In rare event, crescent Moon to align with Saturn, Venus & Jupiter on December 12

In a rare celestial event, the Moon will align with a number of planets including Venus, Saturn and Jupiter on the night of Sunday, December 12. Stargazers are in for a busy week as this alignment of a crescent Moon with the three planets of our solar system will be entailed by the Geminid meteor shower which will peak on December 14. Meanwhile, the planets are visible in a straight line in the sky since last week, and now will be accompanied by the Moon in an event that will be prominent throughout the month. 

How can you watch the alignment?

According to the astronomers, there is no requirement for a telescope to witness this rare phenomenon as it will be visible to the naked eye. Astronomy geeks would not have to struggle to marvel at this event however, the weather might be a factor in disrupting the view along with air pollution. In addition to this, the event will be visible from all parts of the world considering the fact that light pollution from artificial sources does not wash out the light emerging from these planets. 

If you look up, you would find the Moon between the planets Uranus and Neptune after being next to Venus since the start of last week. However, this position of the Moon will change a lot quicker than the rest of the planets owing to their distance from the Earth. While the event was visible right after sunset, you can witness the alignment of the planets even on December 13 despite the Moon changing its position the next day. Apart from this, December will also host two meteor showers- The Geminid this week and the Ursids next week.

Upcoming meteor showers

December will host its first meteor shower on the 14th and 15th in what is considered the best among all of the known meteor events. The shower when at its peak can produce hundreds of multicoloured meteors per hour to illuminate the night sky. In addition to this, the universe will close the show with the second meteor shower in December that will be spotted the clearest on December 21 and 22. This is only a minor shower that will produce 5-10 meteors per hour. 

Image: Twitter/@irockutah