Jupiter in the December Skies

Happy December! It's been a while since Jupiter was in the November skies (Remember the conjunction with the moon?) and now the moon is coming again and hopefully another conjunction will take place. As of December 1, 2011, Jupiter rises around 5pm in the south-east, and even though it's dimmer than it was at Opposition October 29, you can still see the Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto) if you have binoculars or a telescope. On the fourth of December, the waxing moon starts to approach Jupiter, as picture 1 from EarthSky.com shows us. Picture 2, shows the moon & Jupiter closer together. This is becasue the moon shifts in the sky 13 degrees a night, not to mention the 13 km/sec speed of Jupiter. Picture 3 shows the moon and Jupiter on December 6.

On the seventh, we will experience a Pleiades/Moon/Jupiter Spectacular, in that, they will all conjunct. This is the night to get your cameras and shoot a beautiful picture of these three objects.  

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Pleiades, Moon, and Jupiter Spectacular! 4