jupiter and Saturn appear to be getting closer to the Sun each evening, that’s because the Earth is moving around this side of the Sun faster than they are on the far side. Venus, however, is moving even more quickly and has come out from the far side of the Sun and moves eastward in the sky each night. It passed Jupiter last week and is going to pass about 2 degrees south of fainter Saturn on the 11th. It will reach its greatest eastern separation on March 24 after a fairly spectacular Evening Star performance in early 2020. 

The Geminid meteors show up from the 4th through the 16th but the nearly full moon will wash out many of the fainter ones near the peak on the 14th. Viewing earlier in December is better. 

Mercury and Mars are visible in the early morning sky to the southeast for the first half of the month. Mercury is brighter and about 15 degrees west of the Sun (to the right) while Mars is fainter and about 30 degrees west of the sun. Mercury is headed back around the Sun, however, so it will be getting closer each day before it passes behind the Sun on Jan. 20. 

Later in December, the new moon will pass about 1 degree south of Saturn in the early morning of the 27th and about 1 degree south of Venus in the evening of the 28th.

– Richard Corbet, Sunshine Coast Astronomy Club