Dec 18 - Most Distant Solar System Object Yet

December 18 Most Distant Solar System Object Yet by:

View larger. | Solar system distances to scale showing the newly discovered 2018 VG18 compared to other known solar system objects. Illustration via Carnegie Institution for Science. Astronomers spy most distant solar system object yet It's more than 100 times Earth's distance from our sun, and it takes 1,000 earthly years to orbit the sun once. Astronomers have labeled it 2018 VG18, but nicknamed it Farout! Read more. All you need to know: December solstice Solstice happens on December 21 at 22:23 UTC; translate UTC to your time. High summer for the Southern Hemisphere. For the Northern Hemisphere, the return of more sunlight. Read more. Longest days accompany this solstice Wait, what? Yes. In December, a day - a whole cycle of day and night - is about half a minute longer than the average 24 hours. That's true for the entire globe. Read more. Ursid meteors to peak in moonlight The Ursid meteor shower is active each year around the December solstice. In 2018, peak morning is probably December 22, but the moon will be full then. If you're out before sunup, watch for Ursids this week. Ursid meteor moving away from its radiant point (yellow circle) in the constellation Ursa Minor - home constellation of Polaris, the Pole Star - during the peak of 2017's shower. Photo by Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona. Thank you, Eliot!

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Don't miss the Jupiter-Mercury conjunction You need an alarm clock and a clear sky to the east, the sunrise direction. Binoculars will come in handy. The 2 bright planets will come closer and closer, finally closest on December 21. Beautiful! Charts here.

More photos from 2018's Geminid meteor shower The shower peaked late last week, but, with all the comet excitement going on, people didn't start submitting their best meteor images until the weekend. This amazing shot is from Emma Zulaiha Zulkifli in Sabah, on the island of Borneo in Malaysia. She wrote: "Yes, the meteor actually did streak in front of Venus!" Way to go, Emma! Submit your photo to EarthSky here! Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? Click here to get your own subscription!

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