RFO

What's Up in the Night Sky

Here's a month-by-month listing of astronomical predictions for the year, compiled by
Jack Welch, RFO astronomy instructor.

 

Abbreviations

Astr Twi - Astronomical Twilight
Civ Twi - Civil Twilight
Cr - Crescent
Dbl Tr - Double Tansit
Ex - Exit
Gr El - Greatest Elongation
Jup - Jupiter
Mer - Mercury
Min - Minimum
Naut Twi - Nautical Twilight
Nr - Near
Occ - Occultation
Opp - Opposition
Reap - Reappear
Qtr - Quarter
Sat - Saturn
Sh - Shadow
Stat - Stationary
V Nr - Very Near
Ven - Venus
Zod Lt - Zodiacal Light

 

Observing

2012 Observing Highlights

May 2012
  • Saturday, 5/5/2012 - Very large tides thru 5/8 - Time: 00:00
    • The full moon occurs less than an hour before a very close perigee. Tides will be unusually large.
  • Saturday, 5/5/2012 - "Flower" Moon - Time: 20:30
    • Largest full moon of 2012!
  • Saturday, 5/12/2012 - Last Qtr - Time: 15:00
    • -
  • Saturday, 5/19/2012 - Juno opp - Time: 17:00
    • The asteroid Juno is at opposition.
  • Sunday, 5/20/2012 - Annular Solar Eclipse - Time: 17:00
    • For the greater Bay Area the eclipse begins at about 5:16pm and ends at about 7:40pm, at which time the sun will be only 5° high in the WNW. WARNING: Do not view the sun by naked eye or regular scopes/binoculars. Use approved viewing filters or other techniques to observe the eclipse.

      While the eclipse with be partial locally, the path of annularity lies very nearby in communities such as Medford, Eureka, Redding, Chico and Reno. This is a rare opportunity to observe an annular ring eclipse.
  • Sunday, 5/20/2012 - New Moon - Time: 17:00
    • -
  • Monday, 5/21/2012 - 1.1% Cr Moon - Time: 20:30
    • A chance to view an ultra-thin 1.1% crescent moon. It will be at an altitude of 4° 24° north of due west 30 minutes after sunset (or at 0850pm calculated for the RFO site). This will challenging to spot due to lingering early twilight. Use binoculars. Venus will be 10° above the moon and very slightly to the south.
  • Tuesday, 5/22/2012 - 4% Cr Mn nr Ven - Time: 21:00
    • Look for the moon 10° high at 9pm in early twilight (try binoculars). It will be easier to spot by 9:30pm though will have dropped to only 5° above the horizon.
  • Saturday, 5/26/2012 - Occ of kappa Cnc - Time: 22:30
    • At about 10:37pm the mag 5.2 star kappa Cancri will disappear behind the dark limb of a 33% moon 48° from the north cusp. Kappa Cnc is double with a very close (0.2") 9th mag companion so a double blink-out might be observable. (Calculated with Occult4 for the RFO location.)
  • Monday, 5/28/2012 - 1st Qtr - Time: 13:30
    • -
  • Monday, 5/28/2012 - Mn nr Mars - Time: 23:00
    • -
  • Thursday, 5/31/2012 - Mn v nr Spica - Time: 21:30
    • The moon is very close to the bright star Spica in Virgo, and straw colored Saturn is nearby.
June 2012
  • Saturday, 6/2/2012 - Large Tides thru 6/5 - Time: 00:00
    • The full moon occurs 20 hours after perigee.
  • Monday, 6/4/2012 - Partial Lunar Eclipse - Time: 03:00
    • A substantial partial lunar eclipse occurs in the predawn hours this morning:
      01:48 Enters penumbra (not visually noticeable)
      03:00 Enters umbra (start of obvious eclipse)
      03:52 Astronomical twilight begins
      04:03 Eclipse maximum
      04:36 Nautical twilight begins
      05:05 Exits umbra (end of obvious eclipse)
      The moon will be at altitude 8° at 5:05am.
  • Monday, 6/4/2012 - "Strawberry" Moon - Time: 04:00
  • Monday, 6/4/2012 - Nep stat - Time: 23:00
    • Neptune, in Aquarius, begins retrograde motion. It will be at opposition on 8/24.
  • Tuesday, 6/5/2012 - TRANSIT OF VENUS - Time: 15:00
    • Mostly viewable locally, this is the last chance of our lifetimes to view this phenomenon as Venus passes in front of the sun's disk. WARNING: Do not view the sun by naked eye or regular scopes/binoculars! Use only approved safe filters/methods for solar viewing. Event sequence:
      3:06pm Venus contacts edge of solar disk
      3:24pm Venus disk fully enters solar disk
      6:35pm Maximum penetration of solar disk
      8:31pm Sunset with transit in progress
  • Saturday, 6/9/2012 - Mer in W thru 7/8 - Time: 21:00
    • A moderately good evening apparition of Mercury. It will be at least 4° above the western horizon 45 minutes after sunset from 6/9 thru 7/8, however it will dim rapidly by the last week of June and require scopes to spot by July. It reaches a maximum altitude of 9° for several days around 6/23. (Greatest elongation east is at 7pm on 6/30.) Begin looking for Mercury at about 9:20pm.
  • Monday, 6/11/2012 - Last Qtr - Time: 03:30
    • -
  • Sunday, 6/17/2012 - Mer nr Pollux & Castor thru 6/24 - Time: 21:00
    • We can observe Mercury as it moves past the bright stars Pollux and Castor of Gemini. On 6/17 it will be directly below Pollux (left-most or southern star of the pair) about 1.5x the Pollux-Castor separation. The star pair will sink lower and move north relative to Mercury over the following days. On 6/21 a 6% crescent moon will be even with Mercury and to the south (left). On 6/22 the 12% crescent moon will be further south and higher than the star-planet trio. On 6/24 Mercury-Pollux-Castor will lie along a nearly straight line left to right.
  • Tuesday, 6/19/2012 - New Moon - Time: 08:00
    • -
  • Wednesday, 6/20/2012 - Summer Solstice - Time: 16:00
    • The solstice occurs at 4:09pm.
  • Tuesday, 6/26/2012 - Sat stat - Time: 02:00
    • In Virgo, Saturn ends retrograde motion.
  • Tuesday, 6/26/2012 - 1st Qtr - Time: 20:30
    • -
  • Friday, 6/29/2012 - Pluto opp - Time: 09:00
    • Pluto is at opposition in Sagittarius. At magnitude 14.2 a good telescope and detailed finder's chart are required to locate it.
  • Saturday, 6/30/2012 - Occ of iota Lib - Time: 01:00
    • At about 1:02am the mag 4.5 star iota Librae disappears behind the dark limb of an 84% moon 30° from the north cusp. Iota Librae is a very close double (5.1, 5.5, 0.13") and a double blink-out may be observable. (Calculated with Occult4 for the RFO site.)
July 2012
  • Tuesday, 7/3/2012 - "Buck" Moon - Time: 12:00
  • Monday, 7/9/2012 - Ven nr Jup & v nr Aldebaran - Time: 04:30
    • Venus, in the east, is very near the bright red-orange star Aldebaran in Taurus. Jupiter is above this pair, and the Pleiades (M45) is higher still.
  • Tuesday, 7/10/2012 - Last Qtr - Time: 19:00
    • -
  • Thursday, 7/12/2012 - Ven brightest - Time: 07:00
    • Venus reaches magnitude -4.7.
  • Friday, 7/13/2012 - Ura stat - Time: 10:00
    • Uranus, in Cetus, begins retrograde motion.
  • Sunday, 7/15/2012 - Cr Moon nr Jup, Ven & Aldebaran - Time: 04:00
    • The Pleiades (M45) lie above this group of 4 bright objects.
  • Monday, 7/16/2012 - Occ of zeta Tau - Time: 05:30
    • At about 5:43am the mag 3.0 star zeta Tauri will disappear behind the dark limb of the crescent moon 77° from the north cusp. Then, at about 6:47am it will reappear from behind the bright limb at an axis angle of 282° (or 75° from the north cusp). Zeta Tau is a very close binary with a 5th mag companion so a double blink-out and/or reappearance might be observable. NOTE: Sunrise is at 06:00 so a tracking scope is required for safe viewing of the reappearance which occurs during daylight. (Calculated with Occult4 for the RFO location.)
  • Wednesday, 7/18/2012 - New Moon - Time: 21:30
    • -
  • Tuesday, 7/24/2012 - Cr Mn nr Mar - Time: 22:00
    • The crescent moon is near Mars, with Saturn and the bright star Spica nearby.
  • Wednesday, 7/25/2012 - Mn nr Spica & Saturn - Time: 09:00
    • The moon is near the bright star Spica and Saturn, with Mars nearby.
  • Thursday, 7/26/2012 - 1st Qtr - Time: 02:00
    • -
  • Saturday, 7/28/2012 - Dbl Sh/Sat Tr Jup - Time: 04:30
    • There is both a double shadow and double satellite transit of Jupiter this morning. The satellite transits extend into daylight and may be viewed safely with a tracking telescope. Large aperture is necessary to resolve satellite transits.
      Time / Sat / Event
      0310 / Eur / Sh begins transit
      0423 / --- / Start astro twilight
      0445 / Io / Sh begins transit
      START OF DBL SH TRANSIT
      0530 / Eur / Tr begins
      0533 / Eur / Sh ends transit
      END OF DBL SH TRANSIT
      0539 / --- / Start civil twilight
      0551 / Io / Tr begins
      START OF DBL SAT TRANSIT
      0609 / --- / Sunrise
      0653 / Io / Sh ends transit
      0752 / Eur / Tr ends
      END OF DBL SAT TRANSIT
      0800 / Io / Tr ends
      NOTE: Twilight and sunrise times calculated for RFO site.
August 2012
  • Wednesday, 8/1/2012 - "Sturgeon" Moon - Time: 20:30
  • Thursday, 8/2/2012 - Occ of 46 Cap - Time: 23:00
    • At about 11:09pm the mag 5.1 star 46 Capricornii will reappear from behind the moon's dark limb at an axis angle of 272° (72° from the north cusp).
      (Calculate with Occult4 for the RFO site.)
  • Friday, 8/3/2012 - Occ of Situla - Time: 24:00
    • At about 12:12am on 8/4 the mag 5.0 star Situla (or kappa Aquarii) will reappear from behind the moon's dark limb at an axis angle of 240° (or 68° from the south cusp). Situla is an extremely close (0.10") equal binary star so a double "blink-in" might be observed.
      (Calculated with Occult4 for the RFO location.)
  • Thursday, 8/9/2012 - Last Qtr - Time: 12:00
    • -
  • Friday, 8/10/2012 - Mer in E thru 8/26 - Time: 05:30
    • This is a good morning apparition of Mercury, though it will be dim at first. Look for it about 45 minutes before sunrise (or at 5:37am on 8/11; 5:50am on 8/26). It reaches greatest altitude on 8/18 when it is 8° above the horizon 45 minutes before sunrise. Greatest elongation west is on 8/16.
  • Saturday, 8/11/2012 - Moon nr Jup - Time: 04:00
    • -
  • Sunday, 8/12/2012 - Perseids peak - Time: 06:00
    • The Perseid meteor shower most likely peaks sometime between 5am and 7:30am, though it can vary a few hours from the predictions. Most activity usually occurs +/- 1 day around the peak. The waning crescent moon interferes somewhat this year. Best observing should be from 0945pm 8/11 to 0140am 8/12 (after that until about 5am with moonlight) and again from 0845pm 8/12 to 0230am 8/13 (after than until about 5am with moonlight).
  • Sunday, 8/12/2012 - Mars nr Spica - Time: 21:30
    • From about 8/10 to 8/17 you can watch each evening as Mars gradually passes between Saturn (above) and the bright star Spica (below). The crescent moon joins this trio on 8/21.
  • Monday, 8/13/2012 - Dbl Sh Tr on Jup - Time: 03:30
    • This double shadow transit by Io and Ganymede is accompanied and followed by an interesting eclipse and occultation sequence by Europa that continues until sunrise for those with tracking scopes.
      Time / Sat / Event
      0300 / Io / Sh transit begins
      0301 / Eur / Eclipse disappearance
      0347 / Gan / Sh transit begins
      START DBL SH TRANSIT
      0415 / Io / Sat transit begins
      0444 / --- / Astro twilight begins
      0509 / Io / Sh transit ends
      END DBL SH TRANSIT
      0524 / Eur / Eclipse reappearance
      0533 / Eur / Occ disappearance
      0539 / Gan / Sh transit ends
      0623 / --- / sunrise
      0624 / Io / Sat transit ends
  • Monday, 8/13/2012 - Cr Moon nr Ven - Time: 05:00
    • If you see this lovely pre-dawn pairing, think that later this same day the moon will pass in front of Venus, occulting the planet.
  • Monday, 8/13/2012 - Occ of Venus - Time: 13:00
    • At about 1:25pm, quarter phase Venus will disappear behind the bright limb of a 15% moon 56° from the southern cusp. At about 2:38pm, Venus reappears from behind the dark limb 88° from the northern cusp. The disk of Venus will be about 18" in diameter and take about 1 minute both to disappear and to reappear. (All details calculated with Occult4 for the RFO site.)

      The moon will have an elongation of 46°, well away from the sun for safe viewing. This should be an easy naked eye event, but especially nice in telescopes.
  • Wednesday, 8/15/2012 - Ven gr el W - Time: 02:00
    • -
  • Wednesday, 8/15/2012 - Cr Moon nr Mer - Time: 05:30
    • Look for the 5% crescent moon near Mercury at about 5:40am.
  • Thursday, 8/16/2012 - Mars nr Sat - Time: 21:30
    • Mars has passed between Spica and Saturn in the previous days and now is at its closest to Saturn.
  • Friday, 8/17/2012 - New Moon - Time: 09:00
    • -
  • Tuesday, 8/21/2012 - Cr Mn nr Spica, Mar & Sat - Time: 21:00
    • The crescent moon joins Mars, Saturn and the bright Star Spica in a lovely grouping in the west!
  • Friday, 8/24/2012 - Nep Opp - Time: 06:00
    • Neptune is at opposition in Aquarius. It reaches magnitude 7.8 and a disk size of 2.3".
  • Friday, 8/24/2012 - 1st Qtr - Time: 07:00
    • -
  • Wednesday, 8/29/2012 - Dbl Sh Tr on Jup - Time: 02:30
    • Io and Europa provide a double shadow transit. Jupiter is 11° above the ENE horizon at 1:16am, then climbs higher.
      Time / Sat / Event
      0116 / Io / Sh transit begins
      0235 / Io / Sat transit begins
      0257 / Eur / Sh transit begins
      START DBL SH TRANSIT
      0324 / Io / Sh transit ends
      END DBL SH TRANSIT
      0443 / Io / Sat transit ends
      0504 / --- / Astro twilight begins
      0519 / Eur / Sh transit ends
  • Friday, 8/31/2012 - "Blue" Moon - Time: 07:00
    • -
September 2012
  • Saturday, 9/8/2012 - Moon v nr Jup - Time: 04:00
    • -
  • Saturday, 9/8/2012 - Last Qtr - Time: 06:30
    • -
  • Wednesday, 9/12/2012 - Cr Moon v nr Ven - Time: 05:00
    • -
  • Friday, 9/14/2012 - Zod Lt in E thru 9/27 - Time: 05:00
    • Look for the glow of sunlight reflecting off debris in the plane of the solar system around 5:15am, rising from the eastern horizon past Venus and up into Gemini then losing itself in the Milky Way glow. The glare of Venus interferes somewhat with viewing. Your eastern horizon must be free of light pollution to spot this glow.
  • Saturday, 9/15/2012 - New Moon - Time: 19:00
    • -
  • Wednesday, 9/19/2012 - Cr Moon nr Mars - Time: 20:30
    • -
  • Saturday, 9/22/2012 - Equinox - Time: 08:00
    • The autumnal equinox occurs at 7:49am PDT.
  • Saturday, 9/22/2012 - 1st Qtr - Time: 12:30
    • -
  • Sunday, 9/23/2012 - Occ of 43 Sgr - Time: 20:00
    • The magnitude 4.9 star 43 Sagittarii will disappear behind the moon's dark limb 63° from the north cusp at about 8:08pm for those in the RFO region. 43 Sgr is a very close equal binary so a double blink-out might be observable. (Calculated with Occult4 for the RFO site.)
  • Monday, 9/24/2012 - Pallas opp - Time: 20:00
    • The asteroid Pallas is at opposition in Cetus at magnitude 8.3.
  • Friday, 9/28/2012 - Ura opp - Time: 24:00
    • Uranus is at opposition in Pisces (near Cetus) at magnitude 5.7 and a disk size of 3.7".
  • Saturday, 9/29/2012 - "Harvest" Moon - Time: 20:30
October 2012
  • Monday, 10/8/2012 - Last Qtr - Time: 00:30
    • -
  • Monday, 10/15/2012 - New Moon - Time: 05:00
    • -
  • Saturday, 10/20/2012 - Orionids peak - Time: 21:00
    • The Orionid meteor shower should peak around 9pm. However, the meteors do not become viewable until after the radiant rises around 11pm. Viewing is best after the near quarter moon sets around 1120pm until about 6am. About 15 to 20 meteors per hour may occur.
  • Sunday, 10/21/2012 - 1st Qtr - Time: 20:30
    • -
  • Monday, 10/29/2012 - "Hunter's" Moon - Time: 13:00
November 2012
  • Tuesday, 11/6/2012 - Last Qtr - Time: 16:30
    • -
  • Tuesday, 11/13/2012 - New Moon - Time: 14:00
    • -
  • Wednesday, 11/14/2012 - 1.9% Cr Moon - Time: 17:00
    • A chance to see a very thin 1.9% crescent moon. It will be at an altitude of 4° 31° south of due west 30 minutes after sunset (or at 0528pm calculated for the RFO site). Use binoculars.
  • Saturday, 11/17/2012 - Leonids peak - Time: 01:30
    • About 15 meteors per hour are expected at this year's peak of the Leonid meteor shower. The Leonids are observable starting around midnight until 0530am or so. There is no moonlight interference this year.
  • Tuesday, 11/20/2012 - 1st Qtr - Time: 06:30
    • -
  • Wednesday, 11/28/2012 - "Beaver" Moon - Time: 07:00
December 2012
  • Thursday, 12/6/2012 - Last Qtr - Time: 07:30
    • -
  • Wednesday, 12/12/2012 - Geminids peak - Time: 15:30
    • The Geminid meteor shower is one of the consistently best meteor showers of the year with up to 100 or more meteors per hour at the peak and this year is favorable with no moonlight interference. While this year's peak occurs in daylight hours locally, the rates should be about 50 per hour or more until about 0330am on 12/13 and continue nicely past that until twilight begins around 0545am. Observing can start as soon as it gets dark on 12/12, with the best being after 6:30pm.
  • Thursday, 12/13/2012 - New Moon - Time: 00:30
    • -
  • Wednesday, 12/19/2012 - 1st Qtr - Time: 21:30
    • -
  • Friday, 12/28/2012 - "Cold" Moon - Time: 02:30

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