As we get closer to the winter solstice, this period of the year as darkness gains more hours offers the opportunity to witness numerous astronomical phenomena.
For this reason, the last full moon of 2022, which will take place on December 8, is known as the "long night moon" or "cold moon", a name that comes from the Mohawk Indians, an indigenous people of North America.
However, this is only one of the particularities of the month of December 2022 at an astronomical level, as there are many more.
Of all the planets in the Solar System, Mars shows the greatest variation in its apparent size and brightness.
This occurs because it is a neighbor of Earth, orbiting the Sun at a distance of approximately 1.5 times the distance from Earth to the Sun.
This means that its position relative to our planet varies greatly, between 0.36 Astronomical Units (AU ) and 2.68 AU, depending on whether it is next to or opposite Earth in its orbit.
December 8 will be particularly auspicious in this regard because the red planet will shine brighter than at any other time of the year, as at this date it will be at its closest point to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun.
A medium-sized telescope can make it possible to distinguish some of the details of the planet's surface.
Geminid meteors are slow-moving and can be observed during most of December. Its most active peak, however, is the night of December 13 and the morning of December 14, with a rate of 120-160 meteors/hour under optimal conditions.
This rate makes it the most active rain of the year along with the quadrantids, a phenomenon that takes place during the first days of January.
The waning moon will block the view of many of the fainter meteors this year, but the Geminids are so numerous and bright that the show will be just as remarkable.
The best way to watch the rain is from a dark place after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Gemini, but they can appear anywhere in the sky.
Mercury is one of the most difficult planets to observe with the naked eye without the use of telescopes, but on this day it can be seen as a small point of yellowish light just by looking at the sky, as it reaches its greatest eastern elongation of 20.1 degrees from the Sun.
This is the best time to view Mercury because it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the evening sky. To see it, you have to look for it in the western sky just after sunset.
This shower is the result of dust grains left behind by Comet Tuttle, which was first discovered in 1790. The shower occurs annually from December 17 to 25, but peaks this year on the night of December 21 and the morning of the 22nd.
Although a particularly spectacular shower that produces between 5 and 10 meteors per hour, this year's near-new Moon will leave the skies very dark, which should add to the show.
The best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Ursa Minor, but they can appear anywhere in the sky.
