Not only can we feel the seasons change, we can see November's Full Beaver Moon trip past morning and evening planets until it rises as the Full Cold Moon on December 28th. Why it's called that will probably not require much imagination. This month, Saturn rises in the east-southeast around 4 am. It is a pale yellow dot, rarely bright enough to call attention to itself, but on the morning of Monday the 10th, a thin crescent moon will rise just to the right of it. The following morning the crescent will be even thinner, rising next to Venus, which shines almost 100 times brighter than Saturn. On Wednesday, the 12th, a thin sliver of a moon will rise in the bright dawn about an hour ahead of the sun. It will be difficult to see in the morning light, but if the sky is clear, look carefully for the planet Mercury midway between Venus and the moon. Mars is an elusive evening planet, setting in the southwest twilight before 6 pm. Look for it around 5 pm, or even earlier, on Friday the 14th when the lunar crescent will be a short distance to the right. On that day, the bright crescent will likely enclose the dark lunar plains glowing with Earthshine, light reflected onto it from the bright cloudtops of our home planet. On Christmas, a brilliant silvery moon will hover below a brilliant silvery Jupiter and the two of them will cast their silvery light over what we hope will be a peaceful landscape. The 2012 calendar closes with a sequence of astronomical events: December 7: The Northern Hemisphere experiences the earliest sunset. The latest sunrise will occur early in January. December 13: New Moon coincides with the peak of the Geminid meteor shower. December 21: Winter begins in the Northern Hemisphere with the solstice at 6:12 am (EST). For northern latitudes this is the shortest day of the year. The days following will each be a little bit longer. Keep looking up! - Bob Hamlin <rhamlinatdartmouth.edu<http://rhamlinatdartmouth.edu/>> ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the STARGAZERS list, click the following link: https://listserv.dartmouth.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=STARGAZERS