It is the final week of the year and the excitement of the holiday season caused this entry to be a little late! Fortunately nothing was missed. The weather in Calgary is bitter and we are under an extreme cold warning throughout the week. I'm not sure if anyone will be out observing the sky, it's best to just stay inside!
However, if you do venture outside the following two events will be in the sky.
| Date | Event |
|---|
| December 26 | First Quarter |
| December 30 | Aldebaran 0.8°S of Moon |
The First Quarter Moon will be visible through your South facing windows. It will look eerie through the clouds that typically float by during the cold Winter evenings. Later in the week, close to the end of the year the Moon will make a close conjunction with Aldebaran. This is the Alpha Star in Taurus surrounded by a bunch of dimmer stars forming the Hyades Cluster. The image below shows Aldebaran on the left side of the Moon approaching an occultation.
 |
| Aldebaran Occultation |
The beauty of the Winter constellations permeates the night sky and is certainly worth a look when the temperature rises back above what feels like that of Pluto. As the year winds down I hope to write a few more entries before 2018. I was hoping to do a more thorough blog about the Winter Solstice and another about astronomy New Years' Resolutions. Also, the year wouldn't be complete without a rundown of the most exciting space news of 2017! Moving into the new year the first entry will likely be a full primer on the Quadrantid Meteor Shower. Unfortunately we'll have a Full Supermoon polluting our cold sky with its unwanted light.
It has been an exciting year, I hope you have enjoyed the weekly updates and were able to see a few items on the lists. 2018 is shaping up to be just as exciting (even without a fantastic solar eclipse)!
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