There are some interesting astronomical events happening this week. On Monday, the asteroid 319 Leona will pass in front of the supergiant star Betelgeuse. This will only be visible to observers along a narrow path running across central Asia, the Caspian Sea, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, the Atlantic Ocean, southern Florida, and Mexico.

On Tuesday, with a telescope, you can try to spot the dwarf galaxy IC 10, which is a member of the Milky Way's Local Group of galaxies. IC 10 is located near the bright end of Cassiopeia and is usually dimmed by the Milky Way's interstellar dust.

The Geminid meteor shower is also happening this week, with the peak expected late on Wednesday night. You can expect to see more meteors as the night grows later and the shower's radiant rises higher in the east. On Thursday, Algol in Perseus should be at its minimum brightness for a couple of hours, centered on 9:27 p.m. EST.

Finally, on Saturday, you can watch for Sirius to rise about two fists at arm's length below Orion's vertical belt. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/observing-news/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-december-8-17/