12/07/2020 – Ephemeris – Looking forward to the best of winter: Orion

This is Ephemeris for Monday, December 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 55 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:07. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 12:25 tomorrow morning.

Orion, the central constellation of the winter evening sky will be completely risen by 9 this evening. Then it can be seen low in the east-southeast it’s upright rectangle of stars tilted to the left. The topmost star to the left in this rectangle is the famous red giant star Betelgeuse, which is reportedly dimming again. It’s in Orion’s shoulder. In his other shoulder is Bellatrix, a name known to Harry Potter fans. In his knees are Rigel, a blue-white giant star and Saiph. In the center of the rectangle are three stars in a straight line, now almost vertically arranged, Orion’s belt. And below his belt what seem to be three more stars, his sword. In the center of the sword stars can be found, with binoculars or telescope, Orion’s most famous feature, the Great Orion Nebula.

The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Orion early December finder animation for 9 pm December 7th. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

Orion’s named stars including the belt stars. Cursa, though named belongs to the neighboring constellation Eridanus the river. Created using Stellarium.