Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Winter in the Novosibirsk region is both the coldest and cloudiest time of year, with long periods often characterized by virtually no clearing skies. When clear skies do arrive, they are typically accompanied by a significant drop in temperature—down to -30 degrees Celsius or lower. Therefore, Siberian conditions for astronomical observations in winter are certainly not ideal, as low temperatures make outdoor activities uncomfortable and can also significantly impact the performance of equipment used for both visual observations and astrophotography.
However, these circumstances do not change the course of the astronomical calendar, and in this review we will consider the most interesting astronomical events that await us in Novosibirsk and its surrounding areas this winter.
The most interesting astronomical events of the winter of 2025-2026.
December 13/14. Peak of the Geminid meteor shower. The Geminids are one of the so-called "Big Three" meteor showers, which also include the Perseids in August and the Quadrantids in January. They consistently produce high meteor activity each year, with rates reaching 80 and even 100 meteors per hour, peaking on December 13 and 14. A distinctive feature of this meteor shower is that it has no active parent object, and its origin is likely asteroidal rather than cometary—meaning its particles were not ejected from a cometary nucleus, but formed as a result of an asteroid collision. This hypothesis is also supported by the orbit of the shower's particles, which is not highly elongated and is more characteristic of objects in the asteroid belt than comets. Because asteroid particles are denser, this leads to Geminid meteors having longer flight paths and are often quite bright, as the stream's particles burn up longer in the Earth's atmosphere than particles from cometary streams.
The Geminid radiant is located in the constellation Gemini. In December, this constellation is above the horizon almost all night, so the Geminid meteors can be observed throughout the night, although very early in the evening the radiant is not yet very high above the horizon, which reduces the number of visible meteors of the shower, but makes their flight across the sky longer.
In 2025, the Geminid meteor shower will peak on the night of December 13/14, with activity levels averaging 75-80 meteors per hour for almost the entire night. High activity will also be observed during the first half of the night of December 14/15, but will quickly taper off during the night, dropping from 80 meteors per hour in the evening to approximately 20 meteors per hour by morning. Furthermore, comparatively moderate activity is expected on the night preceding the peak, December 12/13, with activity increasing from 20 to 35 meteors per hour from evening until morning. The waning moon rising in the morning will not significantly interfere with Geminid observations during these December days.
December 31st. Lunar Occultation of the Pleiades. The series of occultations of the beautiful Pleiades star cluster by Earth's satellite, which occurs every 18 years, continues. This 18-year period is equal to the duration of the lunar Saros (Draconic Period), which is determined by the precession of the lunar orbit. In other words, this is the period of precession of the Moon's orbit. The Pleiades cluster is located in the sky slightly above the ecliptic, but due to precession and the lunar orbital inclination of approximately 5 degrees, the Moon, in its apparent motion across the sky, periodically (every 18 years) "reaches" the Pleiades and causes a series of occultations of the cluster.
At Novosibirsk's latitude, the current series of occultations began in mid-2024 and will end in March 2028. Occultations occur approximately once a month (more precisely, every 29 days, which corresponds to the lunar sidereal period). However, occultations occur at different times of day, and not all of them are visible from Novosibirsk.
To observe the Pleiades occultation (which is essentially a series of lunar occultations of the stars in the Pleiades cluster), you'll need binoculars or a telescope. As the Moon orbits the Earth, it passes in front of the Pleiades stars, temporarily obscuring them from Earth. Through binoculars or a telescope, you'll see the Moon gradually approaching various cluster stars, then at some point disappearing behind the lunar disk, only to reappear shortly on the other side.
This occultation will occur on New Year's Eve, or more precisely, on New Year's Eve, December 31, shortly after dark. The Moon is approximately 88% in phase, and the Pleiades cluster will have already risen high enough for comfortable observation with a telescope or binoculars. When observing or photographing the occultation, it's best to use a tripod or astronomical mount to stabilize the image.
Here are the coverage parameters of the brightest stars of the Pleiades for Novosibirsk:
Electra. Start at 18:54:00, altitude 39°, end at 19:51:41, altitude 47°.
Taygetus. Start at 19:23:24, altitude 44°, end at 20:06:23, altitude 49°.
Maya. Start at 19:24:53, altitude 44°, end at 20:26:59, altitude 51°.
January 6/7. Lunar occultation of Regulus. On the evening of January 6, the lunar occultation of the fairly bright star Regulus (magnitude 1.4) will occur. It will not pass very high above the horizon, but in clear skies it will be quite visible with a telescope or binoculars. The occultation will begin at 10:25:24 PM, when the Moon is 9° above the horizon, and the star will emerge from behind the Moon at 11:23:32 PM, when the Moon is 17° above the horizon.
January 28. Lunar Occultation of the Pleiades. Another lunar occultation of the Pleiades, visible this winter from Novosibirsk, will occur about a month later, on January 28. However, conditions for this occultation will be significantly worse. It will occur late at night, and the altitude of the Moon and the occulted cluster stars will be only a few degrees. Nevertheless, for the sake of completeness, we present information on this occultation as well:
Electra. Start at 04:29:06, altitude 6°, end at 04:57:08, altitude 3°.
Taygetus. Start at 04:31:23, altitude 6°, end at 05:15:41, altitude 1°.
Maya. Start at 04:40:39, altitude 5°, end at 05:29:01, altitude 0°.
Meteor showers
December 22/23. The Ursid meteor shower peaks. This meteor shower originates from comet 8P/Tuttle. Its typical annual activity peaks at 8-10 meteors per hour, although occasional spikes of up to several dozen meteors per hour are possible. No significant, unusual peaks are expected in the winter of 2025. The shower's radiant is located in the constellation Ursa Minor and remains fairly high above the horizon throughout the night. The shower's peak is quite sharp, so during the night of December 22/23, it is expected to produce around 7 meteors per hour in the evening, then reach a maximum of 9-10 meteors per hour around 3:00 a.m., and by morning, drop to 4-5 meteors per hour. The moon will not interfere with observations.
January 3/4. Peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower. The Quadrantids are another of the "big three" showers, along with the Geminids and Perseids, but in 2026 its peak will be obscured by the moon. Its name comes from the now-defunct constellation Quadrantus Muralis, whose place is now occupied by the constellations Bootes, Draco, and Hercules. The shower's radiant remains above the horizon all night, but during the first half of the night, its altitude is low, around 20°, and it rises to a good height towards morning. Generally, the Quadrantids are active enough for a significant number of meteors to be visible even despite the moon, so in 2026, the best time to observe them is in the pre-dawn hours of January 4, between 4 and 8 AM. The shower's peak is quite narrow, unlike the Geminid showers, and will occur earlier in the day, but activity is still expected to be quite high during this period, with approximately 70 to 55 meteors per hour expected between 4 and 8 a.m. on January 4.
Comets
24P/Schaumasse. This is currently the main expected bright comet of the winter of 2025/2026. Comet 24P is a short-period comet with an orbital period of approximately 8 years. During this return, it will be quite favorably oriented relative to Earth, so the distance between Earth and the comet will be relatively small, about 0.6 AU in late December – early January. Due to this, the comet is expected to reach a brightness of approximately 8th magnitude in early January, making it a clearly visible object even in modest amateur telescopes and binoculars. However, one should not expect a particularly impressive appearance from Comet 24P. If its past returns are any guide, it will appear typical of its class of short-period comets – a fuzzy, spherical coma (blue-green in the photo) and a faint tail. Throughout the winter, this comet will be visible in the second half of the night, rising highest in the sky in the morning. Its brightness is expected to increase from approximately magnitude 10 in early December to magnitude 8 in early January, and then, by the end of winter, the comet will dim again to approximately magnitude 10. However, it should be noted that comets do not always behave predictably; they may experience outbursts of activity, or, conversely, appear weaker than expected, or even disintegrate, although for periodic comets this uncertainty is generally lower.
C/2024 E1 Wierzchos. The second brightest comet expected this winter, it will be visible in the southern sky for most of the winter, including its perihelion on January 20th, at a distance of 0.57 AU from the Sun. Accordingly, the comet will not be visible at the latitude of Novosibirsk during its expected maximum brightness of 5 magnitudes. However, it will become visible in the pre-dawn hours of the second half of February, before it has had time to significantly fade. If it survives perihelion, its brightness at this time is expected to be between 6th and 7th magnitude, making it observable in amateur telescopes and binoculars. Unlike Comet 24P, this comet is highly likely to have a pronounced tail, making it a good target for observations and astrophotography in late winter and early spring 2026.
Connections
A series of conjunctions between Jupiter and the Moon. In the winter of 2025–2026, several conjunctions of the Moon and Jupiter will be clearly visible. While not particularly close, they will still be quite spectacular. The first of these will occur on December 7/8, with the optimal viewing time being approximately 11 PM to midnight. At this time, the Moon will be directly above Jupiter, approximately 3 degrees above it. Jupiter itself will appear bright to the naked eye—a 2.5th magnitude star.
The second interesting conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter will occur on the night of January 3/4, with the best time to observe it being around 7:00 a.m. on January 4. The distance from the Moon to Jupiter will also be about 3 degrees, although slightly closer than the conjunction on December 7.
Jupiter and the Moon will also conjoin on January 31 and February 27, but they won't look as interesting because their periods of minimum angular separation will be below the horizon, meaning they won't be visible in Novosibirsk.
February 25/26. Conjunction of the Moon and the star Nat. Nat is a relatively bright star in the constellation Taurus, with a brightness of magnitude 1.7. On the night of February 25/26, the Moon will pass it at an angular distance of approximately 0.8 degrees, so Nat will be visible slightly above the waxing moon. The best viewing time is between 12:30 AM and 1:30 AM on February 26.
Explanation: The precession of the nodes of the lunar orbit is the rotation of the plane of the lunar orbit around an axis perpendicular to the ecliptic, which causes a constant shift of the nodes of the lunar orbit with a period of their complete revolution along the orbit of the Moon equal to 18.6 years.
Typically, various astronomical phenomena can be observed over a relatively large area. Depending on the specific event, they can be visible, for example, in different regions of Siberia or Russia as a whole, or throughout the entire Northern or Eastern Hemisphere, or even worldwide. This review provides information on the notable, unusual, and interesting astronomical phenomena that can be observed in Novosibirsk and its surrounding area in the winter of 2025-2026.
It may well turn out that Novosibirsk will not be the optimal place for observing any of the phenomena mentioned in the review, and this phenomenon will be better visible in other points on our planet; however, the visibility conditions are given specifically for Novosibirsk.
The material was prepared by: Mikhail Maslov, leading engineer of the Vega Observatory at NSU
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.