By Erich Karkoschka
Venus is setting more than three hours after the sun. It is high at sunset in the south/southwest, not around the west as usual.
Saturn transits at dusk. Its rings will be going edge-on within three months.
Jupiter gets into opposition on the 7th at magnitude -2.8 and diameter 48 arc-seconds. It is getting closer to Aldebaran. Ganymede (largest Jupiter moon) and its nearby shadow transit Jupiter’s disk on the 15th from 7-10 pm Arizona time and then on the 22nd after 10 pm.
Mars is approaching its January 15 opposition at magnitude -1.2 and 14 arc-seconds diameter. On the 7th Mars is stationary only 2 degrees from the Beehive cluster. It is moving towards Pollux again.
Uranus and Neptune are evening objects between Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus is near the Pleiades.
Mercury becomes a dawn object starting on the 12th, visible 6-7 am. Around the 24th, it is visible as well as it ever gets from Arizona’s latitude. It is moving above Antares that is less obvious.
The minor planet (15) Eunomia comes into opposition on the 14th in Auriga, a binocular object at magnitude 8. It transits 89 degrees high.
The Moon makes a very close approach to Mars on the 17th around 2:30 am, 17 arc-minutes from the lunar limb. After the New Moon at the end of the year, it shows its thin crescent on the first day of 2025. Two days later it makes a bright pair with Venus.
The Geminid meteor shower peaks on the 13th.
Sunsets are already getting later. The Winter Solstice is December 21st.