WAVY.com

Meteor Shower, ISS Passes Over, and how to see Mars in the night sky

A couple of things are happening in our night sky this week, first, the International Space Station is going to pass overhead Wednesday evening. Since the sunset is at its earliest point in the year you don’t have to stay up late to see it. At 5:22pm The ISS will appear in the WNW sky and be overhead for 6 minutes. It will set in the SE sky. The ISS is one of the brightest objects in the night sky, so it’s very easy to spot the moving light. Second, there is a Full Moon Wednesday night, a Full Moon in December is nicknamed the Cold Moon since its the time of year when we start seeing some of our coldest temperatures. 

Later this week, the Geminid meteor shower peaks, this shower is usually one of the best showers of the year! to see it, look to the east, over the ocean. However, this year we are looking at mostly cloudy skies and maybe even some rain, so the Geminid’s look like a bust in 2019.

Another planet is re-entering our night sky as Jupiter fades away early in the evening. Mars is visible before sunrise, just look to the East to get a glimpse.

Happy Viewing!
Meteorologist Jeff Edmondson