{"id":209569,"date":"2025-12-01T12:16:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T12:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/209569\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T12:16:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T12:16:16","slug":"9-night-sky-events-to-see-in-december-from-a-supermoon-to-a-once-in-a-lifetime-interstellar-comet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/209569\/","title":{"rendered":"9 night sky events to see in December, from a supermoon to a once-in-a-lifetime interstellar comet"},"content":{"rendered":"

(How to watch the rare streak of 3 supermoons happening back-to-back<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Mercury reaches greatest elongation\u2014December 7<\/p>\n

Mercury<\/a> rarely strays far from the sun\u2019s glare, but on December 7, it swings to its greatest elongation\u2014its widest visible separation from the sun. It\u2019s the best time to see the \u201cswift planet\u201d without the sun\u2019s obscuring glow. Look for it around an hour or so before sunrise the morning of December 7. It will rise above the eastern horizon, with Venus following in tow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the most striking view, catch the moon as it rises around sunset in the eastern sky. An optical trick known as the moon illusion makes it appear extra huge\u2014even more so when it\u2019s around structures like buildings or trees.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Geminid meteor lights up the sky above Death Valley National Park in 2018, during one of the year\u2019s most active showers.<\/p>\n

Babak Tafreshi, Nat Geo Image Collection<\/p>\n

Geminid meteor shower\u2014December 13\u201314<\/p>\n

Expect heaps of sky confetti during the Geminids\u2019 peak from December 13\u201314. It\u2019s historically one of the most prolific and reliable annual showers, producing anywhere from 60 to 120 meteors per hour during peak under pristine conditions<\/a>. This year\u2019s setup is exceptionally favorable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The shower becomes visible around 10 p.m.; the peak night\u2019s roughly 30-percent illuminated waning crescent moon won\u2019t rise until around 2 a.m. That means, with clear, dark skies, astronomy enthusiasts can enjoy hours of uninterrupted meteor-scouting. Watch for the spectacle\u2019s yellow-tinged streaks and especially bright flashes, known as fireballs, which can appear anywhere in the sky.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(How to watch the rare streak of 3 supermoons happening back-to-back.) Mercury reaches greatest elongation\u2014December 7 Mercury rarely…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[114771,114762,114764,114761,114763,114766,18,114363,19,17,114769,114767,114768,114770,133,114765,114772],"class_list":{"0":"post-209569","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-best-night-sky-events-december","9":"tag-december-astronomy-events","10":"tag-december-meteor-showers","11":"tag-december-night-sky-2025","12":"tag-december-skywatching-guide","13":"tag-december-supermoon","14":"tag-eire","15":"tag-geminid-meteor-shower","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-jupiter-opposition-2026","19":"tag-mercury-greatest-elongation","20":"tag-orion-nebula-viewing","21":"tag-saturn-moon-conjunction","22":"tag-science","23":"tag-ursid-meteor-shower","24":"tag-when-to-watch-geminids-2025"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115644267626155028","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}