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Mercury, Venus and Saturn all rise soon before the sun, and look well together in the eastern sky. Mars is also in the pre-dawn sky, but much further out from the sun. As seen from the northern hemisphere, it is high up in the south-east. It enters the constellation Cancer on 12 Oct. Jupiter sets in the early hours, but until then is very prominent in the southern constellation Capricornus. On the night of 29/30 September, the moon is near Jupiter. As seen from Europe, the two bodies are closest together just before moonrise soon after midnight. On 5 October, Mercury reaches nearly 18°W of the sun in the morning sky, and can be seen well from the northern hemisphere for about a fortnight either side of this date. It is a particularly fine view, given the nearby presence of Venus and Saturn. On 8 Oct, Saturn passes a quarter of a degree north of the somewhat brighter Mercury. The much brighter Venus is nearby, above. Saturn continues its journey out from the sun, and on 13 Oct it passes half a degree north of Venus. In the early hours of 12 Oct, the moon is near Mars, and on 16 Oct it is near Venus and Saturn in the pre-dawn sky, with Mercury in the twilight below.
Venus is still a bright morning star, but now rising only shortly before the sun. Mars shines out in the constellation Cancer in the eastern night sky. Jupiter is now very much an evening object, in Capricornus, low down in the south-west as seen from the northern hemisphere. Saturn is in the eastern morning sky, further out from the sun than Venus. It is in the right-hand part of the constellation Virgo as seen from norther hemisphere, and in the left-hand part for southern skywatchers. It is brighter than the stars of the region, but not yet as bright as Spica, the main star of Virgo. Its rings are no longer edge on to Earth, but are still not very visible. On the evenings of 26 and 27 Oct, the waxing moon is near Jupiter. On the night of 8/9 Nov, the waning moon is near Mars and on the mornings of 12 and 13 Nov, it is to the south of Saturn. On 15 Nov, the very old crescent is in the pre-dawn twilight with Venus. Look out for the Leonid meteors at the end of the lunar month.
By the end of the lunar month, Venus disappears behind the sun, and into the dawn. Mars is growing gradually brighter in the late evening and morning sky and enters the constellation Leo on 1 Dec. Jupiter is in the evening sky in the constellation Capricornus. The waxing crescent moon is nearby on 23 Nov. Saturn is in the morning sky on the Leo side of Virgo. Earth is gradually coming round towards Saturn’s side of the solar system, and in addition the ring system is beginning to open out more. Both of these factors mean that by the end of the month, it is as bright as Spica, the bright star of Virgo. The waning moon is south of Mars on the night of 6/7 Dec and south of Saturn in the early hours of 10 Dec. Look out for the Leonid meteors at the beginning of the lunar month, especially on the night 17/18 November. The moon is well out of the way, and there could be quite a number of meteors this year. The peak time is predicted to be 21:43 UT on 17 Nov. The meteors are likely to be seen best from Asia, where it is dark, and Leo (where the meteors appear to come from) is above the horizon. In Europe it may be worth waiting until after midnight, when Leo rises.
On 18 Dec, Mercury reaches 20°E of the sun in the evening sky. It is a better view from the southern hemisphere, but not too bad from the north, either. On 18 Dec itself, Mercury is below the new crescent moon after sunset. Jupiter is in the evening sky, further out than Mercury. On 21 Dec it passes south of Neptune for the final time, and on 5 Jan it enters the constellation Aquarius. Mars is becoming more prominent on the borders of Leo and Cancer, especially as seen from Earth’s northern hemisphere. It rises in the evening and shines brightly for the rest of the night. It re-enters the constellation Cancer on 9 Jan. Saturn is growing prominent in the night and morning sky in the constellation Virgo. By the end of the lunar month it is substantially brighter than Spica, the bright star of Virgo. The moon is near Jupiter in the evening sky of 21 Dec. On New Year’s Eve there is a partial eclipse of the moon, visible from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Arctic. The partial eclipse lasts from 18:51 to 21:30 GMT, peaking at 19:22, with a penumbral eclipse visible for a while before and afterwards, but only the far southern edge of the moon is covered. The moon is south of Mars on the night of 2/3 Jan and south of Saturn in the early hours of 6 Jan. In the pre-dawn twilight of 12 Jan, as seen from the northern hemisphere, the old moon sits to the right of Mercury; as seen from the south, the moon is above Mercury. At Dark Moon on 15 Jan there is an annular eclipse of the sun visible from Africa and South and East Asia. In an annular eclipse, the moon is further away from Earth than usual, and so smaller, and a ring of sunlight is visible all around it. Venus may well be visible just below the eclipse.