Astronomy

Astronomy SkyGuide

You're very welcome to our Sky Guide section. Keep reading to help plan and make the most of any opportunity you get to observe the heavens. If you want to, you can just skip directly to info on observing the Moon, planets, transits, dwarf planets, meteor showers and eclipses.

Observing our Moon in 2009

The year begins with a celestial lineup with (in order of appearance top to bottom): Venus, Neptune, Moon, Jupiter and Mercury.
Full Moon is on January 11th and New Moon is January 26th.
Blue Moon (second Full Moon in a single month) occurrences: May and December.
The Moon passes near Saturn on January 15th and February 11th.
February 3rd: locate the moon just north of the Pleiades.
February 9th: penumbral Lunar Eclipse visible throughout most of eastern Europe, Asia, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and western North America.
February 22nd: slightly before dawn in the southeast sky, another lunar and planetary lineup waits to wow you: the waning crescent Moon holds the superior position followed by Mercury, Jupiter and Mars.
February 27th: observe the waxing crescent as it glides near Venus.
July 7th: penumbral Lunar Eclipse visible throughout most of Australia, the Pacific Ocean and the Americas.
August 6th: a third Penumbral Lunar Eclipse visible throughout most of the Americas, Europe, Africa and western Asia.
December 31st: observe the partial Lunar Eclipse visible throughout most of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Note: on a soon to be determined date, between May and August 2009, the booster stage for NASA's LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite) probe will crash into a lunar crater (possibly near Peary crater close to the lunar north pole). The goal is to investigate the deposed lunar ejectae for signs of water. Four minutes later there will be a second robotic satellite impact. Stay tuned to more information on this important project.
If you're looking to broaden your astronomical knowledge why not take time out to brush up on Lunar geography? Here's a very educational Lunar Atlas by Brian Sherrod from the Arkansas Sky Observatory.
For further info on phases of the Moon I can highly recommend my favourite Lunar Phase Calendar. Details of observing moon phases during daytime hours can be found

Observing the Planets in 2009

Mercury
Mercury makes quite a few unusual and surprising appearances this year. Mercury lies below Jupiter in a New Year's planetary lineup visible just after sunset. Look for Mercury just below the Crescent Moon on April 26th.

In addition to the month January 2009, the best times to view this elusive, sun-hugging planet is April 24th and 25th, and the 26th when it is just below the moon, then again on May 1st and 2nd.

On February 22nd, slightly before dawn in the southeast sky, another lunar and planetary lineup waits to wow you. The waning crescent Moon holds the superior position followed by Mercury, Jupiter and Mars.
Note: The Messenger spacecraft mission launched in 2004 should arrive in Mercury orbit in July.

Venus
January is a great time to observe Venus riding the southwest sky left of the moon and setting a few hours after the sun. The New Year commences showcasing Venus in a beautiful, image worthy lineup with Neptune, the Moon, Jupiter and Mercury. Catch them just after sunset on your celebratory 2009 New Year's Day nightly tour of the sky. This particular lineup happens every 44 years. (Check it out now in case you aren’t available next time!)

On February 27th you can observe the waxing crescent Moon as it glides near Venus. On October 13th there is a conjunction of Venus and Saturn.

Note: A Venus day is longer than a Venus year as the planet orbits the sun every 225 Earth days but rotates on its axis at a pace of 243 Earth days. For more Venus trivia to impress your friends check out the planet's profile.

Mars
The red planet starts off the year in the Sun's glare and so is out of viewing range for most of the year. However on February 22nd, just before dawn in the southeast sky, another lunar and planetary lineup awaits you. The waning crescent Moon holds the superior position followed by Mercury, Jupiter and Mars.

Time to check out a long list of failed and successful Mars missions, with more planned for the future. Note: in December, NASA plans to launch the Mars 2009 Mobile Scientific Laboratory which has been delayed since 2007. This lab should arrive next year in October 2010 and will carry various new technologies planned for exploring the red planet and preparing for future missions. A nuclear powered rover is also on the journey. In late 2009, Russia will launch a return mission to Phobos. Also in 2009 the ESA plans launch of the Beagle 2 Mars Lander.

Jupiter
The largest planet will be in conjunction with the Sun late January and will become a daytime object. Jupiter is observed in Capricornus after the first week in January 2009. February 22nd Slightly before dawn in the southeast sky another lunar and planetary lineup awaits you. The waning crescent Moon holds the superior position followed by Mercury, Jupiter and Mars.

The best observing time for Jupiter is in the summer months. For telescope observers Jupiter and Neptune give us a two for one mid morning observing special on May 27th, a late evening to early morning opportunity on July 9th, and in the evening sky on December 21st. Jupiter is in opposition on August 14th, making this the best time to view its moons.

Note: after several nights of observing, tracking and notating in his journal the presence of three "background stars near Jupiter" Galileo eventually concluded: "... there are not only three, but four, erratic sidereal bodies performing their revolutions around Jupiter." He named them "Medician Planets". We recognise his discovery by calling them Galilean moons.

Saturn
The "Lord of the Rings" is located in the constellation Leo until very early September 2009 and is best observed between January and May. Saturn is at opposition on March 8th. The Moon passes near Saturn on January 15th and February 11th.

Saturn will be edge-on after early September allowing us a better glimpse of its moons. A worthwhile observing event are the frequent eclipses of moons Rhea and Titan.

Saturn is at conjunction mid September and is not visible to us from August through October. Another excellent observing period returns in the winter months when Saturn is "dressed to impress" high in the nocturnal sky. On October 13th there will be a conjunction of Venus and Saturn.

Note: Galileo notated in his observance of Saturn as having “ears” which he thought were smaller planets. These were later defined as moons by Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens.

Uranus
An evening observing target in Aquarius in January 2009 appearing as a small greenish blue dot in small aperture telescopes. In February it is lost in the Sun's glare until early April, re-emerging in Pisces. Locate Uranus again in the constellation of Aquarius in mid-October. The planet is in opposition on September 17th.

Hubble has revealed a dark spot in the planet's northern hemisphere and a companion bright spot, reminiscent of those observed on Neptune. However they may not be connected as actual companions: the two spots may have been just passing each other at the time of sighting. The bright spot could be heavy weather activity whereas the dark spot is a thinned out layer of methane in that area of the planet's stratosphere.

Neptune
The planet is in Capricornus all year, visible the last days of 2008 and just below Venus and above the Moon in the first days of 2009. The planet is in opposition on August 17th. For telescope observers Jupiter and Neptune give us a two for one mid morning observing special on May 27th, a late evening to early morning opportunity on July 9, and in the evening sky on December 21st.

Note: first observed by telescope in 1846 by Urban le Verrier, it was the first planet discovered by mathematical prediction, followed by the discovery of its moon Triton. Neptune's other 12 moons were not discovered until the 20th century. Galileo notated drawings of Neptune in his journal but is not credited with its discovery since he thought it was a star.

Details of Future Planetary Transits

Date Planets Viewing Note
Feb 27th 2009 Venus & Moon evening 2° apart
Oct 13th 2009 Venus & Saturn morning 0.5° apart
back to the top


Observing the Dwarf Planets 2009
For more info on what a dwarf planet is see the IAU definition.

Pluto
Our erstwhile planet resides in Sagittarius near Serpens this year. It is a daytime object for the northern hemisphere until February when it rises several hours before dawn. Due to its location it may be a difficult to see until late June when it is at opposition.

Pluto will again be out of reach from November to the end of the year. It will be in conjunction with the Sun on Christmas Day 2009.

Ceres
Ceres begins 2009 nestled in Leo, visits Leo Minor for the month of March, then returns to Leo until August. It then glides into Virgo and by November is observed in the constellation of Libra. In December it moves through Scutum, one of the smallest constellations. The dwarf planet ends the year in Ophiuchus.

Ceres reaches opposition on February 25th and is a viable observing target for small telescopes and binoculars. On this date it will be located at a close 1.5832 AU (147.17 million miles) from the Blue Planet. Ceres hasn't been this close in 142 years and we'll see it again from this distance in about 1055 years.

Note: Ceres was the discovered on January 1, 1801 by the Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi. It was the first asteroid discovered and is also the largest, about 1/4 the size of our moon.


Ceres coordinates around opposition
Date Right Ascension Declination
Feb. 24 11h 02m 38s +24° 17' 12"
Feb. 25 11h 01m 46s +24° 23' 41"
Feb. 26 11h 00m 53s +24° 30' 00"
(6 p.m. or 0 hrs UT)

Observe Vesta
Vesta travels through quite a few constellations in this, the International Year of Astronomy. Vesta starts off in the constellation Pisces and visits the next constellation each month or so winding up the year in Leo.

Note: Vesta's geology is similar to that of Earth and Mars. There is evidence that Vesta once had a molten interior similar to Earth's. One theory is that Vesta may have been formed about four billion years ago by radioactive material from a super nova explosion. Meteorites found in Australia and other earthly locations have been traced to Vesta and have been instrumental in determining Vesta’s age and similarities to Earth.

Asteroid 433 EROS
Starts the year off in Ophiuchus, travels through Sagittarius, and in April lies in Capricorn, May in Aquarius, June and July in Pisces. Eros then loops back into Pegasus in August and ends the year on the Pegasus-Piscean border.

Note: On Monday, February 12th 2001, the NEAR spacecraft touched down on asteroid 433 Eros sending back at least 69 intriguing images. Eros is thought to have broken apart at one time and fused back together resembling a strangely formed potato. Eros orbits between Earth and Mars with craters, groves, a large central gouge, and boulders the size of houses.

Dwarf Planet Eris (UB313)
"Swims with Cetus" this year.

Note: The discovery of Eris on January 5, 2005 by Mike Brown, Chad Trujillo and David Rabinowitz at Palomar observatory sparked the controversy over the definition of a planet. Eris is slightly larger than Pluto, so the initial debate was: "if Pluto is a planet Eris qualifies as well." Eris is not only the largest dwarf planet in the solar system, but is also the largest object in orbit around the Sun since the discovery of Neptune and Triton and is the most distant object seen in our solar system. Eris's orbital period is 556.7 years.