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:

2013:   January 19;   February 18;   March 20;   April 18;   May 18;   June 17;   July 16;   August 14;   September 13;   October 12;   November 10;   December 10

 

 

Eclipses in 2013:

Lunar:

PENUMBRAL, APRIL 26:   There will be a penumbral eclipse of the Moon during the early hours of Friday, April 26. The Full Moon will enter the Earth's penumbra at 4:03 am. The penumbra is not very dark, so the visible effect on the Moon will not be very marked. At no stage will the Moon enter the main shadow or umbra, so the eclipse will not be noticeable to the casual observer. The maximum phase of the eclipse will occur at 6:08 am. Sunrise will occur at 6:09 am, and the eclipse will end at 8:14 am.

Two other penumbral eclipses will occur in 2013, on Saturday, May 25 and Saturday, October 19, but neither will be visible from eastern Australia.

Solar:

PARTIAL, MAY 11:    On the morning of Saturday, May 11 next, there will be a partial eclipse of the Sun in which 52% of the Sun will be obscured as seen from the Sunshine Coast. The Sun will rise at 6:18 am, and the eclipse will begin at 7:18 am. It will reach its maximum phase at 8:56 am. The eclipse will be over by 10:33 am.  Staring at the Sun can cause permanent eye damage. Please see the link at the top of this page.

 

 

The Planets in 2013: 

 

Mercury:          January 18:              Superior conjunction
                            February 17:            Greatest elongation from Sun in evening sky (18.1º)
                            February 23:            Eastern stationary point
                            March 4:                   Inferior conjunction
                            March 18:                 Western stationary point
                            April 1:                      Greatest elongation from Sun in morning sky (27.8º)
                            May 12:                     Superior conjunction
                            June 13:                   Greatest elongation from Sun in evening sky (24.3º)
                            June 26:                   Eastern stationary point
                            July 10:                     Inferior conjunction
                            July 21:                     Western stationary point
                            July 31:                     Greatest elongation from Sun in morning sky (19.5º)
                            August 25:                Superior conjunction
                            October 9:               Greatest elongation from Sun in evening sky (25.2º)
                            October 21:             Eastern stationary point
                            November 2:            Inferior conjunction
                            November 11:          Western stationary point 
                            November 18           Greatest elongation from Sun in morning sky (19.3º)
                            December 29:         Superior conjunction


                              
 Venus:            March 29:                 Superior conjunction
                           November 1:            Greatest elongation from Sun in evening sky (46.6º)
                           December 22:          Eastern stationary point
                           January 11, 2014:     Inferior conjunction
                          
                               

From late May to December, Venus will dominate the western twilight sky. During May and June it will appear 'Full' - a small circular disc, as it will be on the opposite side of the Sun from us, and therefore fully illuminated. As it overtakes the Earth, Venus will become progressively larger in angular size, but its phase will decrease to gibbous, then half phase, and finally to a thin crescent. The increasing size and reducing phase cancel out any major changes in brightness, so Venus will maintain a brightness of about magnitude -4 all through the year. After inferior conjunction on January 11, 2014, it will move to the eastern pre-dawn sky.

                        January 2013                       October 2013                      December 2013                      

 

Mars:                 April 18:                    Conjunction

For all of 2013, Mars will be on the far side of its orbit, and will therefore appear very small in angular size. It will not appear at its best until early in 2014. It reaches opposition and its closest approach to us on April 9, 2014.

 

Jupiter:            January 30:               Eastern stationary point
                            February 26:             Eastern quadrature
                            June 20:                    Conjunction 
                             October 13:              Western quadrature
                            November 7:             Western stationary point
                            January 6, 2014:       Opposition (Jupiter rises in the east at sunset)
                            

The giant planet begins 2013 in Taurus near the large Hyades star cluster, and crosses into Gemini on June 27. It passes across Gemini for the remainder of the year.

 

Saturn:            January 31:                Western quadrature
                           February 19:              Western stationary point
                           April 28:                      Opposition
                           July 8:                         Eastern stationary point
                           July 28:                       Eastern quadrature
                           November 6:              Conjunction
                           February 12, 2014:    Western quadrature
                           March 3, 2014:           Western stationary point
                           May 11, 2014:            Opposition

Saturn spends most of 2013 hovering around the boundary between Virgo and Librain the constellation Virgo near the star Spica, but crosses into Libra on December 5.

 

Uranus:           March 29:                  Conjunction
                           July 4:                        Western quadrature
                           July 18:                      Western stationary point
                           October 3:                 Opposition
                           December 18:           Eastern stationary point
                           December 30:           Eastern quadrature

Uranus spends all of 2013 in the constellation Pisces, except for 27 days between February 28 and March 26, when it passes through a corner of Cetus.

 

Neptune:        February 21:              Conjunction
                           May 26:                      Western quadrature
                           June 7:                       Western stationary point
                           August 27:                 Opposition
                           November 14:            Eastern stationary point
                           November 25:            Eastern quadrature

Neptune spends the whole of 2013 in Aquarius, near the asterism known as the 'Water Jar'.

 

Pluto:               April 1:                        Western quadrature
                           April 13:                      Western stationary point
                           July 2:                         Opposition
                           September 20:           Eastern stationary point
                           October 2:                  Eastern quadrature
                           January 4, 2014:        Conjunction

Pluto spends all of 2013 in Sagittarius.

 

 

Planetary alignments:

 

On the evening of February 6, Mars, Mercury and Neptune will be grouped together in a circle of 2.1 degrees diameter. Unfortunately, the Sun will be only 14 degrees away.

In the pre-dawn hours of March 23, Mars and Uranus will be separated by only 46 arcseconds.

On the evening of May 27, the planets Mercury, Venus and Jupiter will form an equilateral triangle with sides of 2.4 degrees in the western sky.

 

 

 

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 Home Page and Index