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At the start of the month, Mercury is visible in the dawn sky, rising nearly two hours before the sun. Above it, and round towards the sun’s noon position, is Saturn, which has now grown a little brighter than the nearby bright star Spica in Virgo. Further round, in the south of the constellation Leo, is Mars, getting brighter all the time as it heads for opposition in March. On 14 January, it moves temporarily into Virgo.
Venus is the bright evening star in the west after sunset. Over the next few weeks it will become brighter and set longer after the sun. On the evening of 27 December, the new crescent moon can be seen nearby, making for a lovely sight, one worth seeing on the 26th and 28th, too.
Jupiter shines brightly in the evening sky, setting in the hour or two after midnight for most places. On 2 January, the moon is to its north, and on 8 January it crosses from Pisces into Aries. If you have good binoculars, and scan towards the west from Jupiter on 12 and 13 January, you should be able to see Comet Levy, which is unfortunately unlikely to become anything like bright enough to see without optics. Do not despair, however. There is a comet on its way that looks as if it could be really quite lovely. It is called Pan-STARRS, after the name of the telescope used to discover it. At the moment it is far fainter than Pluto, so most telescopes won’t show it, but it may well brighten up so as to be easily visible to the naked eye in March 2013.
Look out for the Quarantid meteors around 3 and 4 January.
Venus is the lovely evening star, growing brighter and more prominent in the west after dark. On the evening of 26 January, the new crescent moon is to its north straight after sunset. Round to the south (or north, as seen from the southern hemisphere), is Jupiter, less bright than Venus, but shining much more brightly than the stars of Aries. On 30 January, the moon is nearby. Watch as the two planets gradually move closer together each night. At 02:29 GMT on 10 February, Venus passes just 18 minutes of arc north of Uranus. Uranus is normally too faint to see with the naked eye, especially when it is round towards the far side of the sun as at present, but shows up well in binoculars. This may well be a good time to look for it, using Venus as a pointer. If you are looking from Europe, Uranus will be just to the left of Venus on the evening of the 9th. Mars is growing ever brighter and more prominent in the night sky, especially towards the end of the month as it comes close to opposition and its nearest pass to Earth this time round. At the beginning of the month, Mars is on a short incursion into the constellation Virgo. On 3 February, it moves back over the border into Leo. Rising somewhat later, Saturn is also in Virgo, and indeed stays there until December. It is now much less bright than Mars, but outshines Spica, the nearby bright star of Virgo. Over the next few months, Mars and Saturn are also moving closer together. Mercury is out of view behind the sun.
The evening sky is full of planets, with the very bright Venus and Jupiter in the west, and Mars rising in the east, almost as bright as Jupiter.
Venus passes three degrees north of Jupiter on 13 March, and the pair look very fine together after sunset. The moon passes close to Venus on 25 February and Jupiter on 26/27 February.
On 29 February, the moon is between Aldebaran and the Pleiades.
Mercury also makes an appearance in the evening twilight, nearer to the sun, but it only reaches 18 degrees east of the sun on 5 March, and so is hard to see, even that evening. Uranus and Ceres are also nearby, but these two require binoculars to be seen at the best of times, and will be hard to spot in the twilight.
Mars comes to opposition on 3 March, and shines very prominently all night south of the main stars of Leo, and much brighter than them. It is just over 100 million kilometres or 5.6 light minutes from Earth at its closest pass on 5 March, a much greater distance than its 3.1 light minutes approach in 2003. Mars has a relatively eccentric orbit, and is further out into space than usual: it is less than three weeks since its aphelion (furthest distance from the sun). The next oppositions, in 2014 and 2016, will get better until in 2018 it will be almost as close as in 2003. The moon passes well south of Mars on 7 March.
Saturn rises about four hours after Mars, still near Spica in Virgo, and growing ever brighter as it approaches opposition in April, but doesn’t approach the glory of Mars this month.
Venus reaches 46 degrees east of the sun on 25 March, and shines brightly in the evening sky, setting over four hours after the sun. As the month proceeds, Venus swings back towards the sun, but becomes even brighter, as it comes towards this side of the sun, and thus nearer to Earth. If you have a cloudless evening on 25 and 26 March, do look out at the western evening sky, for Jupiter and the crescent moon will be in the sky near Venus. They should make a gorgeous trio. Jupiter, in towards the sunset, is bright, but much less so than Venus. The Pleiades are out beyond the evening star. They are nicely grouped with Aldebaran, the moon and Venus on 27 March, and then on 3 April, Venus passes through the southern end of this lovely cluster.
Mars is still very bright in the evening and night sky in the south of the constellation Leo.
On 15 April, Saturn comes to opposition and its closest to the Earth this year, at 1304 million kilometres, or 72.5 light minutes. Its lovely rings are orientated so as to be well seen from the Earth through telescopes and good binoculars. Look out also for Saturn’s bright moons Titan and Rhea. On the night of 15 April, as seen from our northern hemisphere, Rhea is below its ringed parent, and the atmosphere blanketed Titan is out well to the left.
On 18 April, Mercury comes to 27.4 degrees west of the sun in the morning sky, almost the most it can be. From Earth’s southern hemisphere, the normally elusive planet rises over two hours before the sun, and can be seen for a couple of weeks or so either side of 18 April. From the northern hemisphere, however, Mercury rises at such a low angle with the eastern horizon that it is very hard to see it at all. It might just be worth trying on the morning of 18 April itself when it is below the old crescent moon.
Look out for the Lyrid meteors around 21 and 22 April.
At dark moon on 20-21 May, there is an annular eclipse of the sun, visible from parts of China, Japan and the western USA. A partial eclipse can be seen from pretty much all of China, SE Asia (during sunrise), eastern Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, Japan, eastern Russia and most of Canada, Mexico and the United States (for the eastern parts, during sunset), but not the Atlantic coast. An annular eclipse is when the moon is not quite big enough to cover the sun’s disc, and a ring of sunlight can be seen around the moon as it passes in front of the sun. The annular eclipse starts at sunrise on 21 May along the south coast of China, including Guangzhou (Canton), Hong Kong and Fuzhou. It moves across the Taiwan Strait, clipping Taipei, and on across the East China Sea to Kagoshima in Japan from 07:19 Japan Time, and along the south coast to Tokyo starting at 07:31. Osaka and Nagoya also see the annular eclipse, and Kobe and Kyoto are just inside the northern limit. Fukushima is just too far north. After Japan, the annular eclipse moves across the northern Pacific, just missing the Aleutian Islands, and down again to next landfall at 18:24 Pacific Daylight Time on 20 May on the border of Oregon and California, before quickly flitting across the western states to sunset in Texas. The annular eclipse is visible from Medford in Oregon, Eureka, Redding and Chico in northern California, Reno, Carson City and Mesquite in Nevada, St George and Cedar City in Utah, the Grand Canyon and Tuba City in Arizona, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Farmington, Roswell and Clovis in New Mexico and just Lubbock, Odessa and Midland in Texas.
Jupiter passes the far side of the sun on 13 May. At the very start of the month it is still visible low down in the western evening sky after sunset. The very, very thin new crescent moon passes close north of it on the evening of 22 April.
Venus is also moving towards the sunset, but Venus’ orbit around the sun is inside that of the Earth, and in this case Venus is heading towards passing the sun on the near side (and indeed, right in front of it, as you may see next month). It gets even brighter as it comes closer to the Earth, despite most of the sunlight falling on its far side. If you look at it through good binoculars or a telescope, you should be able to see that it is now a distinct crescent. The moon passes south of Venus on 24/25 April. If you know where to look, it is a good time to be seeing if you can find Venus in the daytime sky, quite a bit east of the sun. Do not use optical help in case you accidentally look sunwards.
Mars moves further away from its closest and brightest. It sets in the early hours. On the night of 30 April / 1 May, when you may be out celebrating Beltane, you will be able to see a pleasing grouping of the moon, Mars and Regulus, the bright star of Leo, only a bit less bright than Mars is. Saturn, round to the east, is also moving away from its closest and brightest. The moon is near Saturn and Spica on the night of 4/5 May, in another lovely grouping.
Mercury will be visible in the southern hemisphere morning sky for the first week or so of the month.
Venus crosses the sun on 5 or 6 June, depending where you are looking from. The transit is best seen from eastern Australia (on 6 June) and the Pacific, but visible at sunset on 5 June in North America, and at sunrise on 6 June in Europe (except Portugal and south and west Spain). As seen from Britain, Ireland and France, Venus will be nearing the end of its transit by the time the sun rises, but if you have a clear sky to the north-east, you should be able to see it. Venus stays wholly in front of the sun until about 05:37 BST (06:37 CET) as seen from Europe, and the planet will be partially in front of the edge of the sun’s disc for a further 18 minutes or so. It is the last transit of Venus visible from Earth until 2117. On its way in towards the transit, you may be able to see a very low down and bright Venus close by the new crescent moon on 22 May, just after sunset.
At full moon on 4 June, there is a partial eclipse of the moon visible from E & SE Asia, Australia, the Pacific and North and South America away from the north-east of both. From Asia, the partial eclipse will be underway at moonrise, and from the Americas the full moon will be eclipsed as it sets. The partial phase begins at 09:59 GMT and ends 12:06.
By the end of the month, the very bright planets Venus and Jupiter are gathered together in the morning sky in the constellation Taurus, with the Pleiades to the north of Jupiter. On the morning of 17 June, the old crescent moon will be nearby, making for a lovely sight. The moon is so close to Jupiter that it passes in front of the planet as seen from the north coast of Alaska and the Canadian Arctic, in a series of occultations that will last into next year. On 18 June, the very old crescent moon is by Venus, low down in the east before sunrise.
Mars and Saturn shine in the evening sky, both becoming less bright since their nearest passes to Earth earlier in the year. On 3 June, Mars slips below the brightness of Saturn.
Mercury is out of view behind the sun.
Pluto comes to opposition on 29 June, 4674 million kilometres or 4.3 light hours away from Earth. It is too small and distant to be seen from Earth except through large telescopes. It is known to have four moons, one of which, Charon, is big enough to mean that it and its parent rotate around a centre of gravity outside of Pluto. Pluto is currently regarded as a dwarf planet, along with Ceres and the far objects Eris, Haumea and Makemake.
Mars passes into the constellation Virgo on 21 June, now less bright than it was earlier in the year, but moving towards Saturn in the sky.
On 1 July, Mercury comes out to 25.7°E of the sun, and is equally well seen from the northern and southern hemisphere of Earth. For a week or so either side of that date, do look out for it in the western evening sky just after sunset. Mercury is considerably brighter than the nearby star Delta Cancri. It is also brighter than Regulus, Mars and Saturn, though its position near the horizon makes it harder to see against the evening twilight. All being well, you will be able to see Mercury, Mars and Saturn strung out in a curved line from the sunset, the line of the plane of the solar system. It may be worth looking out for Mercury on the evening of 21 June, as the new crescent moon lies just to the south of it. North of Mercury about the same distance lies the star Pollux in Gemini.
The very bright Venus and Jupiter are looking good in the dawn sky, and on the morning of 15 July, the moon is very near Jupiter, passing in front of it as seen from much of Europe, including SE Britain, northern Africa and western Asia. From London, the moon starts covering Jupiter at 02:55. Jupiter is hidden for just a few minutes along the moon’s northern edge, and begins to reappear at 03:07. As seen from Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol, Oxford and King’s Lynn, the moon covers just the southern half of Jupiter; 30 miles or so NW of this rough line, the moon doesn’t cover Jupiter at all. From Penzance, Cardiff, Coventry and Leicester, the moon just covers the southern polar regions of Jupiter around 03:04 and 03:05, and from Birmingham, no occultation can be seen. Even if you you do not see the occultation, it is still worth looking to see the moon, Jupiter, Venus, Aldebaran and the Pleiades all close together. If you have your binoculars or telescope out to watch the occultation, do look for Ceres, also nearby, 3° south of the moon. Ceres passes between the stars of Delta Tauri on the morning of 13 July, another very good chance to find it.
Three things happen on 14 August: Venus comes to greatest elongation from the sun and is coincidentally occulted by the moon. Then, in the evening, there is lovely line of two planets and a star.
The moon is south of Mars on the evening of 24 July. As seen from the northern hemisphere, it is low down in the south-west, with Saturn nearby to the left. Mars is well over twice as far from the Earth as it was in March, and is correspondingly much less bright.
The moon is south of Saturn and Spica on the evening of 25 July.
On the evening of 7 August, Saturn, Mars and Spica form an equilateral triangle, as Mars moves in rapidly from the west. On the evening of 14 August, the three form a pleasing line in the evening sky. As viewed from the northern hemisphere, they will again be low down in the south-west soon after sunset: the line perpendicular to the horizon, with Saturn at the top and Spica at the bottom. Saturn is just the brightest of the trio.
Venus and Jupiter are bright in the morning sky.
On 14 August, Venus reaches 45.7°W of the sun, with the old crescent moon just to its south, occulting it from parts of the world, as seen below, and on 16 August, Mercury comes to 18.7°W, also with the old moon to its south, making it easier to locate. It is a relatively small egress this time, but there will be a reasonable view from the northern hemisphere.
On 12 August, the moon occults Jupiter as seen from Indonesia and the Philippines in the early hours, and from Hawaii (on 11 August) in daylight. As seen from Jakarta, Jupiter disappears from 01:11 Western Indonesian Time, and reappears from 02:13. Then on 14 August it occults Venus as seen from NE China, Korea, Japan and nearby parts of Russia in the early hours and then from much of North America in daylight (on 13 August). From Beijing, the occultation is already underway at moonrise, and Venus appears from 02:44 Beijing Time. From Tokyo, the occultation lasts from 02:45 to 03:30 Japan Time.
Look out for the Perseid meteors around 12 to 14 August.
On 21 August, the new crescent moon, still very low down in the south-west as seen from the northern hemisphere, is below the trio of Saturn, Mars and Spica, which this night form another fine-looking equilateral triangle. It is a great view from the southern hemisphere, but still worth looking for from the north in the August twilight. On 5 September, moving away from Saturn, Mars passes into the constellation Libra.
Venus and Jupiter are easily the brightest planets as seen from Earth except when Mars is at its very closest oppositions, such as in 2018. They both have bright clouds reflecting the sunlight, and Venus is the planet that comes closest to Earth. Jupiter is just very big. At the moment, they are beautifully decorating the morning sky in the constellations Taurus and Gemini.
On 7 and 8 September, the moon is close to Jupiter, and on 8 September, the moon occults Jupiter over the South Pacific in darkness, and over South America mostly in daylight. On the Pacific coast of South America, the occultation begins just before sunrise.
On 12 and 13 September, the old crescent moon is close to Venus in the morning sky.
Neptune comes to opposition on 24 August, 4336 million kilometres or four light hours away. You need to use good binoculars or a telescope to see it from Earth. Neptune is a gas giant, though is less than four times the diameter of Earth. The pale blue dot that you may be able to see is not dissimilar to how Earth may look from far off, though our atmospheres are very different!
Mercury is visible in the northern hemisphere morning sky for the first week of the month, before going out of view behind the sun.
Saturn and Mars are by now quite hard to see from the northern hemisphere in the evening twilight, as they head towards the far side of the sun, but they are still well seen from the south, due to the higher angle of the ecliptic (the plane of the solar system) to the horizon at this time of year.
The low angle of the ecliptic in the north around the time of the autumn equinox is also responsible for the full harvest moon on 31 August and the full hunters moon on 30 September hanging long and low over the eastern horizon.
On 6 October, Mars moves into the constellation Scorpius.
On 18 September, the new crescent moon, if you can see it from the northern hemisphere, is south of Saturn, and on 19 September, it is near Mars, occulting the red planet as seen from eastern South America just dark, and western parts of the continent in daylight. From Rio, the occultation starts at 18:26, soon after sunset, with Mars re-emerging from 19:36.
On the night of 5/6 October, the moon is near Jupiter, and occults it as seen from SW Australia at sunrise, and along Australia’s south coast in daylight. From Perth, Jupiter begins to disappear at 04:49, Western Standard Time.
On the morning of 12 October, the old crescent moon and Venus are near to each other in the eastern morning sky. On the morning of 3 October, Venus passes just seven minutes of arc south of Regulus, a very strange star that apparently rotates in less than sixteen hours, despite its huge size. It is considerably flattened, and would, it is said, fall apart entirely were it to rotate even 10% more quickly. It is the biggest star of a four-star solar system.
On 29 September, Uranus comes to opposition, 2852 million kilometres or 2.6 light hours from Earth. It may just be possible to see it with the naked eye if you are looking into a good, dark sky, but it is easily seen through binoculars. The moon is to the north of Uranus on the night 29/30 September. Uranus is just east of a star of similar brightness, 44 Piscium. Look four degrees (eight moon widths) or so south from the moon with binoculars at about 03:30 BST, and you should see 44 Piscium and Uranus next to each other.
Mercury appears in the southern hemisphere evening sky at the end of the month.
At Dark Moon, on the morning of 14 November in Australia (late on 13 November GMT), there is a total eclipse of the sun, visible from the north coast of the Northern Territory, and a swathe of Queensland, including Cairns. A partial eclipse is visible over the rest of Australia, New Guinea and most of both the south Pacific and western Antarctica. The total eclipse starts at sunrise in the north coastal area of the Arnhem Aboriginal Land, crosses the Gulf of Carpentaria and northern Queensland to cover Cairns from 06:38 to 06:40 Australian Eastern Standard Time. After that, the total shadow does not hit land again, and passes between New Caledonia and New Zealand north of Norfolk Island, before ending at sunset 800 kilometres or so off the coast of Chile. The area around Kowanyama on the Queensland Carpentaria coast will experience both this total eclipse and the annular one next May.
On the night 31 October/1 November, when you might be celebrating Samhain, the moon makes a lovely grouping in the sky with Jupiter, Aldebaran and the Pleiades, and on the night 1/2 November, the moon passes very close to Jupiter itself, occulting the planet as seen from far southern Africa. At Cape Town, Jupiter starts disappearing at 02:33 South African Standard Time on 2 November, and re-emerges from 03:49. To the south of Jupiter and the moon is the well-known constellation Orion.
On 26 October, Mercury comes to 23.9°E of the sun in the western evening sky. From Earth’s northern hemisphere, it is very low down on the SW horizon just after sunset, and very hard to see, but Mercury watchers from the southern hemisphere should get a good view, with Mercury shining brightly between Mars and the sunset.
Saturn goes round the far side of the sun on 25 October, and towards the end of the month, emerges back out into the morning sky. The brighter Venus is further out from the sunrise. Saturn’s erstwhile companion Mars is still in the evening sky, albeit hard to see from the Earth’s northern hemisphere. At the beginning of the month it is north of Antares, the bright star of Scorpius, and about the same brightness as it. Antares is reddish, like Mars, and indeed was essentially named “Anti-Mars”. Ares (Ἄρης) is the Greek version of Mars. On 18 October Mars passes into the constellation Ophiuchus, and that evening, the new crescent moon is just to its north. On 12 November, now moving rapidly through the stars, Mars goes into Sagittarius.
On the night of 5/6 November, Ceres passes close NW of the brighter Eta Geminorum.
Mars is still hanging on low down in the evening sky. The new crescent moon is north of it on 16 November.
At full moon, there is a penumbral eclipse of the moon visible from most of the world except Portugal, western Spain, west and south-west Africa, Antarctica and South and Central America along with the Caribbean and Atlantic coast of North America. It starts at 12:14 GMT and ends at 16:50. The main shadow of the Earth passes to the north of the moon, and all but the Moon’s south pole has a partial eclipse of the sun. The difference in the amount of light reaching the moon is not great, and a penumbral eclipse is not easy to see. From Western Europe, the eclipse, such as it is, is almost over by the time the moon rises, and the effect may not be visible at all.
On the night of 27/28 November, the moon once again forms a lovely grouping with Jupiter, the Pleiades and Aldebaran, and the moon is very close to Jupiter the following night, occulting it as seen from SE South America and southern Africa. From Rio de Janeiro, the occultation lasts from 21:09 to 22:12, Brasília (Summer) Time on 28 November. From Cape Town, the occultation lasts from 03:15 to 04:35 on 29 November, South African Standard Time.
On 3 December, Jupiter comes to opposition, and shines brightly all night throughout the month. At its closest on 1 December, it is 609 million kilometres or 33.8 light minutes from Earth. Jupiter is bigger than all the other planets in the solar system put together, and has quite an effect on the orbits of all the planets. If you have binoculars or a telescope, do watch Jupiter’s bright moons as they dance around their parent, changing greatly in position from night to night.
Saturn emerges into the eastern morning sky, with the brighter Venus close by. On the morning of 27 November, Venus passes half a degree south of Saturn.
On 6 December, Saturn crosses the constellation boundary between Virgo and Libra. The old moon passes Saturn on 10 December, and is near Venus and Mercury on 11 and 12 December.
On 5 December, Mercury reaches 20.4°W of the sun in the eastern morning sky. It is a good chance for people in the northern hemisphere to see it, as it rises almost two hours before the sun, and the three planets Saturn, Venus and Mercury should look wonderful in a line pointing down towards the early dawn.
Look out for the Leonid meteors around 17 and 18 November, and the Geminids around 13 and 14 December.
Mars is still just in the evening sky. Earth’s motion tries to take it quickly behind the sun as happens for the other outer planets, but Mars’ own motion west through the stars helps keep it ahead of the sun. Nevertheless, it is not very bright now, and not so easy to see in the evening twilight. The new crescent moon is nearby on the evenings of 14 and 15 December. On 25 December, Mars moves into the constellation Capricorn.
On the night of 24/25 December, while you might be out celebrating the birth of the divine child, the moon once more forms a pleasing grouping with Jupiter, the Pleiades and Aldebaran, with the moon very close to Jupiter the following night, occulting it as seen from South America away from the NW and far south, from parts of West Africa (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Côte d’Ivoire) and much of southern Africa. From Rio de Janeiro, the occultation lasts from 20:47 to 22:02 Brasília (Summer) Time on 25 December, from Abidjan 01:04 to 01:39 GMT on 26 December, and from Cape Town 03:13 to 03:56 South African Standard Time.
On 18 December, the dwarf planet Ceres comes to opposition. At its nearest on 20 December, it is 251 million kilometres or 13.97 light minutes from Earth. Ceres is the largest body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and is larger than all the asteroids put together. It is just too faint to be seen from Earth by most people with the naked eye, but opposition is a great time to look for it if you have a good, dark sky. You can tell it is Ceres if you have a good star map and/or watch it change position from night to night. From about 14 to 23 December it is moving between the stars 132 Tauri and 125 Tauri, and on 19 December it is about half way between them, about five minutes of arc south of the slightly fainter star HIP26998.
The moon is near Saturn on the night of 6/7 January.
Mercury is visible in the morning sky for the first part of the month.
On the morning of 10 January, just before sunrise, you may be able to see the very old crescent moon and Venus together low down in the south-east.
On 10 January, Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4) is expected to be about half way between Theta and Iota Scorpii. At present, it requires a telescope or good binoculars to be seen, but it will brighten over the next few weeks as it journeys further into the southern sky. Around 9 March, it is at the time of writing thought likely to emerge into the evening twilight of the northern hemisphere, easily visible to the naked eye.
Look out for the Quarantid meteors around 3 and 4 January.