Moon and Lion
For these up late on December 12 and 13, 2022 – or up within the quiet, early morning darkish hours of December 13 and 14 – search for the waning gibbous moon within the constellation Leo the Lion. As a matter of truth, Leo is without doubt one of the best constellations for stargazers to pick from the ocean of stars. That’s as a result of it has a particular backward-question-mark form. This sample is a well known asterism, known as the Sickle. And this hooked form additionally denotes the pinnacle and mane of the Lion. The intense star Regulus is the interval on the backside of the query mark. And on these two mornings, irrespective of the place you might be on Earth, you may watch the moon move by the Sickle and near Regulus.
To see a exact view out of your location, try Stellarium Online.
Regulus and the ecliptic
Regulus is the one 1st-magnitude star that sits virtually proper on the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the trail the sun follows by the sky, the place you can too discover the moon and planets.
As you may see from the chart above, on these nights the moon is farther from the ecliptic than Regulus. That’s as a result of the moon can stray so far as 5.1 degrees from the ecliptic. If the moon had been at all times on the ecliptic, it could occult, or move in entrance of, Regulus each month. The final lunar occultation of Regulus was 2017, and the subsequent received’t be till 2025. Then, Regulus will bear a collection of 20 lunar occultations over the course of a yr and a half.
The waning moon
Full moon was the evening of December 7-8, 2022. And the moon is now waning. It’s in a waning gibbous phase throughout the time round December 12 to 14, rising late at evening, showing greater than half lighted however lower than full. Last quarter moon, when the moon will rise round midnight, will come at 8:56 UTC on December 16, 2022.
After that, we’ll see the moon solely within the morning sky. It’ll be in a waning crescent phase. New moon – when the moon is most between the Earth and sun for this month – will come 10:17 UTC on December 23.
Backside line: You may see the moon in Leo the Lion close to the Sickle early on December 13 and 14. Leo is noticeable attributable to its backward-question-mark form that makes up the Sickle.
For more great observing events in the coming weeks, visit EarthSky’s night sky guide