Monday, January 31, 2022
Coming Events: A Year of Southern Astronomy for 2022
The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2022 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific).
This year we get a good Total Lunar eclipse. There are good oppositions of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Mars skims past the Pleiades and Hydaes clusters.
As well we have some fantastic parings and lineups and good meteor showers.
Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special
attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets
if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful.
Special events are bolded.
| Date | Event | |
| January | ||
| 1 January 2022 | Occultation of Mars | |
| 4 January 2022 | Earth at Perihelion | |
| 4 January 2022 | Crescent Moon, Mercury, and Saturn close low in the evening twilight | |
| 6 January 2022 | Jupiter and Crescent Moon close | |
| 30 January 2022 | Crescent Moon forms a triangle with Mars and Venus | |
| February | ||
| 2 February 2022 | Mars close to M28 | |
| 3 February 2022 | Jupiter close to the thin crescent Moon low in the twilight | |
| 6 February 2022 | Mars near globular cluster M22 | |
| 13 February 2022 | Mercury, Mars and Venus form a triangle in the morning sky. | |
| 27-28 February 2022 | Crescent Moon, Mars and Venus form a triangle in the morning sky. | |
| March | ||
| 1 March 2022 | Mercury, Saturn and thin crescent Moon form a triangle in the morning twilight | |
| 3 March 2022 | Mercury very close (0.6 degrees) from Saturn in morning twilight | |
| 21 March 2022 | Earth at Equinox, Five bright planets visible in the morning twilight, Jupiter and Mercury close in the morning twilight. | |
| 28 March 2022 | Crescent Moon, Saturn, Venus and Mars from a close massing in the morning twilight with the Moon above | |
| 29 March 2022 | Crescent Moon, Saturn, Venus and Mars from a close massing in the morning twilight with the Moon below | |
| 31 March 2022 | Thin crescent Moon close to Jupiter low in the morning twilight | |
| April | ||
| All April 2022 | Four bright planets in the morning sky Moon in the morning sky | |
| 5 April 2022 | Saturn and Mars very close (0.3 degrees apart) in the morning sky | |
| 13 April 2022 | Jupiter close to Neptune in the morning sky | |
| 26 April 2022 | Mars close to the crescent Moon in the morning sky | |
| 27-28 April 2022 | Crescent Moon close to Venus and Jupiter in the morning sky | |
| 28 April 2022 | Venus and Neptune in close conjunction (< 30 arc minutes) in the morning sky | |
| May | ||
| 1 May 2022 | Venus and Jupiter very close in the morning sky (0.2 degrees apart) | |
| 6-7 May 2022 | Eta Aquariid meteor shower | |
| 22 May 2022 | Waning Moon above Saturn | |
| 25 May 2022 | Mars, Jupiter and waning Moon form a triangle in morning sky | |
| 27 May 2022 | Crescent Moon above Venus | |
| 30 May 2022 | Mars and Jupiter very close in the morning sky (0.6 degrees apart) | |
| June | ||
| 1 June 2022 | Mars and Jupiter very close in the morning sky (1.0 degrees apart) | |
| 18 June 2022 | Saturn near waning Moon low in the late evening sky | |
| 14 June 2022 | Perigee Full Moon ("super Moon") | |
| 21 June 2022 | Earth at solstice | |
| 22 June 2022 | Mercury in head of Hyades near Aldebaran in morning sky, waning Moon near Jupiter | |
| 26 June 2022 | Crescent Moon between Venus and Pleiades in the morning sky | |
| 27 June 2022 | Crescent Moon near Mercury in the morning sky | |
| July | ||
| 1 July 2022 | Venus close to Aldebaran in the morning, forming a second eye for Taurus the Bull | |
| 4 July 2022 | Earth at aphelion | |
| 14 July 2022 | Syzygy Perigee full moon ("super Moon") closest of year | |
| 15 July 2022 | Moon close to Saturn | |
| 19 July | Moon close to Jupiter | |
| 22 July 2022 | Waning crescent Moon close to Mars (within binocular field) | |
| 27 July 2022 | Venus near crescent Moon in the morning twilight | |
| 29-30 July 2022 | Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower | |
| 30 July 2022 | Mercury close to crescent moon in western evening twilight | |
| 31 July | Mars and Uranus 2 degrees apart (in same binocular filed) | |
| August | ||
| 1-3 August 2022 | Mars and Uranus less than 2 degrees apart (in same binocular filed) | |
| 4 August 2022 | Mercury very close to Regulus (0.7 degrees) in the evening twilight | |
| 12 August 2022 | Saturn close to Full Moon (perigee "super" Moon) | |
| 15 August 2022 | Saturn at opposition | |
| 15 August 2022 | Jupiter close to Waning Moon (1 degree) | |
| 20 August 2022 | Mars near Moon in Morning | |
| 22 August 2022 | Jupiter near Moon | |
| 29 August 2022 | Mercury near thin crescent Moon in evening sky, Mars between Pleiades and Hyades in the morning sky | |
| September | ||
| 3 September 2022 | Mars forms second "eye" in Taurus the Bull with Aldebaran in morning sky | |
| 8 September 2022 | Waxing moon close to Saturn in evening sky | |
| 11 September 2022 | Waning Moon close to Jupiter in evening sky | |
| 23 September 2022 | Earth at Equinox | |
| 27 September 2022 | Jupiter at Opposition | |
| October | ||
| 5 October 2022 | Saturn and waxing Moon close in evening sky | |
| 8 October 2022 | Jupiter and waxing Moon close in evening sky | |
| 14 October 2022 | Mars and the waxing Moon close in evening sky | |
| 21-22 October 2022 | Orionid meteor shower | |
| November | ||
| 2 November 2022 | Waxing Moon near Saturn in evening sky | |
| 4-5 November 2022 | Waxing Moon near Jupiter in evening sky | |
| 8 November 2022 | Total Lunar Eclipse | |
| 11 November 2022 | Waxing Moon near Mars in evening sky | |
| 18 November 2022 | Leonid Meteor Shower | |
| December | ||
| 2 December 2022 | Jupiter and waxing Moon close | |
| 8 December 2022 | Mars at opposition and close to Full Moon | |
| 14 December 2022 |
| |
| 22 December 2022 | Earth is at Solstice | |
| 24 December 2022 | Venus and Mercury and thin crescent Moon are close in evening twilight. | |
| 26 December | Saturn near crescent Moon | |
| 28-30 December 2022 | Venus and Mercury at their closest in evening twilight. | |
| 29 December 2022 | Jupiter close (1 degree) from the waning Moon in evening |
Labels: Asteroid, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events
Monday, January 24, 2022
Thursday January 27 to Thursday February 3
The New Moon is Tuesday, February 1. Jupiter is now alone in the night sky, setting around the time the sky is full dark. The thin crescent Moon is close to Jupiter on February 3. Mars is readily visible in the morning sky in the teapot of Sagittarius. On the 27-28th Mars is close to the Lagoon Nebula. Venus climbing in the morning twilight towards Mars. On the 30th the thin crescent moon forms a triangle with Mars and Venus.
The New Moon is Tuesday, February 1.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Elsewhere
in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent
time (90 minutes after sunset).
Mercury is lost in the twilight but returns to the morning sky by the end of the week.
Venus is rising in the morning twilight towards Mars.
Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/
Labels: weekly sky
Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Thursday January 20 to Thursday January 27
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday, January 25. After months of exciting evening planetary action Jupiter is now alone in the night sky, setting around the time the sky is full dark. Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard is just visible in binoculars below the star Gamma Grusis when the Moon is below the horizon. Mars is readily visible in the morning sky below Scorpius. Venus is low in the morning twilight.
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday, January 25.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (45 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).
Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) is a nice little binocular object, but fading. It is now relatively easy to find as it is in a binocular field of the brightish star Gamma Grusis, easily found by following the trail for stars from the two prominent stars of the constellation of Grus, the Crane.
Mercury is lost in the twilight
Venus is low in the morning twilight.
Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/
Labels: weekly sky
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
Thursday January 13 to Thursday January 20
The Full Moon is Tuesday, January 18. Three bright planets are seen forming a line in the early evening twilight. These are Mercury, Saturn and Jupiter. Mercury and Saturn are low in the twilight and difficult to see. Jupiter is prominent but sets around the time the sky is full dark.Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard is visible in binoculars below the star Gamma Grusis but fading and the waning moon may make to more difficult to see.
The Full Moon is Tuesday, January 18. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on January 14.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).
Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).
Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) is a nice little binocular object. It is yet again in outburst and has a very clear little tail. It is now relatively easy to fins as it is in a binocular field of the brightish star Gamma Grusis, easily found by following the trail for stars from the two prominent stars of the constellation of Grus, the Crane.
Mercury is lowering in the early evening twilight and forms a line with Saturn and Jupiter. It may be difficult to see in then twilight glow.
Venus is lost in the twilight.
Jupiter is readily visible in the western sky but is setting when the sky is fully dark. Mercury , Saturn and Jupiter form a line in the early twilight sky.
Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/
Labels: weekly sky
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