There are two full moons this month. The first on Wednesday 2nd December and the second on New Years Eve. Normally there is only one full moon each calender month, but every two to three years, a second full moon occurs.

This is commonly known as a “blue moon” because of its rarity. On New Years Eve the moon won’t be blue, but it may have an orange or pink colour. This is due to a partial eclipse occurring between 6.52pm and 7.54pm. Light scattering through Earth’s shadow during this time will colour the affected region of the moon.

Make a note in your diary for Sunday 13th December. If the sky is clear, try and get to the darkest place you can around midnight, for a fantastic display of shooting stars.

The Geminid meteor shower makes its annual appearance. They are easy to spot as they appear to start from high in the sky, and are often bright, spectacular meteors.

You can see Mars by looking for the red planet among fainter stars between the constellations Leo and Cancer. Mercury can be easily found on Friday 18th December when it is near the crescent moon.

Jupiter is still bright this month, and is a beautiful naked eye sight on the southwestern horizon after sunset. Saturn can be seen in the early morning rising in Virgo.

The December night sky is dominated by the constellation of Orion. For more information on Orion click here, and if you want to know where you can see a horses head amongst the stars; click here.

John McNally