The Sky Today on Saturday, December 13: Uranus Passes Near a Background Star
Uranus, the distant ice giant, sits just a few arcminutes from the star 14 Tauri, making this faint planet fairly easy to spot tonight.
This chart offers a close-up view of Taurus on the evening of December 13, showing Uranus a few arcminutes due south of 14 Tauri. Credit: Stellarium
- On December 12, Uranus will be visible in western Taurus, about 7 arcminutes south of the 6th-magnitude star 14 Tauri, providing a handy reference for locating it.
- The Geminid meteor shower is predicted to peak in the morning of December 14, potentially delivering over 100 meteors per hour. Best viewing occurs in the pre-dawn hours, even with a waning Moon.
- The radiant of the Geminids lies near Castor in Gemini, with the meteors originating from debris shed by the near-Earth asteroid 3200 Phaethon.
- Favorable observing conditions for the Geminid shower—high rates and dark skies—are also expected on the evenings of December 13 and 14.
Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column: https://www.astronomy.com/observing/the-sky-this-week-from-december-12-to-19-2025/
December 12: Comet Schaumasse visits some galaxies
Uranus lies due south of a comparably bright Taurus star this evening, aiding its identification. It’s an ideal time to head outside and view the distant ice giant, since you won’t need to stay up late—at 8 P.M. local time it is already more than 50° high in the east, positioned in western Taurus near the Pleiades cluster.
From the bright Pleiades, use binoculars or a small telescope to scan 4.5° south-southwest of the cluster to identify two 6th-magnitude stars, 13 Tauri and 14 Tauri. Tonight, Uranus—also at 6th magnitude—is located a mere 7 arcminutes due south of 14 Tauri, the slightly fainter western star in the pair. Together, these three form a small right triangle, with Uranus and 13 Tauri forming the hypotenuse. See if you can glimpse Uranus’ tiny, roughly 4-arcsecond disk; it may appear as a grayish, slightly extended spot in comparison to the nearby point-like stars.
Recommended observing details:
- Sunrise: 7:14 A.M.
- Sunset: 4:35 P.M.
- Moonrise: 1:14 A.M.
- Moonset: 12:48 P.M.
- Moon phase: Waning crescent (28%)
Times are local and based on 40° N, 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is noted at 10 P.M. local time for the same location.
The Geminid meteor shower reaches its peak tomorrow morning, December 14, with a waning Moon in the sky. Widely regarded as the best meteor shower of the year, the Geminids are expected to produce more than 100 meteors per hour at their peak. Even if you don’t see that many, you can still enjoy a spectacular display by stepping outside in the cold.
The Geminids’ radiant lies near Castor in Gemini, with Jupiter also shining nearby this year at magnitude −2.6. The prime observing window is in the early morning hours just before dawn, when Earth is moving into the debris stream that produces the meteors we see. That debris originated from the near-Earth asteroid 3200 Phaethon, which follows an unusually Earth-approaching orbit roughly every 1.4 years, similar to a comet’s path, bringing it into the inner solar system and occasionally close to our planet.
Around 3 A.M. local time, the heads of Gemini rise to about 75° high in the southwest, with Jupiter to their left. Castor lies to the right as you look up, and the Geminids’ radiant sits just to the lower right of Castor. Once you’ve located the radiant, scan the sky roughly 40°–60° on either side to catch meteors with the longest trails as they streak away from Gemini.
While the pre-dawn hours offer the best meteor rates, an evening viewing window is also possible. Gemini rises around 6 P.M., so by 10 P.M. the radiant stands above 40° in the east, with Gemini tilted and Castor above Pollux. Expect strong meteor activity on both the nights of December 13 and 14, and with no Moon to wash out the faint trails, the show should be impressive.
And a final reminder: if you’d like this rewritten as a shorter summary or with a different emphasis (more beginner-friendly, more technical, or more casual), tell me which tone you prefer and I’ll tailor it accordingly.
