The year's special events in the sky
Sun:
Looking
at the Sun either with the unaided eye or through binoculars or a telescope is EXTREMELY
DANGEROUS !
PERMANENT EYE DAMAGE CAN AND PROBABLY WILL 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 quite high in the sky at sunset. First Quarter in 2022 will occur on the following dates:
2022: January 21; February 20; March 22; April 20; May 20; May 31; June 18; July 17; August 16; September 14; October 13; November 11; December 11.
Eclipses in 2022:
Lunar:
TOTAL, MAY 16: This total lunar eclipse will not be visible from Australia, as it will end before the Moon rises. It will be seen from the eastern parts of the United States of America, eastern Canada, and all of Central America and South America. Brazil will have the best view.
Solar:
PARTIAL
, MAY 1: No part of this eclipse of the Sun will be visible from anywhere in the northern hemisphere, or in Africa, Australia, New Zealand or the south-western Pacific, as it will be centred over the south-eastern Pacific between the Antarctic Peninsula and the southern tip of South America (Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn). The maximum phase of the eclipse will occur at 6:41 am (Australian Eastern Standard Time), but only 50% of the Sun will be covered by the Moon. The best place to view this eclipse will be the southernmost parts of Chile and Argentina.
PARTIAL, OCTOBER 25:
This
partial eclipse
of the Sun will not be visible from Queensland's Sunshine Coast as it occurs
when the Sun is below our horizon. It will only be seen from Europe, western
Asia and the Middle East.
The maximum
phase of the eclipse will occur at 9 pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time),
where about 85% of the Sun will be covered by the Moon.
The best places for viewing will be near a line joining Murmansk, Moscow, and
the Aral Sea.
Observers on Queensland's Sunshine Coast will not see a partial eclipse of the Sun until April 20, 2023. The next total solar eclipse visible from parts of Australia will occur at 12:56 pm on July 22, 2028, the eclipse track running from Wyndham through Alice Springs to Birdsville and then Sydney, before crossing the Tasman Sea to Dunedin in New Zealand's South Island.
The Planets in 2022:
Mercury:
January
7: Greatest elongation from Sun in evening sky (19
January 14: Eastern stationary point
January 16: Perihelion
January 23: Inferior conjunction
February 4:
Western stationary point
February 17:
Greatest elongation from Sun in morning sky (26 17')
March 1:
Aphelion
April 3: Superior
conjunction
April 14:
Perihelion
April 29: Greatest
elongation from Sun in evening sky (20
May 10:
Eastern stationary point
May 22: Inferior conjunction
May 28:
Aphelion
June 3: Western stationary point
June 17: Greatest elongation from Sun in
morning sky
(22
July 11:
Perihelion
July 17: Superior
conjunction
August 24:
Aphelion
August 27: Greatest
elongation from Sun in evening sky (27
The best times for observing Mercury in the morning sky are: all of February to second week of March, all of June and first week of July, second week of October.
The best times for observing Mercury in the evening sky are: first
two weeks of January; last week of April, all of August and first two weeks of September,
all of December.
Venus:
January 9:
Inferior conjunction
January 23:
Perihelion
January 29:
Western stationary point
March 21:
Greatest elongation from Sun in morning sky (46º 33')
May
16:
Aphelion
September 5:
Perihelion
October 23:
Superior conjunction
December 26:
Aphelion
From
the second half of January to the end of August, Venus will dominate the eastern
pre-dawn sky as a 'Morning Star'. It will become hard to find due to its
proximity to the Sun during September to November, but will return to the
western twilight sky in December as an 'Evening Star'.
In mid-February it will
appear as a little 'crescent Moon' with a phase of 27% and a diameter of 39 arcseconds.
By March 21 it will appear like a small 'half-Moon' with a
phase of 50%, but its diameter will have fallen to 24 arcseconds. By the
beginning of July its phase will have increased to 86% (like a tiny gibbous Moon),
and its angular size will have fallen further to 12 arcseconds, and by
mid-August it will appear as a tiny 'Full Moon' with a phase of 95% and an
angular size of 10 arcseconds. Throughout these changes its brightmess will
remain more-or-less the same, around magnitude -4.5.
Venus will pass through inferior conjunction (between the Earth and the Sun) on January 9, and will therefore move from the evening sky to the pre-dawn sky. Whereas on very rare occasions Venus will pass in front of the Sun at such times (a 'transit of Venus'), on this occasion Venus will pass 4.8º north of the Sun. Venus will become visible in the western evening sky in December 2022.
December 2021 January 2022 March 2022 October 2022 June 2023
Mars:
June 21: Perihelion (angular diameter = 6.9")In January 2022, Mars will be on the far side of its orbit, and therefore will appear quite small, less than 5 arcseconds in diameter. Over the course of the year it will very slowly brighten and increase in angular diameter, but from September this process will accelerate rapidly, especially during November as it approaches opposition. This year's opposition will not be very favourable, as Mars will be the the northern constellation of Taurus, and less than 39º above the northern horizon at culmination.
Mars begins 2022 in the non-zodiacal constellation of Ophiuchus. Travelling east, it enters Sagittarius on January 20, then Capricornus on March 6, then Aquarius on April 12, and then Pisces on May 19. It clips a corner of Cetus between June 3 and 9 before continuing through Pisces. It enters Aries on July 9, and then Taurus on August 9. It slows down during October and reaches its stationary point on October 30, whereupon it reverses direction as it begins its retrograde loop. Heading westwards, it passes through opposition on December 8, when it will appear to us at its biggest and brightest. At opposition it will be between the Hyades star cluster and the magnitude 1.65 star Elnath. Still heading west, Mars will fade and shrink in angular size until it completes its retrograde loop on January 13, 2023 at its next stationary point. It will then reverse direction and head east once more, passing into Gemini on March 26, 2023.
Jupiter:
March 6: Conjunction
Saturn:
February 5: Conjunction
Uranus:
January 18: Eastern stationary pointUranus will spend 2022 in the middle of the constellation of Aries, where it will remain until it enters Taurus on May 17, 2024.
Neptune:
March 13: ConjunctionNeptune begins 2022 in Aquarius, near the eastern boundary with Pisces. It will cross into Pisces on May 1, 2022, and during its retrograde loop will return to Aquarius on August 18 and then re-enter Pisces on March 3, 2023, where it will remain until April 13, 2028.
Pluto:
January 17: ConjunctionPluto spends all of 2022 in the eastern end of Sagittarius. It will not move out of this constellation until March 1, 2023.
Meteor Showers:
January
4: Quadrantids
February 8: Alpha-Centaurids
April
22: Lyrids
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
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
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