A table listing some of the Astronomical Phenomena for December 2016:
Phenomena December
| Day | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | Moon passes 7 degrees north of Mercury mag -0.5 (4 UT) |
| 3 | Moon passes 6 degrees north of Venus mag -4.2 (13 UT) |
| 5 | Moon passes 3 degrees north of Mars mag +0.7 (11 UT) |
| 6 | Moon passes 0.7 degrees north of Neptune mag +7.9, occultation is visible from USA, western Europe (22:04 UT) |
| 7 | First quarter Moon (9:04 UT) |
| 9 | Moon passes 3 degrees south of Uranus mag +5.8 (20 UT) |
| 10 | Saturn is in conjunction with the Sun (12 UT) |
| 11 | Mercury mag -0.5 is at greatest elongation east 20.8 degrees (5 UT) |
| 12 | Moon is at perigee 358,462 km or 222,738 miles from Earth (23:36 UT) |
| 13 | Moon passes 0.5 degrees north of Aldebaran mag +0.9, occultation is visible from USA, western Europe (4:37 UT) |
| 14 | Full Moon (0:06 UT) |
| 14 | Geminids meteor shower peaks (ZHR = 120) |
| 16 | Moon passes 10 degrees south of Pollux mag +1.1 (5 UT) |
| 18 | Moon passes 1 degree south of Regulus mag +1.4, occultation is visible from southernmost Australia (18:39 UT) |
| 19 | Mercury is stationary in Sagittarius, afterwards begins retrograde motion (7 UT) |
| 21 | Last quarter Moon (1:56 UT) |
| 21 | Winter Solstice NH - Summer Solstice SH (11 UT) |
| 22 | Moon passes 2 degrees north of Jupiter mag -1.9 (17 UT) |
| 22 | Moon passes 6 degrees north of Spica mag +1.0 (22 UT) |
| 22 | Ursids meteor shower peaks (ZHR = 10 - occasionally up to 50) |
| 25 | Moon is at apogee 405,868 km or 252,195 miles from Earth (6:03 UT) |
| 25 | Mercury is at perihelion 0.308 AU (approx. 46.1 million kms or 28.6 million miles) from the Sun (15 UT) |
| 26 | Moon passes 10 degrees north of Antares mag +1.0 (20 UT) |
| 27 | Moon passes 4 degrees north of Saturn mag +0.5 (21 UT) |
| 28 | Mercury is at inferior conjunction (17 UT) |
| 29 | New Moon (6:54 UT) |
| 29 | Uranus mag +5.8 is stationary in Pisces, afterwards resumes direct motion (15 UT) |