Neptune

Best time to see: 1 Dec, 18:30 UT Altitude: 30º Location: Aquarius Direction: South

On the evening of 6 December, mag. +0.1 Mars is 0.5° west of mag. +7.9 Neptune. The following evening, Mars appears 7 arcminutes to the east. Neptune is well placed all month, passing 14 arcminutes to the south of mag. +6.2 81 Aquarii. However, it only reaches its highest position in the sky in darkness until 10 December. After this, Neptune slips ever westward, losing altitude each passing day as darkness falls.