Monthly Archives: November 2015

Events for December 2015

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The following table gives the date and time of important astronomical events for December 2015. The time of each event is given in Greenwich Mean Time or GMT (a.k.a. Universal Time or UT). To convert GMT to Eastern Standard Time (EST) just subtract 5 hours. To convert GMT to other time zones, visit Time Zones. Some of the astronomical terms used in the calendar are explained in Definitions. 

 Date    GMT   Astronomical Events for December 2015
------  -----  --------------------------------------------
        (h:m)
Dec 02  11:53  Regulus 3.0°N of Moon
Dec 03  07:40  LAST QUARTER MOON 
Dec 04  06:21  Jupiter 1.8°N of Moon
Dec 04  18:33  Moon at Ascending Node 
Dec 05  14:56  Moon at Apogee: 404800 km
Dec 06  02:40  Mars 0.1°N of Moon: Occultation
Dec 06  19:42  Spica 4.4°S of Moon
Dec 07  16:55  Venus 0.7°S of Moon: Occultation
Dec 11  10:29  NEW MOON 
Dec 14  18     Geminid Meteor Shower
Dec 18  06:01  Saturn 6.1°N of Antares
Dec 18  15:13  Moon at Descending Node 
Dec 18  15:14  FIRST QUARTER MOON 
Dec 21  08:53  Moon at Perigee: 368418 km
Dec 22  04:48  Winter Solstice 
Dec 23  02     Ursid Meteor Shower
Dec 23  14:18  Mars 3.3°N of Spica
Dec 23  19:09  Aldebaran 0.7°S of Moon
Dec 25  11:11  FULL MOON 
Dec 29  03     Mercury at Greatest Elongation: 19.7°E
Dec 29  20:30  Regulus 2.7°N of Moon
Dec 31  17:55  Jupiter 1.5°N of Moon
Dec 31  20:19  Moon at Ascending Node

As the events above transpire, I will post photographs of some of them at Recent Images.

Astronomical events calendars for complete years and for eight time zones are available through the links below.

Time Zones Calendars of Astronomical Events
Greenwich Mean Time 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Atlantic Standard Time 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Eastern Standard Time 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Central Standard Time 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Mountain Standard Time 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Pacific Standard Time 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Alaska Standard Time 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Hawaii Standard Time 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

For additional years, see Calendars of Astronomical Events.

For detailed information on solar and lunar eclipses this year, see: Eclipses During 2015.

The Calendars of Astronomical Events were all generated by a computer program I wrote (with THINK Pascal running on a Macintosh G4) using Astronomical Algorithms (Jean Meeus).

– Fred Espenak