Meteor shower and much more in December sky

The December night sky holds many visual wonders. The night of Dec. 13-14 brings the peak of the Geminids meteor shower. The moon will be out of the way and peak activity will be soon after midnight. If the sky is clear there may be as many as 100 meteors per hour for those observing from a dark location. The radiant point will be high in the south in the area of the constellation Gemini, after which the shower is named.

Enjoy the last views of Jupiter for this appearance. Find Jupiter in the southwest as soon as it is dark. It continues to be the brightest starlike object in the night sky. It will soon drop into the evening twilight.

From Dec. 9-21, look for the elusive Mercury in the western twilight soon after sunset. Look for it any evening when the western horizon is clear and follow it as it drops out of sight behind the Olympics.

December is an excellent month to observe the young star cluster Pleiades, high in the east as soon as it is dark. This tightly packed collection of bright stars is actually made up of more than 100 stars that were born together about 100 million years ago. Another name for this cluster is Subaru, and this cluster is represented in the logo of Subaru cars.

Be sure to put a pair of binoculars — 7- or 10-x-50s are ideal — or a small telescope on your holiday wish list.

Rodney Ash is a member of the Seattle Astronomical Society. Star Watch appears the first Thursday of each month in NWWeekend.