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* * * SKY & TELESCOPE's SKYWATCHER'S BULLETIN - December 20, 2005 * * *

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Welcome to S&T's Skywatcher's Bulletin. More about the items below appears
on our Web site, SkyandTelescope.com, at the URLs provided. (If a link
doesn't work, just paste the URL manually into your Web browser.) Clear
skies!
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THE CHRISTMAS OCCULTATION OF SPICA

On Christmas morning, the waning crescent Moon will pass across and cover
up the 1st-magnitude star Spica as seen from most of North America. This
event offers a special and memorable way to start Christmas Day. Both the
disappearance of the star behind the Moon's bright edge, and its
reappearance later from behind the Moon's dark edge, happen in broad
daylight for much of the continent, so you'll need a telescope. Make this
holiday one that will stand out in memory! Our article and maps tell all
you need to watch this unusual event from your location:

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/occultations/article_1620_1.asp

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MARS UPDATE

Although it's moving farther into the distance every week, Mars still
shines very brightly high in the southeast to south these evenings,
glowing orange in Aries. From December 20th to 27th Mars dims a bit from
magnitude -1.0 to -0.7 (still brighter than almost any star in the sky),
and shrinks from 13.6 to 12.6 arcseconds in apparent diameter.

If you haven't been seeing much on Mars with your telescope, it's not just
that the planet is getting small. A thin haze of airborne dust in the
Mars's southern latitudes has reduced the contrast of surface features.
See our Mars observing guide in the September SKY & TELESCOPE, page 67.

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SOLSTICE ON WEDNESDAY

The Sun reaches the solstice this year at 1:35 p.m. EST (18:35 UT) on
Wednesday, December 21st. This is when the Sun ends its southward journey
in Earth's sky and begins its six-month return northward. The December
solstice defines the start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, summer in
the Southern Hemisphere.

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ONLINE ALMANAC

Did you know that SkyandTelescope.com can automatically display your local
sunrise and sunset times, moonrise and moonset times, and much else? Go to
our Almanac setup page, enter your zip code and time zone -- and
thereafter, your Almanac data will come up fresh every time you return to
our site!

http://SkyandTelescope.com/obloc.asp

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SKY AT A GLANCE

Venus is waning to a thin crescent, as even the smallest telescope now
will show. The Moon is last-quarter on Friday the 23rd. That same night,
Vesta, the brightest asteroid (magnitude 6.6), can be spotted with
binoculars passing a naked-eye star in Gemini. See This Week's Sky at a
Glance:

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/ataglance

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Copyright 2005 Sky Publishing Corp. S&T's Skywatcher's Bulletin is a free
service from the editors of SKY & TELESCOPE magazine. This bulletin may
not be redistributed or republished in any form without written permission
from Sky Publishing; send e-mail to permissions{at}SkyandTelescope.com or
call +1 617-864-7360 ext. 145.
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