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Celebrating Dark Winter Skies!

Dark Sky Maine December/January Newsletter

In this issue:

• News & upcoming events

• Sky highlights

Upcoming Events

• Winter Solstice Virtual Star Party

  December 22, 7-8 p.m.

  Join Dark Sky Maine for our annual Winter Solstice Virtual Star Party on Zoom ($5 suggested donation).

  Highlights: Shawn Laatsch will describe our cultural connections to the solstice, and John Meader will take us all on a virtual night sky tour, and Serena Sanborn will take a look at what the natural world does under the cold darkness of winter.

  Register by making a $5 donation at darkskymaine.com/donate then send an email requesting to join the solstice star party to darkskymaine@gmail.com. We’ll send you a Zoom link a day to so before the event.

• Exploring the Winter Sky Class

  January 11, 18, 25, and 1 February 2023, 7-8 pm. ($60 donation)

  Join John Meader for a four week long class exploring the stars, constellations, planets, and deep space wonders of the winter sky.

  To register: donate $60 at darkskymaine.com/donate, then email darkskymaine@gmail.com and say that you’ve made your donation and would like to join the Exploring the Winter Sky class. John will send a syllabus and Zoom link to you a few days before the first class session.

December/January Sky Highlights

Once we pass the December 22 solstice, we’ll enter the grip of winter. On the upside, the sun will creep slightly higher in the sky each day, giving us a bit more daylight as the weeks pass by.

Both Mercury and Venus will be close companions in the twilight western sky in the latter half of December. And as a Christmas present, we’ll have as stunning alignment of those planets with Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Venus, and a thin crescent moon on the 25th.

For binocular users, the bright constellations Taurus, Orion, Auriga, Gemini will be front and center after 8 p.m, offering worthy targets. Starting with the Pleiades near the top of the attached chart, drop down to the widely scattered Hyades cluster, which surrounds the bright orange star Aldebaran. Descend further to Orion’s head area where you’ll find Collinder 69, a pleasing group around the star Meissa. Finally, below Orion’s three-star belt is everyone’s bino favorite, M42, the Orion Nebula.

So, get out there and take in these winter treats. Just be sure to dress much warmly than would seem necessary!

Dark Sky Maine

Help keep Maine’s skies the darkest in the eastern United States. Donate to Dark Sky Maine and help us keep our skies dark and full of stars.

Dark Sky Maine, a 501c3 nonprofit, promotes an appreciation of the night sky through education and by supporting measures that use appropriate lighting to provide security on the ground, promote the health of humans and nocturnal wildlife, while maintaining dark skies overhead.

Thank you for your support!

Learn more at: DarkSkyMaine.com

darkskymaine@gmail.com