Like last month, the Moon will be drifting past two planets on its Moonthly orbit around the Earth. Unlike last month, the Moon will be passing by a different pair of planets!

Last month, the Moon drifted past Venus and Jupiter, forming a wonderful smiley face in the evening sky! This unique event was witnessed around the world,and Naveen L Nanjundappa, Vice President of the Bangalore Astronomical Society, took the wonderful photograph below (many more photographs are on the BBC News website, and SpaceWeather.com).

This month, the Moon will be passing by the planets Jupiter and Mercury on the 28th and 29th of December. Their exact alignment and the best time to look will depend on your location, but the three will be close to each other. For the UK, the best time to look is on the evening of the 29th, just after sunset (4.30pm is the best time), low to the South-West, when the crescent Moon is just to the top left of the bright Jupiter, and slightly fainter Mercury.

In fact, for just a brief period after sunset on the 29th, the Moon is so close to Mercury that it actually hides it! (an occultation) Unfortunately, that event will only be visible from a small region of the Pacific Ocean, a few thousand miles East of Japan!

However, for people living in western/central Australia, just after their sunset (which occurs 6 hours later than Eastern Japan), they will get to witness the Moon covering Jupiter instead!

It just goes to show what a difference a few thousand miles can make!

On new year's eve, the Moon will have moved along to Venus, higher and brighter than both Jupiter and Mercury. To see where the planets will be every night, take a look back at my December's Dance of the Evening Planets post.