November is coming to an end and what better way to start a new month than with romantic celestial shows? On December 4th we will admire it with the naked eye Moon-Venus conjunction and the“immersion” of Mars in the Nativity Scene. With an extra surprise, because they will be (almost) at their peak shooting stars sigma Hydrids.
As the UAI explains, on December 4th we will admire a succession of romantic shows: after sunset our satellite will in fact be in conjunction with Venus (in the map the sky of December 4, 2024 at approximately 6.00 pm).
And after a few hours, before midnight, it will be the turn of Mars which, high on the horizon, will be “immersed” in the Nativity star cluster (in the map the sky of December 4, 2024 at approximately 11.00 pm).
Two unmissable shows, which will make us stay “glued” to the sky (weather permitting). We also think that the star cluster protagonist of the evening is a show “already on its own”. Indeed, as he reports Star Walkthe Nativity scene is listed in the Messier Catalog as Messier 44 (or M44), and is the third Messier object brighter after the Pleiades and the Andromeda Galaxy and the second object deep sky closest in the catalog after the Pleiades.
M44, in particular, is a open cluster: its stars are in fact loosely linked together and were born in the same period (for the times of the Universe) from the same gigantic molecular cloud. Furthermore, again on a cosmic scale, the cluster is quite young: it is in fact estimated to be between 600 and 700 million years old (for comparison, consider that our Solar System itself was formed about 4.6 billion years ago) .
As of today, November 30th, the Nativity scene is in the constellation of Cancer and appears like a bright spot blurry to the naked eye in dark places without light pollution. A spectacle even on its own, especially if the Red Planet appears “in the middle”, brighter than ever, as will happen on December 4th.
And it doesn’t end here. Because just the next day, December 5th, the peak of shooting stars is expected sigma Hybridialso known as eta Idridi. As we read on the UAI, the moment of greatest activity is not actually well determined even if the peak should be reached on the night between 5 and 6 December, and there is probably a secondary maximum after mid-December.
The radiant of the shower, i.e. the point from which the meteors appear to start, will be visible starting from around 11pm, culminating around 3.30am at around 50° above the horizon. The peak night will be very favorable for observation, both because there will be no disturbance of the Moon and because the greatest number of these meteors is expected during the night hours.
And who knows, maybe some stars will also be seen the previous night, while we admire our stars “dancing” in the sky.
And let’s prepare many wishes!
Sources: UAI / UAI meteors
