Sydney Observatory night sky map

A map for each month of the year, to help you learn about the night sky

December 2013
www.sydneyobservatory.com.au

This star chart shows the stars and constellations visible in the night sky for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Adelaide and Perth for December 2013 at about 7:30 pm (Local Standard Time) or 8:30 pm (Local Daylight Savings Time). For Darwin and similar locations the chart will still apply, but some stars will be lost off the southern edge while extra stars will be visible to the north. Stars down to a brightness or magnitude limit of 4.5 are shown. To use this star chart, rotate it so that the direction you are facing (north, south, east or west) is shown at the bottom. The centre of the chart represents the point directly above your head, called the zenith, and the outer circular edge represents the horizon.

Star Brightness
Capella Zero or brighter st 1 AURIGA magnitude 2nd 3rd 4th

PERSEUS

ANDROMEDA

M45 (Pleiades or Seven Sisters)

TRIANGULUM

Hamal

ARIES

TAURUS
Aldebaran

PEGASUS PISCES

TAURUS

Hyades Aldebaran

NW

First point of Aries

Mira

Moon on 10th
CETUS AQUARIUS

Betelgeuse

Betelgeuse ORION

ORION Orion's belt M42

Rigel

ERIDANUS SCULPTOR

FORNAX LEPUS

Fomalhaut

PISCIS AUSTRINUS PISCIS AUSTRINUS

CAPRICORNUS

Venus on 20th ERIDANUS

PHOENIX GRUS MICROSCOPIUM CAELUM HOROLOGIUM Achernar COLUMBA Achernar TUCANA PICTOR RETICULUM HYDRUS DORADO Canopus INDUS

P P
SAGITTARIUS SCUTUM

Sirius

Sirius CANIS MAJOR Adhara

Venus on 6th

SMC
TELESCOPIUM PAVO OCTANS

SAGITTARIUS

SERPENS

Tarantula Nebula MENSA

PUPPIS

LMC

CORONA AUSTRALIS

Galactic centre

Centre of the Galaxy

FALSE CROSS
VOLANS

South Celestial Pole

ARA

SCORPIUS
SCORPIUS

CHAMAELEON

APUS TRIANGULUM AUSTRALE

Chart Key

CARINA

DIAMOND CROSS

Bright star PYXIS Faint star VELA Ecliptic Milky Way P Planet LMC or Large Magellanic Cloud ANTLIA SMC or Small Magellanic Cloud

NORMA
MUSCA

CIRCINUS

NORMA

SW

Antares

Eta Carina

SOUTHERN CROSS

POINTERS CIRCINUS Alpha Centauri Hadar

LUPUS

CRUX

Mimosa

South

Venus remains visible in the early evening as a bright star like object low in the sky towards the west and is close to the Moon on the 6th. The best time to view the Moon using binoculars or a small telescope is a few days either side of the first quarter Moon on the 10th. From mid December Jupiter can be seen low in the north-east during the late evening. Summer solstice on the 22nd is the longest day of the year and gives Sydney 14 hours and 25 minutes of daylight. Crux (the Southern Cross) is just above the southern horizon making it difficult to locate. 2014 Australasian sky guide book
The 2014 Australasian sky guide has details on the sky for the whole year, including rise and set times for the Sun, Moon and planets, and tidal information for Sydney. Available from Sydney Observatory, the Powerhouse Museum and good bookshops (RRP $16.95); also via mail order (postal charges apply) at www.powerhousemuseum.com/publications/

Daily activities at Sydney Observatory

Sydney Observatory is open for night and day visits every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Good Friday. Programs include telescope viewings, 3D space theatre and Sydney Planetarium sessions. Bookings are essential for night telescope viewing. Watson Road, Observatory Hill, The Rocks. www.sydneyobservatory.com.au Ph (02) 9921 3485

Sydney Observatory is part of the Powerhouse Museum. The Sydney Observatory night sky map is prepared by Dr M Anderson using the software TheSky. 2013 Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney.

West

Saucepan

North
LACERTA

Moon Phase
New Moon: First quarter: Deneb Full Moon: CYGNUS Last quarter: 03rd 10th 17th 26th

Andromeda Galaxy

NE

VULPECULA

DELPHINUS EQUULEUS

SAGITTA

Altair

Moon on 6th

AQUILA

East

SE