What's Up - December 2016   
       
   http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/details.php?id=1452   
       
   2016 ends with fireworks as three planets line up as if ejected from a Roman   
   candle. Mercury, Venus and Mars are visible above the sunset horizon all month   
   long.   
       
   Transcript:   
       
   What's Up for December? Mars and Neptune above the crescent moon and a New   
   Year's Eve comet!   
       
   Hello and welcome. I'm Jane Houston Jones from NASA's Jet Propulsion   
   Laboratory in Pasadena, California.   
       
   2016 ends with fireworks as three planets line up as if ejected from a Roman   
   candle. Mercury, Venus and Mars are visible above the sunset horizon all month   
   long. As Venus climbs higher in the sky, it looks brighter and larger than it   
   appeared last month.   
       
   On New Year's Eve, Mars and Neptune appear very close to each other. Through   
   telescopes, rusty red Mars and blue-green Neptune`s colors contrast   
   beautifully.   
       
   There are two meteor showers this month - the Geminds and the Ursids. The best   
   time to see the reliable Geminids will be next year, when the full moon won't   
   be so bright and interfering. This year, however, we may luck out and see some   
   of the brighter meteors on the evening of the 13th and the morning of the   
   14th. The best time to view the Ursids, radiating from Ursa Minor, or the   
   little Dipper, will be from midnight on the 21st until about 1 a.m. on the   
   22nd, before the moon rises. They may be active on the 23rd and 24th, too.   
       
   We haven't had a good easy-to-see comet in quite a while, but beginning in   
   December and through most of 2017 we will have several binocular and   
   telescopic comets to view. The first we'll be able to see is Comet   
   45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdus kov , which will appear low on the western horizon on   
   December 15th. On that date, the comet will pass the pretty globular cluster   
   M75. By the 21st, it will appear edge-on, sporting a bluish-green head and a   
   thin, sharp view of the fan-shaped tail. On New Years Eve, the comet and the   
   crescent moon will rendezvous to say farewell to 2016. A "periodic" comet is a   
   previously-identified comet that's on a return visit. Periodic comet 45P   
   returns to the inner solar system every 5.25 years, and that's the one that   
   will help us ring in the new year.   
       
   You can catch up on solar system missions and all of NASA's missions at   
   www.nasa.gov   
       
   That's all for this month, I'm Jane Houston Jones.   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- DB 3.99 + W10 (1607)   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)