Monday 12th to Sunday 18th December 2022
The night of Tuesday 13th / Wednesday 14th is close to the peak of the Geminids meteor shower, so named because the radiant point where the shooting stars appear to originate from is close to the constellation of Gemini "The Twins".
The actual peak of the shower is at 1pm on 13th, but of course you won't see anything then because it will be daylight! If you are outside just before midnight on 13th, the constellation will be located towards the south east. Unfortunately a very bright waning Gibbous Moon will be to the east, creating some light pollution and spoiling your view of any meteors a bit.
Maybe the Moon can make up for this by revealing one of its unusual features the following evening, on Thursday 15th. Known as the "Straight Wall", it is a linear fault or escarpment on the Lunar surface. Don't be misled, as Sir Patrick Moore once said, "it is neither straight, nor a wall". It is quite distinctive though.
The Straight Wall is best viewed 1 or 2 days after a First Quarter Moon or a couple of days before the Third Quarter, so the late evening of Thursday 15th is ideal. The Moon will be located towards the east and I have provided a diagram to show how find the feature courtesy of Jodrell Bank.
If you aim your telescope in that direction, you will be looking at a fault line that is only 110Km long and between 2 - 3Km wide. It looks like a steep cliff because the sunlight falling on it casts a shadow. In reality it is not very steep at all - it's a trick of the light!
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2022
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