Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Hi @outlander, @Former-Member and @utopia

Hi Utopia - I tagged you for this one because I recollect you are interested in Astronomy - and this is a little thread I will run because I love this stuff and will enjoy sharing it with others

I have a book I get for Christmas every year which tells me when anything interesting is happening - I can't see everything from my place - the Melbourne weather - pollution in the atmosphere and my low horizon is not good for starters - but I can tell you what you could see easily right now - weather being clear of course

The moon is past half and is visible in the afternoon sky and after dark it's near the bright planet Jupiter for a few days - so those two are easy to find

And following that the Moon will pass Antares which is a red star in the middle of the constellation Scorpio - and then Saturn which is the ringed planet and the furthest away of the planets we can see with the naked eye

Also - early in the evening - the the South West of Jupiter you can see Sirius or the Wolf-Star that follows the constellation Orion which is harder to see at this time of year - you may know The Saucepan or know the three bright stars in Orion's Belt

In the morning you can easily see Venus - the planet that is sometimes in the east and sometimes in the west - called the Morning Star or The Evening Star as it moves around the sun - it appears in our morning or evening sky - it's the brighest planet and sometimes it is visible after sunrise or before sunset and it very easy to see - actually - very hard to miss if it's there

Mercury is the smallest planet of the visible 5 and is closest to the sun and the hardest to find - and it's rising before sunrise and I have not seen it lately but I know it's there. You might be lucky to find it - but when then moon is in the last quarter it will be much easier to find

I am up for questions but need to take a break from the computer for a while - but unless I decide to go out - I will be back if anyone has any questions

I get very maternal about a thread when I open it - so I will be looking for this one

Dec

And if I can get suitable pics I will post them to show what I mean - I love all of this