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:

2009:   January 4;   February 3;   March 4;   April 3;   May 2;   May 31;   June 29;   July 29;   August 27;   September 26;   October 26;   November 25;   December 25

 

Eclipses in 2009:

There are six eclipses in 2009, two of the Sun and four of the Moon. None will provide a major spectacle for observers in eastern Australia, but there will be a partial lunar eclipse coming our way on June 26, 2010 and a total lunar eclipse on December 10, 2011. The next total eclipse of the Sun visible in Queensland will be on November 14, 2012. Click  here  for more eclipse information and maps showing tracks.


Solar:

JANUARY 26:    Annular eclipse of Sun, maximum phase at 7:08 pm our time. The path of the eclipse begins in the South Atlantic and passes south of Capetown before heading north-east across the Indian Ocean. Maximum phases occurs in mid-Ocean. The best view from Australian soil is from Christmas Island. The eclipse track passes over Indonesia in the vicinity of Krakatoa, and then over Borneo, where the Moon's shadow leaves the Earth at sunset.   Animation

As seen from Nambour, the first contact of the eclipse will occur at 6:40 pm, only three minutes before the sun sets below the theoretical flat horizon. It is very unlikely that any phase of the eclipse will be detectable, even from elevated observing sites. The eclipse ends at 7:37 pm.

Lunar:

FEBRUARY 10:    Penumbral eclipse of Moon, maximum phase at 0:38 hrs. Australia is well-placed to see this eclipse, but penumbral eclipses are not spectacular enough to be noticeable to the lay person. Even a casual observer, though, will detect a slight darkening of the Full Moon's northern hemisphere around midnight on the evening of February 9 / 10.   Chart

 

The Planets in 2009:  

Mercury:      January 5:               Greatest elongation from Sun in evening sky (19.19º)
                      January 21:             Inferior conjunction
                      February 14:          Greatest elongation from Sun in morning sky (26.05º)
                      March 31:               Superior conjunction
                      April 26:                  Greatest elongation from Sun in evening sky (20.15º)
                      May 18:                   Inferior conjunction
                      June 14:                 Greatest elongation from Sun in morning sky (23.12º)
                      July 14:                   Superior conjunction
                      August 24:              Greatest elongation from Sun in evening sky (27.18º)
                      September 20:       Inferior conjunction
                      October 6:              Greatest elongation from Sun in morning sky (17.53º)
                      November 5:           Superior conjunction
                      December 19:        Greatest elongation from Sun in evening sky (20.14º)

Venus:         January 15:             Greatest elongation from Sun in evening sky (47.07º)
                      March 28:               Inferior conjunction
                     June 6:                    Greatest elongation from Sun in morning sky (45.48º)
                     January 12, 2010:   Superior conjunction
                               

For the first three months of 2009 Venus will be visible in the evening sky, gradually becoming fainter and closer to the Sun during March. Its phase will decrease from a half-Moon in January to a thin crescent in March, as it approaches inferior conjunction on March 28. When it reappears in the eastern pre-dawn sky in April, it will rapidly increase its angular distance from the Sun from night to night until June. Its angular size will decrease as its phase increases from crescent to half to gibbous. By the end of 2009 Venus will appear in a small telescope as a disc, as in the first image below:

            August to December 2009 | January, and May to July 2009    |    February to May 2009           

 

Mars:            December 6, 2008:      Conjunction
                     October 29:                  Western quadrature. Mars is rising in the north-east soon after midnight, and transitting the meridian at sunrise. It will be in the constellation Cancer, close by the large Praesepe star cluster.
                      December 21:            Western stationary point. On this day Mars begins its retrograde loop through Leo and Cancer, which will last for nearly three months.
                      January 30, 2010:       Mars at opposition, diameter 14.1 arcseconds. At this time Mars will have looped back to the vicinity of the Praesepe cluster once again.

The Earth overtook Mars on December 25, 2007. During 2008 the Earth left Mars behind, and the red planet diminished in angular size and brightness for nearly all of the year. It passed behind the Sun (conjunction) on December 6, 2008. Mars begins 2009 in Sagittarius, and moves westwards through the constellations of Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus and Gemini, gradually increasing its angular size as the Earth catches up to it. When it reaches Cancer in October, it gradually slows down, finally stopping in Leo.

On December 21 Mars reverses direction, and reaches opposition on January 30, 2010. At this time it will be at its closest approach to the Earth, and will appear quite large, its disc being 70% as large as Saturn's. Unfortunately it will be in the northern part of the Zodiac, and less than 42 degrees above the horizon at culmination. The Praesepe (Beehive) star cluster will be less than four degrees away.

 

 

Jupiter:        January 24:                 Conjunction 
                      May 16:                       Western quadrature
                      June 15:                      Western stationary point
                      August 15:                  Opposition (Jupiter rises in the east at sunset)
                      October 13:                Eastern stationary point
                      November 11:             Eastern quadrature
                      February 28, 2010:     Conjunction 

The giant planet begins 2009 in Sagittarius, but by January 4 has moved into Capricornus, where it spends the rest of the year.

 

Saturn:          March 9:                    Opposition
                       May 17:                      Eastern stationary point
                       June 6:                      Eastern quadrature
                       September 18:          Conjunction
                       December 26:           Western quadrature
                       January 14, 2010:     Western stationary point
                       March 22, 2010:        Opposition

Saturn spends most of 2009 in the constellation Leo, but on September 2 it crosses into Virgo.

 

Uranus:          March 13:                Conjunction
                       June 18:                   Western quadrature
                       July 1:                      Western stationary point
                       September 17:         Opposition
                       December 2:            Eastern stationary point
                       December 15:          Eastern quadrature

Uranus begins 2009 in Aquarius, but on March 24 it crosses into Pisces where it spends the rest of the year.

 

Neptune:       February 12:            Conjunction
                       May 17:                    Western quadrature
                       May 29:                    Western stationary point
                       August 18:               Opposition
                       November 5:            Eastern stationary point
                       November 16:          Eastern quadrature

Neptune spends all of 2009 in Capricornus, near the boundary with Aquarius.

 

Pluto:             March 24 :                Western quadrature
                       June 23:                   Opposition
                       September 24:         Eastern quadrature
                       December 25:          Conjunction

Pluto spends all of 2009 in Sagittarius, near the boundary with Ophiuchus.

 

 

Planetary alignments    

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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