Over at Eadsy Astronomy I've posted and shared this week's Newsletter. Head on over to take a look! LINK
Here is a sample of the Newsletter from the Solar System Planets portion:
Visible Planets:
Jupiter — Bright All Night
Visible: Evening through morning — Jupiter rises earlier each night and stays in the sky most of the night.
Best View: After nightfall through sunrise.
How to Spot: Very bright “star-like” object; highest in the southern sky later at night.
Gear: Naked eye great; binoculars or small telescopes show cloud bands and moons.
Jupiter is the best planetary target this period.
Saturn — Early Evening Guest
Visible: After sunset until around midnight.
Best View: Early evening sky, toward the southern horizon.
Gear: Naked eye is fine; telescope reveals rings and moons (though rings are quite edge-on late December).
Uranus — Dim but Observable with Optics
Visible: Evening to early morning (sets before dawn).
Best View: After sunset, in Taurus region, south of the Pleiades.
How to See: Requires binoculars or small telescope; appears as a faint point.
Neptune — Faint but Trackable
Visible: Early evening to around midnight.
Best View: Near Saturn in the sky — use Saturn as a guide star.
How to See: Binoculars or telescope needed (too faint to see with naked eye).
Mercury — Morning Only (Challenging)
Visible: Before sunrise low in the southeast, but gets lower each day after early December.
When: Look 30–60 minutes before sunrise if you have a clear eastern horizon.
How to See: Naked eye possible at peak in early December, but by mid-December it gets harder as it descends into twilight.
Caution: Very close to the sunrise; don’t look at the Sun.
Mars and Venus — Not Visible
Mars: Too close to the Sun in December and not easily seen.
Venus: In the glare of the Sun this period — not visible before sunrise or after sunset.
