A Rare ‘Ring Of Fire’ Around Betelgeuse As Year’s Best ‘Shooting Stars’ Fall: The Night Sky This Week

A closeup of Betelgeuse in Orion, which will be occulted by an asteroid this week. (Photo by: Alan The Night Sky This Week: December 11-17, 2023 The final week of the year with a new moon makes it one of the last, with a sky dark enough for easy stargazing. However, a few extraordinary events are happening this week, from a rare eclipse of the bright red star Betelgeuse to the peak of the best meteor shower of the year, the Geminids.

Here’s everything you need to know about stargazing and the night sky this week: Monday, December 11: Betelgeuse Occulted By An Asteroid High above the eastern horizon at around 8:17 p. m. EST tonight, according to , Orion’s bright red supergiant star Betelgeuse will disappear from view behind an asteroid as seen by the naked eye.

In an infrequent once-every-few-decades event, an asteroid called 319 Leona will pass in front of Betelgeuse and block its light for a few seconds as a shadow falls across Earth’s surface. It could cause a “ring of fire” annular eclipse. However, it will only be visible from a narrow path across the Earth’s surface from Asia to Florida and Mexico via southern Europe.

Detailed information can be found and . A composite of several exposures to stack images of five Geminid meteors into a wide view of the Tuesday, December 12: New Moon At 18:32 EST today, the moon will enter its new phase as if it drifts roughly between Earth and the sun. It will be invisible but soon rise in the post-sunset sky as a delicate crescent.

Wednesday, December 13: Mercury Retrograde From today through January 1, 2024, Mercury will be in a period of apparent retrograde motion”—appearing to go backward in the sky. The cause is Mercury’s orbit of the sun, which is slightly elliptical. When it gets close to Earth during its “inferior conjunction”—right now—its movement against the background of stars appears to slow down.

Mercury seems to go backward briefly as Earth overtakes it, much like if you overtake a vehicle on the highway. It’s only a matter of perspective and has no significance to humans. / The Geminid meteor shower will peak overnight when up to 150 multicolored meteors could be visible from the northern hemisphere.

A clear night is essential—and a dark sky will help. Luckily, the moon will be completely absent. Even better for those not wanting to stand around in the cold late at night, Gemini—the apparent source constellation—will be high in the sky as true darkness descends.

Consequently, according to the , “shooting stars” could be visible by 10 p. m. local time, wherever you are.

All you need is your naked eyes—binoculars and a telescope will make it more difficult. The Milky Way and the Magellanic clouds appear in the sky above Lake Ellesmere near Christchurch, From the southern hemisphere, this week is perfect for a view of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC), two dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way from 160,000 and 200,000 light-years distant, respectively. They are named after Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese mariner who led the first successful circumnavigation of the Earth from 1519 to 1522 (though he died on the way).

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