Astroblog

The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2025 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific). 

This year we get a good Total Lunar eclipse visible Australia wide. We get multiple occultations of the bright star Antares. There are good oppositions of Mars and Saturn. Comet C/20024 G3 ATLAS may be visible low in the evening twilight at the end of January, if it survives its passage around the Sun.

As well we have some fantastic parings and lineups and good meteor showers (although the moon is a pest).

Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful. 

Special events are bolded. T indicates a telescope only event. As well as apogee and perigee moons I have also included times when the Lunar X is visible at First Quarter.

Date	Event
January
03 January 2025	Crescent Moon near Venus in evening twilight.
04 January 2025	Earth at Perihelion, Crescent Moon close to Saturn in evening twilight.
07 January 2025	First Quarter perigee moon
10 January 2025	Moon near Jupiter in evening.
14 January 2025	Moon near Mars in evening.
16 January 2025	Mars at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth
18 January 2025	Venus and Saturn at their closest (2° apart)
16-25 January 2025	Comet C/20024 G3 ATLAS may be visible low in the evening twilight.
February
01 February 2025	Saturn near crescent Moon in evening (4° apart)
02 February 2025	Venus near crescent Moon in evening (~6° apart)
05 February 2025	"Lunar X" visible in telescopes at twilght (from 0813 UT on for ~ 4 hours) T
07 February 2025	waxing Moon near Jupiter in the evening (4° apart)
09 February 2025	waxing Moon near Mars in the evening (5° apart)
15 February 2025	Venus at maximum brilliance
March
1 March 2025	Saturn and Mercury near to thin crescent Moon (2° apart for Mercury) very low in evening twilight, will require binoculars.
2 March 2025	Crescent Moon near Venus in evening twilight (5°)
6 March 2025	Waxing Moon near Jupiter in evening twilight (6°)
09 March 2025	Waxing Moon near Mars in evening sky (6°), Moon close to Pollux
14 March 2025	Occultation of bright star Beta Virginis around midnight
20 March 2025	Earth at Equinox
21 March 2025	Occultation of bright star Antares just after midnight
April
03 April 2025	Crescent Moon near Jupiter in Evening twilight.
05 April 2025	"Lunar X" visible from  12:43 UT T
05-06 April 2025	Mars around 5° from waxing Moon
13 April 2025	Apogee Full Moon
25 April 2025	Saturn and Venus close in the morning twilight  forming a triangle with the thin crescent Moon
26 April 2025	Crescent  Moon close to Mercury in the morning twilight
May
01-10 May 2025	Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition in the evening, potentially visible to the unaided eye.
01 May 2025	Saturn and Venus close in the morning twilight (3°)
01 May 2025	Jupiter near the thin crescent moon in the evening twilight
04 May 2025	First Quarter Moon close to Mars (4° apart) in the evening.
6-7 May 2025	Eta Aquariid meteor shower
23 May 2025	Crescent Moon near Saturn in the morning twilight (4°)
24 May 2025	Crescent Moon near Saturn in the morning twilight (4°)
28 May 2025	Crescent Moon near Jupiter in the evening twilight (7°) will require binoculars
June
01 June 2025	Mars near to thin crescent Moon (3° apart) in evening sky.
03 June 2025
10 June 2025	Occultation of Antares in early evening sky
19 June 2025	Waning Moon close to Saturn in morning skies
21 June 2025	Earth at solstice
22 June 2023	Crescent Moon near Venus in morning skies
27 June 2025	Thin crescent Moon close to Mercury in evening twilight
30 June 2025	Mars close to crescent Moon in evening sky.
July
04 July 2025	Earth at aphelion, Venus close to Uranus (2°)
08 July 2025	Occultation of Antares in late morning sky
12-14 July	Venus close to Aldebaran, making a second "eye" for Taurus the Bull.
8 July 2025	Thin crescent moon near Mercury (6° apart) low in evening twilight
16-17 July 2025	Saturn near waning Moon (6° apart) in the evening sky
22 July 2025	Venus near the crescent Moon in morning sky
23 July	Jupiter near the thin crescent Moon in morning sky
29-30 July 2025	Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower in morning
1-31 July 2025	Saturn close to Neptune (2-1°) in morning sky
August
01-31 August 2025	Saturn close to Neptune (1-2°) in morning sky
01 August 2025	Lunar X visible 10:47 UT T, apogee First Quarter Moon
3-4 August 2025	Venus close to star Propus (𝝶 Geminorum, 1°)
12-13 August 2025	Jupiter and Venus close (1°) the morning sky
12 August 2025	Saturn near the waning Moon (4° apart) in the evening sky
20 August 2025	Jupiter near crescent Moon (6° apart) in morning sky
21 August 2025	Venus near thin crescent Moon (7° apart) in morning sky
26 August 2025	Mars near to thin crescent Moon (4° apart) in evening sky.
September
4-10 September 2025	Jupiter close (0.5° apart) to Wassat (Delta Geminorum) closest on 7th
08 September 2025	Total eclipse of the moon (around midnight, 7th in WA)
08 September 2025	Saturn  close to the Full Moon (4° apart) in evening sky (alos close dring the Lunar eclipse in the early hours of the morning.
17 September 2025	Jupiter near crescent Moon (6° apart) in morning sky
21 September 2025	Saturn at Opposition
22 September 2025	Earth at Equinox
20 September 2025	Venus very close to Regulus in the morning twilight (0.5° apart) and close to the thin resent Moon  (4° apart). Will need binoculars and a level horizon
24 September 2025	Thin crescent Moon near Mars (4° apart) in evening twilight
29 September 2025	Lunar X visible 08:46 UT T
October
03 October 2025	Asteroid Ceres at opposition binocular visible
06 October 2025	Moon near Saturn (9° apart)  in the evening sky
07 October 2025	Jupiter in the heart of NGC 2420 T
14 October 2025	Jupiter near Last Quarter Moon (6° apart) in morning sky
19 October 2025	Mercury near Mars (2° apart) in evening twilight
21-22 October 2025	Orionid meteor shower
23 October 2025	Thin crescent Moon near Mars (4° apart) in evening twilight, forming a triangle with Mercury
November
2 November 2025	Moon
5 November 2025	Perigee Full Moon ("super" Moon)
11 November 2025	Jupiter near waning Moon (6° apart) in morning sky
13 November 2025	Mercury near Mars (2° apart) low in the evening twilight
21 November 2025	Thin crescent Moon, Antares and Mars form a triangle low in the evening twilight
18/19 November 2025	Leonid Meteor Shower
21 November 2025	Opposition of Uranus (not far from Pleiades, easy binocular target, possible unaided eye)
27 November 2025	Lunar X visible 10:47 UT T
29 November 2025	Waxing Moon near near Saturn (4° apart)  in the evening sky
December
5 December 2025	Perigee Full Moon ("super" Moon)
7 December 2025	Jupiter near waning Moon (4° apart) in morning sky, forming a line with the bright star Pollux.
14/15 December 2025	Geminid Meteor shower in the morning, some Moon interference
19 December 2023	Mercury, the thin Crescent Moon and the bright star Antares from a triangle low in the morning twilight, might need binoculars
21 December 2025	Earth is at Solstice
27 December 2025	Neraly First Quarter Moon near near Saturn (4° apart)  in the early evening sky

Labels: Asteroid, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Moon, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events

The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2024 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific). 

This year we get a Penumbral Lunar eclipse best visible from eastern Australia. We get multiple occultations of Saturn (some daylight only). A couple of occultations of the Pleiades, and an occultation of the bright star Antares (only visible western and central Australia). There are good oppositions of Jupiter and Saturn. Mars is at opposition in January 2025 but we get a good run up to it. We also get a comet in September/October, C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, which may be a fizzer but just might be spectacular.

As well we have some fantastic parings and lineups and good meteor showers.

Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful. 

Special events are bolded.

Date	Event
January
03 January 2024	Earth at Perihelion
09 January 2024	Crescent Moon near Venus in morning twilight.
10 January 2024	Crescent Moon near Mercury in morning twilight.
14 January 2024	Crescent Moon close to Saturn in evening twilight.
18 January 2024	First Quarter Moon near Jupiter in evening.
20 January 2024	Occultation of the Pleiades (Perth best from 21:14  AWST, also Adelaide, Darwin good, just 17 Tau, Brisbane, Hobart, Sydney)
28 January 2024	Mars and Mercury very close (0.2° apart)
February
08 February 2024	Venus near crescent Moon in morning (5° apart)
9 February 2024	Mercury near crescent Moon in morning (~5° apart)
11 February 2024	Thin Crescent Moon and Saturn close low in the evening twilight (5° apart)
15 February 2024	waxing Moon near Jupiter in the evening (4° apart)
21-24 February 2024	Venus and Mars around 1° apart in the morning twilight.
25 February 2024	Apogee (mini) Full Moon
March
9 March 2024	Venus close to thin crescent Moon (3° apart) low in morning twilight
1-9 March 2024	Mercury within 5° or Venus in morning twilight
13-14 March 2024	Crescent Moon near Jupiter in evening twilight
20 March 2024	Earth at Equinox
22 March 2024	Saturn very close to Venus (0.6° apart), very difficult low in the morning twilight
25 March 2024	Apogee (mini) Full Moon
25 March 2024	Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
April
6-7 April 2024	Crescent Moon brackets Mars and Saturn in the morning twilight.
8 April 2024	Crescent Moon and Venus close low in the morning twilight
11 April 2024	Saturn and Mars spectacularly close (0.4° apart) in morning sky.
10-11 April 2024	Crescent Moon near Jupiter in the evening twilight
19 April 2024	Mercury and Venus close low in the morning twilight (difficult, requires binoculars and a level horizon)
May
04 May 2024	Daytime occultation of Saturn (east coast from around 9 am)
05 May 2024	Early Morning occultation of Neptune (east coast from around 4 am)
05 May 2024	Crescent Moon very close to Mars (0.3° apart) in morning twilight.
6-7 May 2024	Eta Aquariid meteor shower
06 May 2024	Crescent Moon near Mercury in the morning twilight
June
03 June 2024	Mars near to thin crescent Moon (3° apart) in morning sky.
4-5 June 2024	Jupiter and Mercury close (3° apart) low in morning twilight (binocular event)
21 June 2024	Earth at solstice
27 June 2023	Saturn is occulted by the moon just after 23:00, low on the eastern horizon (eastern states and SA)
July
2 July 2024	Mars near crescent Moon (5° apart) in morning sky.
3 July 2024	Jupiter near crescent moon in the morning sky, at this time Jupiter forms a second eye for Taurus the Bull being 6° from the other eye, bright red Aldebaran)
5 July 2024	Earth at aphelion, waning Moon near Saturn in the morning sky.
8 July 2024	Thin crescent moon near Mercury (6° apart) low in evening twilight
16 July 2024	Mars and Uranus very close (0.5° apart) in the morning sky.
24 July 2024	Saturn near waning Moon (5° apart) in the evening sky
25 July 2024	Mercury near Regulus (6° apart) in the evening twilight.
29-30 July 2024	Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower in morning
30 July 2024	Occultation of Pleiades (from around 5 am local time on).
31 July 2024	Jupiter near crescent moon (6° apart) in morning sky.
August
06 August 2024	Mercury, Venus and crescent Moon form a triangle to the evening twilight
15 August 2024	Jupiter and Mars very close (0.3° apart) in morning sky
20-21 August 2024	The Moon brackets Saturn.
28 August 2024	Jupiter, Mars, the waning Moon and the bright Star Elnath form a triangle in the morning sky
September
05 September 2024	Venus close (1° apart) to thin crescent Moon in the evening sky at the end of twilight
08 September 2024	Saturn at Opposition
09 September 2024	Mars close (1° apart) to open cluster M35
10 September 2024	Occultation of bright star Antares, west, central North (Perth, Darwin, Alice Springs) everywhere else sees a close approach or graze low to the horizon
17 September 2024	Perigee ("super") Moon near Saturn, occultation in Northern Australia in late twilight (Brisbane, Alice Springs Darwin), close everywhere else.
18 September 2024	Venus close (3° apart) to the bright star Spica
22 September 2024	Earth at Equinox
24 September 2024	Moon near Jupiter in morning sky
26 September 2024	Moon near Mars in morning sky
09-27 September 2024	C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS may be visible low in the morning twilight, if it hasn't broken up, it may be quite bright.
October
5-62 October 2024	Venus bracketed by thin crescent Moon
13 October on 2024	C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS may be visible low in the evening twilight, rapidly rising higher in the evening sky, if it hasn't broken up, it may be quite bright, even visible to the unaided eye. Venus keeps pace with the comet.
14 October 2024	Saturn close (5° apart) to the Moon in the evening sky.
21-22 October 2024	Moon brackets Jupiter in the morning sky.
21-22 October 2024	Orionid meteor shower, last quarter Moon interferes.
25 October 2024	Crescent Moon near Mars (5° apart), Moon very close to bight star Pollux in morning sky
26-27 October 2024	Venus close to the bright red star Antares in evening sky.
November
3 November 2024	Mercury close to thin crescent Moon (2° apart) in evening sky
5 November 2024	Crescent Moon near Venus (2° apart) in evening sky  sky
10 November 2024	Mercury close to bright red star Antares (2° apart) in evening sky
11 November 2024	Waxing Moon near Saturn (5° apart) in the evening sky
14 November 2024	Possible early burst of Leonid meteors, moonlight interference
17 November 2024	Waxing Moon near Jupiter in the evening sky
18/19 November 2024	Leonid Meteor Shower, significant Moon interference.
17 November 2024	Waxing Moon near Jupiter in the evening sky, opposition of Uranus
21 November 2024	Waxing Moon near Mars (5° apart) in the evening sky
30 November 2024	Mars close to Beehive cluster (2° apart) in the evening sky.
December
5 December 2024	Venus near crescent Moon (5° apart) in the evening sky
8 December 2024	Saturn very close to waxing Moon, daytime occultation in Northern Australia (5:30 pm Darwin)
8 December 2024	Opposition of Jupiter
14/15 December 2024	Geminid Meteor shower in the morning, significant Moon interference
14 December 2023	Waxing Moon near Jupiter (5° apart) in the evening sky
18 December 2024	Mars near waning Moon in the evening sky
21 December 2023	Earth is at Solstice
29 December 2024	Mercury near Moon  (6° apart) low in the twilight morning sky

Labels: Asteroid, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Moon, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events

Location of Minor planet (1) Ceres at 00:10 am ACDST on Sunday 26 March as seen from Adelaide. Similar views will be seen at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen)	Telescopic view of Minor planet (1) Ceres and galaxy M100 at 00:10 am ACDST on Sunday 26 March as seen from Adelaide. Similar views will be seen at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen)

Minor planet Ceres is at opposition at the moment, and is currently around magnitude 7, easily visible in binoculars even under suburban skies. Ceres is currently beyween Beta (β) Leonis (Denebola) and epsilon (ε) Virginis (Vindemiatrix). Over the next few days it is in an easily recognised cluster of dim stars, and Ceres can be seen moving from night to night.

On the late evening of the 25th, Early morning of the 26th Ceres is next to the spiral galaxy M100. At magnitude 9 it is too fail to be picked up clearly without a telescope, but is an interesting telephotography challenge. By the late evening 26th early morning 27th Ceres is n the other side of M100.

Chart suitable for black and white printing to help locate Ceres. Chart is at 00:10 am ACDST.  Note that the chart locations are out by 1 day fro come reason (even with a fresh Ceres download) so the 27th is in fact the 26th, the circle is the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. (click to embiggen and print)	Binocular chart suitable for black and white printing to help locate Ceres. Chart is at 00:10 am ACDST.  Note that the chart locations are out by 1 day fro come reason (even with a fresh Ceres download) so the 27th is in fact the 26th, the circle is the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. (click to embiggen and print)

Labels: astrophotography, binocular, Ceres, Opposition, telescope

The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2023 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific). 

This year we get a Partial Lunar eclipse best visible from western Australia. A Total Solar eclipse is visible from the tip of Western Australia and everywhere else sees a partial eclipse (best from WA and central north). There are good oppositions of Jupiter and Saturn. We also get an occultation of the Pleiades and a binocular comet.

As well we have some fantastic parings and lineups and good meteor showers.

Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful. 

Special events are bolded.

Date	Event
January
3 January 2023	Moon between Mars and Pleiades
5 January 2023	Earth at Perihelion
21 January 2023	Crescent Moon near Mercury in morning twilight.
23 January 2023	Saturn, Venus and Crescent Moon close in the evening twilight
26 January 2023	Crescent Moon close to Jupiter
February
4 February 2023	Comet C/2022 E3 visible above northern horizon (binocular)
11-13 February 2023	Comet C/2033 E3 comes close to Mars the enters the Hyades (binocular)
19 February 2023	Crescent Moon and Mercury close in the morning twilight
22 February 2023	Crescent Moon near Venus in evening twilight
23 February 2023	Crescent Moon close to Jupiter.
28 February 2023	Waning Moon close to Mars
26-30 February 2023	Venus and Jupiter come close together ahead of a spectacular conjunction in March
March
2 March 2023	Venus and Jupiter in a spectacular close approach (0.5 degrees) in evening twilight
3 March 2023	Mercury very close (1 degrees) to Saturn deep in morning twilight
20 March 2023	Crescent Moon and Saturn close in early morning twilight
21 March 2023	Earth at Equinox
24 March 2023	Crescent Moon and Venus close in evening twilight
28 March 2023	Waning Moon close to Mars.
April
12 April 2023	Venus near the Pleiades.
16 April 2023	Saturn and crescent Moon close in morning sky.
20April 2023	Total Solar Eclipse; Exmouth WA (partial in the rest of Australia)
23April 2023	Crescent Moon close to Venus in evening sky
26 April 2023	Waxing Moon close to Mars in evening sky
May
5/6 May 2023	Penumbral eclipse of the Moon
6-7 May 2023	Eta Aquariid meteor shower
14 May 2023	Waning Moon close to Saturn in the morning sky
18 May 2023	Mercury, Jupiter and crescent Moon form a triangle in morning twilight
23 May 2023	Crescent Moon below Venus in the evening sky
24-25 May 2023	Mars with waxing Moon nearby
June
3 June 2023	Mars in heart of Beehive cluster (M44), Venus forms line with Castor and Pollux
10 June 2023	Saturn near waning Moon in morning sky
14 June 2023	Crescent Moon near Jupiter in morning sky, Venus near Beehive cluster in evening sky
17 June 2023	Thin Crescent Moon, Mercury and red star Aldebaran form a line low in the morning twilight
22 June 2023	Earth at solstice
22 June 2023	Crescent  Moon forms triangle with Mars and Venus in evening sky
July
7 July 2023	Earth at aphelion, waning Moon near Saturn in the morning sky.
8 July 2023	Venus at greatest brilliance
10 July 2023	Venus, Mars and the bright star Regulus form a triangle in the evening twilight
12 July 2023	Crescent Moon close to Jupiter in the morning sky
19 July 2023	Thin Crescent Moon close to Mercury low in evening twilight
20 July 2023	Crescent Moon, Venus and bright star Regulus for a triangle in the evening twilight
21 July 2023	Mars near crescent Moon in the morning twilight
26 July 2023	Venus, Mercury and Regulus form a triangle
30 July 2023	Mercury Very close (0.5 degrees) to Regulus, Venus close by
29-30 July 2023	Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower
August
2 August 2023	Perigee Full Moon (“super” Moon)
3 August 2023	Saturn close (2 degrees) to Moon in evening sky
8-9 August 2023	Jupiter near waning Moon
18 August 2023	Thin crescent Moon forms triangle with Mercury and Mars in evening twilight
19 August 2023	Thin crescent Moon forms line with Mercury and Mars in evening twilight
27 August 2023	Saturn at opposition
30 August 2023	Saturn  near waxing Moon in evening
31 August 2023	Perigee Full Moon (“Super” Moon) also Blue Moon
September
4 September 2023	Jupiter close to waning Moon in evening sky
12 September 2023	Thin crescent Moon close to Venus in dawn sky
16-17 September 2023	Crescent Moon near Mars
23 September 2023	Earth at Equinox
27 September 2023	Saturn close to the waxing Moon
October
1-2 October 2023	Jupiter  and waning Moon near in evening sky
11 October 2023	Venus and crescent Moon close in morning sky
24 October 2023	Saturn and the waxing Moon close in evening sky
21-22 October 2023	Orionid meteor shower
28 October 2023	Twilight partial eclipse of the Moon (best from WA)
29 October 2023	Jupiter and the Full Moon close in evening sky
30-31 October 2023	Ocultation of the Pleiades (before  midnight 30th to early morning 31st)
November
3 November 2023	Opposition of Jupiter
10 November 2023	Crescent Moon near Venus in morning sky
14 November 2023	Opposition of Uranus
18 November 2023	Leonid Meteor Shower
20 November 2023	Waxing Moon near Saturn in the evening sky
25 November 2023	Waxing Moon near Jupiter in Evening sky
29 November 2023	Occultation of bright star Beta Tauri in morning sky
December
10 December 2023	Venus and crescent Moon close
14 December 2023	Geminid Meteor shower in the morning
14 December 2023	Mercury near thin crescent Moon low in the twilight
17-18 December 2023	Waxing Moon near Saturn in the evening
22 December 2023	Earth is at Solstice
22 December 2023	Jupiter near waxing Moon in the evening
23 December 2023	Asteroid Vesta at opposition
31 December 2023	Venus, Mercury and Mars form a triangle low the twilight morning sky

Labels: Asteroid, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events

Evening sky on Thursday 8 December (the night of opposition) looking east as seen from Adelaide at astronomical twilight, 90 minutes after sunset (22:06 ACDST). Mars is in the readily unrecognizable constellation of Taurus the Bull. 

At opposition Mars is below the bright red star Aldebaran and the distinctive "V" shape of the Hyades cluster. It is also close to the iconic constellation of Orion with it's distinctive belt and Mars, Aldebaran and the red star Betelgeuse form a triangle. 

Mars will head towards the beautiful cluster the Pleiades during December ad the first half of January, then moves aback down the Horns of the Bull. (90 minutes after sunset). (click to embiggen). 

On December 8 Mars was at opposition, when is at its biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. Mars will still be very worthwhile to watch for all December and early January. Here is my belated guide to seeing it (Yes, it's late, exam marking and internet outages stopped me up loading, sorry).

http://www.users.on.net/~reynella/skywatch/mars2022.htm

Labels: binocular, Mars, Opposition, telescope, unaided eye

The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2022 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific). 

This year we get a good Total Lunar eclipse. There are good oppositions of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Mars skims past the Pleiades and Hydaes clusters.

As well we have some fantastic parings and lineups and good meteor showers.

Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful. 

Special events are bolded.

Date	Event
January
1 January 2022	Occultation of Mars
4 January 2022	Earth at Perihelion
4 January 2022	Crescent Moon, Mercury, and Saturn close low in the evening twilight
6 January 2022	Jupiter and Crescent Moon close
30 January 2022	Crescent Moon forms a triangle with Mars and Venus
February
2 February 2022	Mars close to M28
3 February 2022	Jupiter close to the thin crescent Moon low in the twilight
6 February 2022	Mars near globular cluster M22
13 February 2022	Mercury, Mars and Venus form a triangle in the morning sky.
27-28 February 2022	Crescent Moon, Mars and Venus form a triangle in the morning sky.
March
1 March 2022	Mercury, Saturn and thin crescent Moon form a triangle in the morning twilight
3 March 2022	Mercury very close (0.6 degrees) from Saturn in morning twilight
21 March 2022	Earth at Equinox, Five bright planets visible in the morning twilight, Jupiter and Mercury close in the morning twilight.
28 March 2022	Crescent Moon, Saturn, Venus and Mars from a close massing in the morning twilight with the Moon above
29 March 2022	Crescent Moon, Saturn, Venus and Mars from a close massing in the morning twilight with the Moon below
31 March 2022	Thin crescent Moon close to Jupiter low in the morning twilight
April
All April 2022	Four bright planets in the morning sky Moon in the morning sky
5 April 2022	Saturn and Mars very close (0.3 degrees apart) in the morning sky
13 April 2022	Jupiter close to Neptune in the morning sky
26 April 2022	Mars close to the crescent Moon in the morning sky
27-28 April 2022	Crescent Moon close to Venus and Jupiter in the morning sky
28 April 2022	Venus and Neptune in close conjunction (< 30 arc minutes) in the morning sky
May
1  May 2022	Venus and Jupiter very close in the morning sky (0.2 degrees apart)
6-7 May 2022	Eta Aquariid meteor shower
22 May 2022	Waning Moon above Saturn
25 May 2022	Mars, Jupiter and waning Moon form a triangle in morning sky
27 May 2022	Crescent Moon above Venus
30 May 2022	Mars and Jupiter very close in the morning sky (0.6 degrees apart)
June
1 June 2022	Mars and Jupiter very close in the morning sky (1.0 degrees apart)
18 June 2022	Saturn near waning Moon low in the late evening sky
14 June 2022	Perigee Full Moon ("super Moon")
21 June 2022	Earth at solstice
22 June 2022	Mercury in head of Hyades near Aldebaran in morning sky, waning Moon near Jupiter
26 June 2022	Crescent  Moon between Venus and Pleiades in the morning sky
27 June 2022	Crescent  Moon near Mercury in the morning sky
July
1 July 2022	Venus close to Aldebaran in the morning, forming a second eye for Taurus the Bull
4 July 2022	Earth at aphelion
14 July 2022	Syzygy Perigee full moon ("super Moon") closest of year
15 July 2022	Moon close to Saturn
19 July	Moon close to Jupiter
22 July 2022	Waning crescent Moon close to Mars (within binocular field)
27 July 2022	Venus near crescent Moon in the morning twilight
29-30 July 2022	Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower
30 July 2022	Mercury close to crescent moon in western evening twilight
31 July	Mars and Uranus 2 degrees apart (in same binocular filed)
August
1-3 August 2022	Mars and Uranus less than  2 degrees apart (in same binocular filed)
4 August 2022	Mercury very close to Regulus (0.7 degrees) in the evening twilight
12 August 2022	Saturn close to Full Moon (perigee "super" Moon)
15 August 2022	Saturn at opposition
15 August 2022	Jupiter close to Waning Moon (1 degree)
20 August 2022	Mars near Moon in Morning
22 August 2022	Jupiter near Moon
29 August 2022	Mercury near thin crescent Moon in evening sky, Mars between Pleiades and Hyades in the morning sky
September
3 September 2022	Mars forms second "eye" in Taurus the Bull with Aldebaran in morning sky
8 September 2022	Waxing moon close to Saturn in evening sky
11 September 2022	Waning Moon close to Jupiter in evening sky
23 September 2022	Earth at Equinox
27 September 2022	Jupiter at Opposition
October
5 October 2022	Saturn and waxing Moon close in evening sky
8 October 2022	Jupiter and waxing Moon close in evening sky
14 October 2022	Mars and the waxing Moon close in evening sky
21-22 October 2022	Orionid meteor shower
November
2 November 2022	Waxing Moon near Saturn in evening sky
4-5 November 2022	Waxing Moon near Jupiter in evening sky
8 November 2022	Total Lunar Eclipse
11 November 2022	Waxing Moon near Mars in evening sky
18 November 2022	Leonid Meteor Shower
December
2 December 2022	Jupiter and waxing Moon close
8 December 2022	Mars at opposition and close to Full Moon
14 December 2022	Geminid Meteor shower in the morning (waning Moon close this year)
22 December 2022	Earth is at Solstice
24 December 2022	Venus and Mercury and thin crescent Moon are close in evening twilight.
26 December	Saturn near crescent Moon
28-30 December 2022	Venus and Mercury at their closest in evening twilight.
29 December 2022	Jupiter close (1 degree) from the waning Moon in evening

Labels: Asteroid, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events

The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2021 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific). 

This year we get a good Total Lunar eclipse during a perigee "super" Full Moon and a partial lunar eclipse under very poor conditions. There is a good opposition of Jupiter and Saturn. Mars skims past the Pleiades and Beehive cluster. Venus too skims past the Beehive. There is also a good opposition of Vesta.

While we don't have a spectacular conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn this year, we have some fantastic parings and lineups and good meteor showers.

Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful. 

Special events are bolded.

Date	Event
January
2 January 2021	Earth at Perihelion
12 January 2021	Crescent Moon and Venus close low in the morning twilight
14 January 2021	Crescent Moon, Mercury and Jupiter close low in the evening twilight
21 January 2021	Mars and waxing Moon close
21 January 2021	Uranus between Mars and the waxing Moon
February
6-7 February 2021	Venus close to Saturn low in the twilight
11 February 2021	Venus close to Jupiter and the crescent moon low in the twilight
19 February 2021	Mars near first Quarter Moon
20-28 February 2021	Mercury between Jupiter and Saturn in the twilight
28 February 2021	Mars within binocular distance of the Pleiades cluster
March
1-9 March 2021	Mars within binocular distance of the Pleiades cluster, closest on the 2nd
4 March 2021	Asteroid Vesta at opposition, just visible to the unaided eye, best in binoculars
5 March 2021	Mercury very close to Jupiter below Saturn in the morning
10 March 2021	Saturn close to the crescent Moon in the morning
11 March 2021	Mercury close to Jupiter and the crescent Moon in the morning
19 March 2021	Mars near waxing Moon
20 March 2021	Earth at Equinox
April
7 April 2021	Saturn near to the waning Moon in the morning sky
8 April 2021	Jupiter near to the crescent Moon in the morning sky
11 April 2021	Mercury close to the crescent Moon in the morning twilight
17 April 2021	Mars close to the crescent Moon
27 April 2021	Mars on outskirts of open cluster M35 (binoculars best)
28 April 2021	Perigee Full Moon ("super" Moon), 1:00 am
May
4  May 2021	Saturn close to waning Moon in the morning sky
5 May 2021	Jupiter near to the waning Moon in the morning sky
6-7 May 2021	Eta Aquariid meteor shower
14 May 2021	Thin crescent Moon above Mercury in morning sky
26 May 2021	Total eclipse Perigee Full Moon ("super" Moon), 12:00 pm (eclipse from 8 pm)
29 May 2021	Mercury and Venus close low in the twilight (binoculars best)
June
1 June 2021	waning Moon near Jupiter
12 June 2021	Venus near thin crescent Moon low in the evening sky
14 June 2021	Waxing crescent Moon and Mars near in evening sky
21 June 2021	Earth at solstice
23-24 June 2021	Mars crosses beehive cluster (binoculars best)
27 June 2021	Waning Moon close to Saturn
28 June 2021	waning Moon near Jupiter
July
3 July 2021	Venus at the edge of the beehive cluster, best in binoculars
6 July 2021	Earth at aphelion
8 July 2021	Mercury close to the thin crescent Moon in the morning
12 July 2021	Crescent Moon, Venus and Mars close in the evening
13 July 2021	Venus and Mars very close in the evening sky
22 July 2021	Venus very close to bright star Regulus
24 July 2021	Saturn near Moon
26 July 2021	Jupiter near Moon
29-30 July 2021	Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower
30 July 2021	Mars very close to Regulus
August
2 August 2021	Saturn at opposition
10 August 2021	Mars near thin crescent Moon
11 August 2021	Venus close to crescent Moon
18 August 2021	Variable star Mira predicted to peak in brightness
19 August 2021	Jupiter at opposition
17-21 August 2021	Mercury close to Mars, closest on the 19th
20 August 20	Saturn near Moon
22 August 2021	Jupiter near Moon
September
6 September 2021	Venus close to bright star Spica
9 September 2021	Mercury and crescent Moon close in the evening sky
10 September 2021	Crescent Moon and Venus nearby forming triangle with Spica
17 September 2021	Waxing Moon near Saturn
18 September 2021	Waxing Moon near Jupiter
23 September 2021	Earth at Equinox
21 September 2021	Mercury close to bright star Spica
24 September 2021	Venus close to moderately bright star alpha2 Librae, below Scorpius and above the pair of Mercury and Spica
October
1 October 2021	Mercury and bright star Spica still close
10 October 2021	Venus, the crescent Moon and the bright star Antares form a triangle
14 October 2021	Saturn and the waxing Moon close
15 October 2021	Jupiter and the waxing Moon close
17 October 2021	Venus and the bright star Antares at their closest
21-22 October 2021	Orionid meteor shower
23-24 October 2021	Venus close to globular cluster M19 (binocular or telescope)
November
4 November 2021	Thin crescent Moon close to Mercury low in the twilight
8 November 2021	Venus close to thin crescent Moon below the teapot of Sagittarius
8-24 November 2021	Venus crosses the teapot of Sagittarius
10-11 November 2021	Waxing Moon near Saturn
11-12 November 2021	Waxing Moon near Saturn
18 November 2021	Leonid Meteor Shower
19 November 2021	Partial Lunar eclipse, difficult with mid eclipse in the twilight
December
3 December 2021	Mars and thin crescent Moon close low in the morning twilight
7-10 December 2021	Three bright planets form a line in the evening with the thin crescent. moon joining them, Venus and Moon close on the 7th
8 December 2021	Saturn and crescent Moon close
10 December 2021	Jupiter and crescent Moon close
14 December 2021	Geminid Meteor shower in the morning (waxing Moon sets before best rates)
18 December 2021	Apogee Full Moon (12:00 pm)
21 December 2021	Earth is at Solstice
23-30 December 2021	four bight planets, Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter line up in the evening twilight, on the 29th Venus and Mercury are at their closest.
1 January 2022	Thin crescent Moon very close to Mars low in the morning sky. Occultation seen in south eastern and south central Australia

Labels: asteroids, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Meteors, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events

Evening sky at 21:00 ACDST  on  Wednesday, October 14 facing east as seen from Adelaide. Mars is above the eastern horizon just above the Moon. Mars is at opposition, the best until 2033. more details here.

The variable start Mira is still visible to the unaided eye.

Last night (Wednesday 14 October), was the opposition of Mars. I was too busy writing a lectureto get my scope out, so I had to content my self with briefly viewing the glowing red planet rising above the trees.Tonight it is raining of course. 

But don't worry, Mars will be bright for some time, and a worthwhile telescopic object in even small telescopes for a couple of weeks. For more details and observing hints, see my Opposition of Mars page. 

Comparison of Mars on the 14th of October (left) and the 22 nd (right). Mars is getting smaller over this time, but is still a worthwhile telescopic object.Of course small and modest telescopes will see something more like the inset above.

Labels: binocular, Mars, Opposition, telescope, unaided eye

Jupiter and Saturn on 12 December 2020 at 21:25 ACDST, (60 Minutes after Sunset) as seen from Adelaide, the inset shows the approximate telescopic view of Jupiter and the ringed world with a 4" Newtonian and a 6 mm eyepiece. Most of Australia will enjoy similar views 60 Minutes after Sunset (although you may want to observe earlier if your telecope can not point to far downwards). we may have to wait another 20 years to see a similar pairing. Click to embiggen.

The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2020 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific). This year we only get penumbral Lunar eclipses under very poor conditions. There is a very good opposition of Mars though, and a spectacular Jupiter and Saturn conjunction. Venus travels through the Pleiades and displays its crescent form.

Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful. 

Special events are bolded.

Date	Event
January
11 January 2020	Penumbral lunar eclipse in the morning, close to dawn.
21 January 2020	Crescent Moon and Mars close in the morning
23 January 2020	Crescent Moon and Jupiter close in the morning
27 January 2020	Venus and Neptune close
26 January 2020	Mercury close to the crescent moon in the evening twilight
28 January 2020	Venus close to the crescent moon in the evening
February
18 February 2020	Mars passes between the triffid and Lagoon Nebulae
19 February 2020	Waxing Moon close to Mars in the morning
20 February 2020	Waxing Moon extremely close to Jupiter in the morning
21 February 2020	Waxing Moon close to Saturn in the morning
27 February 2020	Waning Crescent Moon close to Venus
29 February 2020	Mars close to Globular cluster M22
March
1 March 2020	Mars still close to Globular cluster M22
8-9 March 2020	Venus close to Uranus (binocular only)
18 March 2020	Waning Crescent Moon forms a line with Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in the morning sky
19 March 2020	Crescent Moon between Mars and Jupiter and Saturn
20 March 2020	Earth at Equinox
21 March 2020	Mars very close to Jupiter
22 March 2020	Mercury close to the crescent Moon in the morning
29March 2020	Venus close to the crescent Moon in the evening
April
1 April 2020	Saturn close to Mars in the morning sky
3-4 April 2020	Venus passes through the Pleiades cluster
4 April 2020	Mercury close to Neptune
8 April 2020	Perigee Full Moon ("super" Moon), 3:10 am
15 April 2020	waning Moon close to Jupiter in the morning sky
16 April 2020	waning Moon close to Saturn in the morning sky
22 April 2020	Crescent Moon close to Mercury in the morning sky
26-27 April 2020	Crescent Moon near Venus in the evening sky
May
5 May 2020	Eta Aquariid meteor shower
12 May 2020	Moon between Jupiter and Saturn in evening sky
15-16 May 2020	Mars near the waning Moon
22 May 2020	Mercury and Venus close
24 May 2020	Thin crescent Moon near Venus
June
6 June 2020	Penumbral lunar eclipse early morning near dawn
8 June 2020	Moon and Jupiter close in evening
9 June 2020	waning Moon and Saturn close in evening
13 June 2020	Moon and Mars close in morning
19 June 2020	Thin crescent Moon and Venus close in the morning twilight
July
5 July 2020	Jupiter close to the moon
6 July 2020	Moon and Saturn close
11 July 2020	Moon and Mars close in evening
12 July 2020	Venus close to bright star Aldebaran
14 July 2020	Jupiter at Opposition
17 July 2020	Thin crescent Moon near Venus in the morning
21 July 2020	Saturn at Opposition
29 July 2020	Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower
August
2 August 2020	Moon between Jupiter and Saturn
9 August 2020	Moon close to Mars
15-16 August 2020	Crescent Moon close to Venus
28 August 20	Asteroid Ceres at opposition (binoculars only)
29 August 2020	Moon between Jupiter and Saturn again
September
5-6 September 2020	Mars close to the Moon
14 September 2020	Venus and crescent Moon close in morning sky
19 September 2020	Crescent Moon and Mercury close forming triangle with Spica
24 September 2020	Variable star Mira at its brightest
22 September 2020	Mercury and bright star Spica very close
22 September 2020	Earth at Equinox
25 September 2020	Waxing Moon, Jupiter form a triangle with Saturn
30 September 2020	Venus close to bright star Regulus
October
2-3 October 2020	Mars and waning Moon close
3 October 2020	Venus and the bright star Regulus very close
14 October 2020	Venus and the crescent Moon close
14 October 2020	Mars at opposition
18 October 2020	Mercury and thin crescent Moon closeish in the evening twilight
21 October 2020	Orionid meteor shower
22 October 2020	Jupiter and waning Moon close
23 October 2020	Saturn and waning Moon close
31 October 2020	Blue Moon in WA.
November
1 November 2020	Apogee Full Moon (mini-Moon). In WA full Moon occurs before midnight but for all states apogee is on the early morning of the 1st.
13 November 2020	Thin crescent Moon close to Venus
14 November 2020	Thin crescent Moon close to Mercury
18 November 2020	Leonid Meteor Shower
19 November 2020	Crescent Moon and Jupiter close forming triangle with Saturn
24-25 November 2020	Waxing Moon close to Mars
30 November 2020	Penumbral Lunar eclipse, only seen from eastern states. Blue Moon of all states except WA. (see above)
December
13 December 2020	Venus and thin crescent Moon close
14 December 2020	Geminid Meteor shower (New Moon, good rates)
17 December 2020	Jupiter and Saturn spectacularly close with the thin crescent Moon close too.
21 December 2020	Jupiter and Saturn even more spectacularly close in a conjunction that will not be repeated for over a decade. The pair will easily be visible together in telescope eye pieces.
21 December 2020	Earth is at Solstice
23-24 December 2020	Waxing Moon close to Mars

Labels: asteroids, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Meteors, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events

The Moon and Saturn on 9 October 2019 at 04:00 ACDST, as seen form Alice Springs, the inset shows the telescopic view of the ringed world and the edge of the Moon just before occulation.  Most of northern Australia will enjoy similar views. Click to embiggen.

The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2019 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific).

Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful. 

Special events are bolded.

Sadly, the partial solar eclipse is just visible from parts of northern Australia, and the partial lunar eclipse is somewhat sad, but we have three occultations of Saturn and a number of beautiful planetary events to keep us occupied. The asteroid Vesta should be (just) visible to the unaided eye too.

Date	Event
2 January 2019	Venus close to crescent Moon in morning
3-4  January 2019	Crescent Moon and Jupiter close
4  January 2019	Crescent Moon near Mercury
12-13 January 2019	waxing Moon and Mars close
14 January 2019	Mercury a bit over a finger-width from Saturn low in the morning twilight
21 January 2019	Perigee Full Moon ("super" Moon, strictly at its biggest on the morning of the 22nd)
23 January 2019	Venus and Jupiter close in the morning
31 January 2019	Crescent Moon and Jupiter close again
1 February 2019	Crescent Moon close to Venus in the morning sky
2-3 February 2019	Crescent Moon close to Saturn in the morning
10 February 2019	Waxing Moon close to Mars
12-13 February 2019	Uranus close to Mars (binocular viewing)
20 February 2019	Perigee Full Moon ("super" Moon, strictly at its biggest on the evening of the 19th)
28 February 2019	Waning Moon close to Jupiter
2 March 2019	Crescent Moon close to Saturn in the morning
3 March 2019	Crescent Moon close to Venus in the morning sky
11 March 2019	Crescent Moon close to Mars
30 March 2019	Waning Moon close to Saturn
2-3 April 2019	Crescent Moon close to Venus in the morning sky
3 April 2019	Crescent Moon close to Mercury in the morning sky
9 April 2019	Moon close to Mars in evening sky
23 April 2019	waning Moon close to Jupiter in the evening sky
25 April 2019	Occultation of Saturn by the Moon, very low on horizon
4-25 May 2019	Asteroid Ceres visible in binoculars (opposition on 28th)
3 May 2019	Crescent Moon close to Venus in the morning sky
6 May 2019	Eta Aquariid meteor shower.
8 May 2019	Crescent Moon close to Mars
19 May 2019	Venus and Uranus a finger-width apart in the morning twilight (binoculars)
20 May 2019	Jupiter near waning Moon
22 May 2019	Waning Moon close to Saturn
1-29 June 2019	Asteroid Ceres visible in binoculars
2 June 2019	Crescent Moon and Venus close in twilight
4 June 2019	Crescent Moon and Mercury close
5 June 2019	Crescent Moon and Mars close
11 June 2019	Jupiter at Opposition
16 June 2019	Jupiter and Full Moon close
19 June 2019	Moon and Saturn close
4 July 2019	Mercury close to Crescent Moon and Mars in the twilight
10 July 2019	Saturn at Opposition
13-14 July 2019	Moon and Jupiter close
16 July 2019	Moon and Saturn close
16-17 July 2019	Partial Lunar Eclipse, early morning, really only visible from WA and a bit in the Central states
30 July 2019	Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower
10 August 2019	Moon close to Jupiter
12 August 2019	Moon close to Saturn, Occultation seen on East coast only
6 September 2019	Waxing Moon and Jupiter close
8-9 September 2019	Saturn close to Moon, Occultation in northern and Western Australia
13 September 2019	Apogee Full Moon (mini-Moon)
29 September 2019	Mercury close to bright star Spica
30 September 2019	Crescent Moon close to Spica and Mercury with Venus below
3-5 October 2019	Venus and the bright star Spica close
4 October 2019	Jupiter and waxing Moon close
6 October 2019	Saturn and waxing Moon close
22 October 2019	Orionid meteor shower
24 October 2019	Variable star Mira at its brightest
29 October 2019	Mercury, Venus and Crescent Moon close
31 October 2019	Jupiter and waxing Moon close
2 November 2019	waxing Moon close to Saturn
9 November 2019	Jupiter crescent Moon close
11 November 2019	Crescent Moon and Saturn close
12 November 2019	Asteroid Vesta at opposition, potentially (just) visible with the unaided eye
17 November 2019	Leonid Meteor Shower
24 November 2019	Jupiter and Venus just two finger-widths apart
25 November 2019	the Crescent Moon, Mars and Mercury form a triangle in the dawn sky
28-29 November 2019	the Crescent Moon, Jupiter and Venus form a line in the evening twilight
2 December 2019	Venus close to the globular cluster M22 in the evening twilight (binocular)
11 December 2019	Venus and Saturn two finger-widths apart
15 December 2019	Geminid Meteor shower (full Moon, poor rates)
23 December 2019	Crescent Moon close to Mars in morning sky
26 December 2019	Partial Eclipse of the Sun, visible only in northern Australia
27 December 2019	Crescent Moon close to Saturn in the evening twilight
29 December 2019	Crescent Moon close to Venus in the evening sky

Labels: asteroids, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events

Labels: Mars, Moon, Opposition, telescope, unaided eye

Evening sky on Friday June 27 looking east  as seen from Adelaide at 18:59 ACST (90 minutes after sunset).  Mars is at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. This is the best opposition since 2003. Saturn and Mars are clearly visible and the Moon is near Mars.

The inset to the left is a simulated telescopic view of Mars.

Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

This is the best opposition of Mars since 2003. You don't need a telescope or complicated imaging equipment to observe Mars, although a telescope or binoculars helps. Significant improvements in mobile phones means you can now image Mars with your mobile Phone and a telescope. Mars is really bright now, and will get brighter. To prepare you for this significant event, I have prepared this guide of observing the opposition of Mars with spotting guides and observing hints. 

Labels: binocular, Mars, Opposition, telescope, unaided eye

Evening sky on tonight, Thursday June 28 looking east  as seen from Adelaide at 18:44 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Saturn is well above the horizon and just abve the Full Moon. Similar views will be seen throughout Australia 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).	Simulated telescopic view of Saturn and its Moons at this time as seen with a 5mm telescopic eyepiece with a 115mm Newtonian reflector (click to embiggen).

Tonight is the opposition of Saturn, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. If you have clear skies (I don't) head out and have a look. If you have been wondering which of the brightish dot in the eastern evening sky is Saturn, tonight is a good night as Saturn is the brightest object just above the Full Moon. Take note of the stars nearby so that as the Moon moves away over the next few nights you can easiluy find it again.

Saturn is now visible the entire night long, and is highest above the northern horizon (and best for telescope observation and astrophotography) around local midnight. Saturn's rings  are almost at their widest and will gradually close up after this, so they will be a worthwhile sight in even small telescopes.. Modest sized instruments will show the Cassini Division. For a few days around opposition you can see the Seeliger effect, where the planets rings brighten considerably as the Sun illuminates the rings from directly behind us. Australian amateurs have reported it as being quite noticeable this year.

As well as the rings the orbiting of the large Moon Titan can bee seen over successive days. ANd the pale equatorial band and darker polar caps are visible as well. The shadow of Saturn on the rings may be more difficult to see in modest instruments at this time, but will grow more noticeable over the coming days.

Even past opposition Saturn will be a worthwhile telescopic object for many weeks, so if you miss out tonight, you have plenty of chances over the next month or so.

In binocuars, you will see Saturn as a distinct oblong above the Moon tonight. Saturn is still within binocular range of the globular cluster M22, but tonight the light of the Full Moon drowns it out.

Labels: Moon, Opposition, Saturn, telescope, unaided eye

The planets on 13 October 2018 at 21:15 ACDST, 45 minutes after sunset, All 5 bright classical planets, Neptune and the crescent Moon form a line in the evening twilight. Uranus is just rising at this time. Click to embiggen.

The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2018 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific) are listed in this table.

Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful. 


Special events are bolded.

Sadly, the partial solar eclipse is just visible from parts of southern Australia, but we have two good total lunar eclipses, the best for some years, and there are a number of beautiful planetary events to keep us occupied. There may even be an unaided eye comet and asteroid Vesta should be visible to the unaided eye too.

UPDATE: reader Scott has created an iCal for this list that you can import into your calendar.  I have htmlised the link http://subscriptions.thismonkey.com//fixtures/astro/calendars/astro/2018/1/astro_1_2018.ics

Date	Event
1 January 2018	Mars three finger-widths from Jupiter in the morning skies
2 January 2018	Perigee ("Super") Moon
7 January 2018	Jupiter and Mars at their closest, less than half a finger-width apart
12 January 2018	Crescent Moon, Mars and Jupiter form a triangle
13 January 2018	Mercury less than a finger-width from Saturn in the morning sky
15 January 2018	thin crescent Moon near Mercury and Saturn
27-31 January 2018	Asteroid Ceres visible in binoculars
31 January 2018	Blue Moon, Total Lunar Eclipse ~11pm AEST
8 February 2018	Waning Moon close to Jupiter in Morning sky
10 February 2018	Waning Moon close to Mars
13 February 2018	Crescent Moon close to Saturn
4 March 2018	Venus and Mercury very close, low in the evening twilight
7 March 2018	Moon close to Jupiter
10-11 March 2018	Moon close to Mars
11-12 March 2018	Moon close to Saturn
19 March 2018	thin crescent Moon close to Mercury and Venus in evening twilight
20 March 2018	Mars close to Triffid Nebula
1-3 April 2018	Mars and globular cluster M22 less than a finger-width apart in morning sky
2 April 2018	Mars and Saturn close, a finger-width apart
3 April 2018	Moon close to Jupiter in evening sky
15 April 2018	thin crescent Moon close to Mercury in morning twilight
18 April 2018	crescent Moon close to Venus in evening sky
30 April 2018	Moon close to Jupiter in evening sky
1-30 May 2018	Saturn within 2finger-widths of globular cluster M22, closest on the 15th
4 May 2018	Moon close to Saturn
6 May 2018	Moon close to Mars
6 May 2018	Eta Aquariid meteor shower.
9 May 2018	Jupiter at opposition
14-15 May 2018	Mars less than half a finger-width from globular cluster M75
17-18 May 2018	crescent Moon close to Venus
21 May 2018	Venus close to M35
27 May 2018	Moon close to Jupiter
1 June 2018	Moon and Saturn close
3 June 2018	Moon and Mars close
16 June 2018	Crescent Moon near Venus
19 June 2018	Asteroid Vesta at opposition, potentially visible with the unaided eye
20 June 2018	Venus in the Beehive cluster
21 June 2018	crescent Moon and Venus close
23 June 2018	Moon and Jupiter close
27 June 2018	Saturn at opposition
28 June 2018	Saturn close to the Moon
1 July 2018	Mars and Moon close
4 July 2018	Mercury close to Beehive cluster
13 July 2018	Partial Eclipse of the sun, visible only southern SA and VIC
15 July 2018	thin crescent Moon and  Mercury close in the twilight
16 July 2018	crescent Moon and Venus close
21 July 2018	Moon and Jupiter close
25 July 2018	Moon and Saturn close
27 July 2018	Mars at Opposition, the best since 2003
28 July 2018	Total Lunar Eclipse, early morning
30 July 2018	Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower
14 August 2018	Crescent Moon close to Venus
17 August 2018	Moon close to Jupiter
21 August 2018	Moon close to Saturn
30 August 2018	Saturn close to Triffid Nebula
1-2 September 2018	Venus and Spica close
12-13 September 2018	Crescent Moon close to Venus
14 September 2018	crescent Moon close to Jupiter
18 September 2018	Moon close to Saturn
20 September 2018	Moon and Mars close
10-20 October 2018	All 5 bright planets visible in early evening sky
10 October 2018	Mercury and Crescent Moon close
11 October 2018	crescent Moon near Venus
12 October 2018	crescent Moon close to Jupiter
15 October 2018	Moon close to Saturn
16 October 2018	Venus and Mercury close
18 October 2018	Moon close to Mars.
22 October 2018	Orionid meteor shower
28 October 2018	Mercury and Jupiter close
9 November 2018	Jupiter crescent Moon close
11 November 2018	Crescent Moon and Saturn close
16 November 2018	Moon close to Mars
17 November 2018	Leonid Meteor Shower
26 November 2018	Variable star Mira at its brightest
1-20 December 2018	Comet 46P potentially visible to the unaided eye
4 December 2018	Crescent Moon close to Venus in morning twilight
9 December 2018	Crescent Moon close to Saturn in evening twilight
15 December 2018	Geminid Meteor shower
14-15 December 2018	Moon close to Mars
22 December 2018	Jupiter and Mercury very close in dawn sky

Labels: asteroids, comet, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events