This year's special events in the sky

 

 

Sun:   Looking at the Sun either with the unaided eye or through binoculars or telescope is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!
PERMANENT EYE DAMAGE CAN OCCUR. Click here to find out how to observe the Sun safely.

 

Moon Phases: 

The Moon is ideal for viewing in the week centred on the First Quarter phase, both regarding the sights presented and the most convenient time for observing (evenings). In addition, it is nearly overhead at sunset. First Quarter will occur on the following dates:

2008:   January 16;   February 14;   March 14;   April 13;   May 12;   June 11;   July 10;   August 9;   September 8;   October 7;   November 6;   December 6

 

Eclipses in 2008:

Solar:
 February 7:           Partial eclipse, begins at 2:27 pm, maximum phase at 3:02 pm, ends at 3:38 pm (Nambour timings). Only a very small part of the Sun's disc will be obscured (0.13, or between one seventh and one eighth). 
August 1:               Partial eclipse. Not visible from Australia (sun has set).

Lunar:
 February 21:         Total eclipse, begins at 10:35 am and ends at 4:18 pm. Not visible from Australia as the Moon has not yet risen.  
August 17:            Partial eclipse. The penumbral phase begins at 4:23 am but will be hard to discern. The Moon will enter the Earth's umbra, or main shadow, at 5:35 am. Mid-eclipse is at 7:10 am. Moonset is at 6:16 am, so we will see only the first stages of the umbral phase, but against a brightening sky as sunrise approaches at 6:16 am. The umbral phase will end at 8:45 am and the eclipse will be over at 9:57 am.

 

The Planets in 2008: 

Mercury:      January 22:             Greatest elongation from Sun in evening sky (18.7º)
                      February 7:             Inferior conjunction
                      March 3:                 Greatest elongation from Sun in morning sky (27.1º)
                      April 16:                  Superior conjunction
                      May 14:                  Greatest elongation from Sun in evening sky (21.7º)
                      June 8:                    Inferior conjunction
                      July 2:                     Greatest elongation from Sun in morning sky (21.6º)
                      July 30:                   Superior conjunction
                      September 11:       Greatest elongation from Sun in evening sky (26.8º)
                      October 7:              Inferior conjunction
                      October 22:            Greatest elongation from Sun in morning sky (18.2º)
                      November 26:         Superior conjunction        

Venus:          June 9:                    Superior conjunction
                      January 15, 2009:   Greatest elongation from Sun in evening sky (47.1º)
                      March 28, 2009:      Inferior conjunction
                               

For the first five months of 2007 Venus will be visible in the morning sky, gradually becoming fainter and closer to the Sun. Its phase will increase from gibbous to full as it approaches superior conjunction on June 9. When it reappears in the western evening sky in July, it will gradually brighten from week to week, and increasing its angular distance from the Sun. Its angular size will increase as its phase decreases back to gibbous. By the end of 2008 Venus will appear in a small telescope as a half disc, as in the second image below:

            January to October 2008 | November and December 2008 | February to May 2009           

 

Mars:            January 31:               Eastern stationary point.
                      March 30:                  Eastern quadrature. Mars is transitting the meridian at sunset, high in the north, in the constellation Taurus.
                      December 6:            Conjunction

The Earth overtook Mars on December 25 last. During 2009 the Earth will leave Mars behind, and the red planet will diminish in angular size and brightness for the whole of the year. It begins 2008 at the Gemini-Taurus boundary, and moves westwards through Taurus during January, gradually slowing down. Its apparent movement against the starry background stops on January 31, and Mars reverses direction and heads back eastwards towards Gemini. It re-enters Gemini on March 5, and completes its retrograde loop on April 4. This loop has taken about 20 weeks to complete. Mars continues to head east for the rest of the year, passing into Cancer on May 5, Leo on June 11, Virgo on August 9, Libra on October 16, Scorpius on November 16, Ophiuchus on November 27 and Sagittarius on December 22. For most of 2008 Mars will appear through the telescope as a small, insignificant orange disc.

 

Jupiter:         April 11:                    Western quadrature
                      May 9:                       Western stationary point
                      July 9:                       Opposition (Jupiter rises in the east at sunset)
                      September 8:           Eastern quadrature
                      October 7:                Eastern stationary point
                      January 24, 2009:    Conjunction 

The giant planet spends all of 2008 in Sagittarius.

 

Saturn:          February 24:            Opposition
                       May 3:                      Eastern stationary point
                       May 23:                    Eastern quadrature
                       September 4:          Conjunction
                       December 13:         Western quadrature
                       January 1, 2009:      Western stationary point
                       March 9, 2009:        Opposition

Saturn spends all of 2008 in the constellation Leo.

 

Uranus:          March 9:                  Conjunction
                       June 13:                   Western quadrature
                       September 13:         Opposition
                       December 10:          Eastern quadrature

Uranus spends all of 2008 in Aquarius, near the boundary with Pisces.

 

Neptune:       February 11:            Conjunction
                       May 15:                    Western quadrature
                       August 15:               Opposition
                       November 13:          Eastern quadrature

Neptune spends all of 2008 in Capricornus, near the boundary with Aquarius.

 

Pluto:             March 21:                Western quadrature
                       June 21:                   Opposition
                       September 21:         Eastern quadrature
                       December 22:          Conjunction

Pluto spends all of 2008 in Sagittarius, near the boundary with Ophiuchus.

 

 

Planetary alignments

Mercury will be less than half a degree to the right of Neptune on the evening of January 23, so they will be together in a small telescope's field of view.

During January, Jupiter will approach Venus, and the two will be close enough to share a small telescope's field of view on February 1 and 2. The Moon will sit close to them both on February 3 and 4, making a spectacular grouping.

On the morning of March 25, Mercury and Venus will be less than one degree apart in the predawn sky.

Saturn will be within three degrees of the first magnitude star Regulus during most of April and May, but on the 15th of April the Moon will join them, making an interesting threesome.

 During June, Mars will move towards Regulus, and they will be at their closest (about 41 arcminutes apart) on July 1. Mars will pass on, reaching Saturn at about 1 am on July 11. At their closest, the two planets will be only 38 arcminutes apart.

The evening of July 6 will reveal a fine grouping high above the north-western horizon. At an altitude of 33 degrees we will find Saturn, with Mars 2 degrees below. 3 degrees below Mars will be the star Regulus, and 3 degrees further on will be the crescent Moon. The whole grouping will be compact enough to be covered by a fist at arm's length.

On August 3, there will be another splendid alignment of sky objects in the western twilight sky. Highest will be Mars, 30 degrees above the west-north-western horizon. Then, heading down towards the horizon, there will be Saturn, the Moon, Regulus, Venus and Mercury. Venus will be only 15 degrees from the Sun, and therefore hard to find in the solar glare. Mercury will be only 5 degrees from the Sun and very difficult to observe.

Venus will approach Saturn in the first weeks of August, and they will be at their closest on the evening of August 13, when they will be less than 29 arcminutes apart. Mercury will be only 3.6 degrees below the brighter pair, and the star Regulus 5.5 degrees closer to the horizon. This will also make a fine grouping, but it will be very close to the horizon.

Saturn will be moving towards conjunction, and will be too close to the Sun to observe, when the crescent Moon joins the grouping on September 1. Nevertheless, on that night Mars, Mercury, Venus, the Moon and the second magnitude star Porrima will make an interesting display, grouped within half a handspan.

On the evening of September 12, Venus and Mars will be only 20 arcminutes apart in the sky.

Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon will grace the background stars of Sagittarius on the night of December 1. On the last evening of 2008, Mercury and Jupiter will be within 1.3 degrees of each other. They will be very low in the west-south-west, but a handspan above them will be the crescent Moon, Neptune and Venus.

 

 

Lunar occultations or near occultations of bright stars, as observed from Nambour

January 24 / 25:    The waning gibbous Moon will occult the mv 1.36 star Regulus (Alpha Leonis) between 23:59 hrs and 1:23 hrs. This is the last in a series of occultations of Regulus visible from Nambour, that began in January 2007.

February 2:   The waning crescent Moon will occult the mv 1.06 star Antares (Alpha Scorpii) between 2:09 hrs and 2:46 hrs. Antares will be only 19 degrees above the horizon when the occultation begins. This will be the only occultation of Antares visible this year.

March 14:    The First Quarter Moon will occult the mv 1.65 star Elnath (Beta Tauri) between 17:39 hrs and 18:54 hrs. The occultation begins 26 minutes before sunset.

March 19:     The waxing gibbous Moon will occult the mv 1.36 star Regulus (Alpha Leonis) between 15:40 pm to 16:38 hrs (Regulus will not rise until 16:30 hrs; sunset is at 6:00 pm).

July  14:      The northern limb of the waxing gibbous Moon  will graze past the mv 1.06 star Antares (Alpha Scorpii) at 22:34 hrs.

October 4:   The southern limb of the Moon will graze past the mv 1.06 star Antares (Alpha Scorpii) at 22:41 hrs, at a distance of only 58 arcseconds,

 

Lunar occultations or near occultations of planets, as observed from Nambour

March 6:    The southern limb of the Moon will graze past Venus at 3:22 hrs. At 5:57 hrs the Moon will occult Neptune. Unfortunately, the Sun will have risen at 5:44 hrs.

April 30:    The southern limb of the Moon will graze past the planet Neptune at 3:59 am, at a distance of only 20 arcseconds.

December 29:    The waxing crescent Moon will occult the planet Jupiter between 20:14 hrs and 21:03 hours. The planet's disc will take about one minute to disappear behing the Moon, and about one minute to emerge, 49 minutes later.

 

 

Meteor Showers:

January 4:            Quadrantids
February 8:           Alpha-Centaurids
April 22:                Lyrids
 April 24:                Pi-Puppids
May 4:                  Alpha Scorpids
May 5:                  Eta Aquarids (from Comet Halley)
June 8:                 Arietids
June 10:               Zeta Perseids
June 29:               Beta Taurids
July 10:                Pegasids
July 29:                S Delta-Aquarids
July 30:                Alpha-Capricornids
August 13:           Perseids (from Comet Swift-Tuttle)
September 1:      Alpha-Aurigids
October 22:         Orionids (from Comet Halley)
November 3:        S Taurids (from Comet Encke)
November 13:      N Taurids (from Comet Encke)
November 18:      Leonids (from Comet Tempel-Tuttle)
December 7:       Phoenicids
December 14:     Geminids (from Comet Phaethon)
December 24:     Ursids

The 3.9 metre Anglo-Australian Telescope near Coonabarabran, NSW

 

The main Constellations visible at about 8.00 pm each month, from the horizon to the zenith:          

January:

East:       Hydra, Canis Minor, Canis Major, Puppis
South:    Crux, Musca, Carina, Vela, Pavo
West:      Aquarius, Capricornus, Pisces, Grus, Piscis Austrinus, Phoenix, Cetus, Eridanus
North:     Aries, Perseus, Taurus, Auriga, Gemini, Orion

February:

East:       Leo, Crater, Corvus, Hydra, Canis Major, Puppis
South:    Grus, Centaurus, Crux, Musca, Carina, Vela
West:      Cetus, Eridanus, Aries
North:     Auriga, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Orion

March:

East:       Virgo, Libra, Lupus, Centaurus, Corvus, Crater, Hydra, Crux, Musca, Vela
South:    Triangulum Australe, Toucan, Carina, Puppis
West:      Phoenix, Cetus, Eridanus, Taurus, Orion, Canis Major
North:     Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Canis Minor

April:

East:       Bootes, Libra, Scorpius, Virgo, Centaurus, Lupus, Ara, Crux, Musca, Corvus
South:    Triangulum Australe, Pavo, Carina, Vela
West:      Eridanus, Orion, Gemini, Canis Minor, Canis Major, Puppis
North:     Cancer, Ursa Major, Leo, Crater, Hydra

May:

East:       Corona Borealis, Serpens, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius, Libra, Scorpius, Ara, Lupus, Centaurus
South:     Indus, Pavo, Triangulum Australe, Crux, Musca, Carina
West:      Canis Major, Canis Minor, Cancer, Puppis, Hydra
North:     Ursa Major, Leo, Coma Berenices,Bootes, Virgo, Crater, Corvus

June:

East:       Ophiuchus, Capricornus, Sagittarius, Scorpius
South:     Pavo, Triangulum Australe, Ara, Lupus, Crux, Musca
West:      Hydra, Leo, Carina, Vela, Puppis, Crater, Corvus
North:     Coma Berenices, Bootes, Corona Borealis, Hercules, Virgo, Serpens, Libra

July:

East:       Aquarius, Delphinus, Grus, Capricornus, Aquila, Sagittarius, Scorpius
South:    Carina, Musca, Crux, Ara, Triangulum Australe, Centaurus
West:      Hydra, Crater, Corvus, Virgo, Vela, Libra
North:     Bootes, Corona Borealis, Hercules, Lyra, Ophiuchus, Serpens

August:

East:       Aquarius, Phoenix, Piscis Austrinus, Grus, Sagittarius
South:    Eridanus, Musca, Crux, Triangulum Australe
West:      Corvus, Virgo, Bootes, Libra, Centaurus, Ara, Lupus, Scorpius
North:     Corona Borealis, Hercules, Lyra, Cygnus, Delphinus, Aquila

September:

East:       Pisces, Cetus, Eridanus, Phoenix, Piscis Austrinus, Grus, Aquarius, Capricornus
South:     Crux, Musca, Triangulum Australe, Pavo
West:      Centaurus, Libra, Serpens, Ophiuchus, Scorpius, Lupus, Ara
North:      Lyra, Cygnus, Pegasus, Delphinus, Aquila

October:

East:        Eridanus, Cetus, Aries, Piscis Austrinus
South:     Hydrus, Centaurus, Musca, Triangulum Australe, Ara, Pavo, Grus
West:       Lupus, Scorpius, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius, Aquila, Capricornus
North:      Cygnus, Delphinus, Pegasus, Andromeda, Aquarius

November:

East:        Taurus, Eridanus, Cetus, Phoenix
South:     Carina, Musca, Triangulum Australe, Pavo
West:       Scorpius, Sagittarius, Aquila, Delphinus, Capricornus, Grus, Piscis Austrinus
North:      Pegasus, Andromeda, Aries, Pisces, Cetus, Aquarius

December:

East:        Taurus, Orion, Canis Major, Puppis, Carina, Eridanus
South:     Carina, Musca, Pavo
West:       Capricornus, Aquarius, Grus, Piscis Austrinus, Phoenix
North:      Pegasus, Andromeda, Aries, Perseus, Cetus

 

Observatory Index