Morning planets
BEST TIMES: 3, 4 December for Venus-Moon conjunction; 21, 22 December for Mercury-Jupiter conjunction
Mercury, Venus and Jupiter all put on an early morning show during December. At the start of the month, it’s ‘Morning Star’ Venus that dominates the scene, shining away at mag. –4.6, 6.2° from mag. +1.0 Spica (Alpha (_) Virginis). At this time Mercury and Jupiter will be too close to the Sun to be visible.
A slender 16%-lit waning crescent Moon sits 7.7° above and right of Venus on the morning of 3 December and as a 9%-lit crescent, 6.2° to the left of Venus on the morning of 4 December. The pair is best seen from 06:30 UT, low in the southeast.
You might catch a glimpse of mag. +0.9 Mercury on the morning of 5 December, the planet being located 7.6° below and left of a very thin 1%-lit waning lunar crescent towards the southeast on this date.
On the morning of 15 December, mag. –1.6 Jupiter can be seen with mag. –0.3 Mercury 6.3° above and to its right as seen from the UK. Over the following days both planets converge as Mercury slips ever eastward. On the morning of 21 December, now at mag. –0.4, Mercury sits 1° above Jupiter. A similar situation occurs on 22 December with Mercury now appearing to the left of Jupiter.