Transit of Venus
Image: Starry Night
As the year 2011 comes to a close, some might wonder what is looming sky-wise for 2012? What celestial events might we look forward to seeing?
I've selected what I consider to be the top 12 "skylights" for this coming year, and list them here in chronological order. Not all these events will be visible from any one locality … for the eclipses, for instance, you'll probably have to do some traveling … but many can be observed from the comfort of your backyard.
Hopefully your local weather will cooperate on most, if not all, of these dates. Clear skies!
Jan. 4: Quadrantid meteor shower peaks
This meteor shower reaches its peak in the predawn hours of Jan. 4 for eastern North America. The Quadrantid meteor shower is a very short-lived meteor display, whose peak rates only last several hours. The phase of the moon is a bright waxing gibbous, normally prohibitive for viewing any meteor shower, but the moon will set by 3 a.m., leaving the sky dark for a few hours until the first light of dawn; that's when you'll have the best shot at seeing many of these bluish-hued meteors.
From the eastern half of North America, a single observer might count on seeing as many as 50-to-100 "Quads" in a single hour. From the western half of the continent the display will be on the wane by the time the moon sets, with hourly rates probably diminishing to around 25 to 50 meteors.
Feb. 20 to March 12: Best evening apparition of Mercury
In February and March, the "elusive" innermost planet Mercury moves far enough from the glare of the sun to be readily visible soon after sunset. Its appearance will be augmented by two other bright planets (Venus and Jupiter), which also will be visible in the western sky during this same time frame.
Mercury will arrive at its greatest elongation from the sun March 5. It will be quite bright (-1.3-to-0 magnitude) before this date and will fade rapidly to +1.6 magnitude thereafter. Astronomers measure the brightness of objects in terms of magnitude, with lower numbers corresponding to brighter objects.
March 3: Mars arrives at opposition
On March 3, the Earth will be passing Mars as the two planets wheel around the sun in their respective orbits. Because Mars reaches aphelion — its farthest point from the sun — on Feb. 15, this particular opposition will be an unfavorable one. In fact, two days after opposition, Mars will be closest to Earth at a distance of 62.6 million miles.
Compare this with the August 2003 opposition when Mars was only 34.6 million miles away. Nonetheless, even at this unfavorable opposition the fiery-hued Mars will be an imposing naked-eye sight, shining at magnitude -1.2, just a bit dimmer than Sirius, the brightest star, and will be visible in the sky all night long.
March 13: Brilliant "double planet"
The two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, team up to make for an eye-catching sight in the western sky soon after sunset. They will be separated by 3 degrees on this evening, Venus passing to the northwest (upper right) of Jupiter and shining nearly eight times brighter than "Big Jupe." Although they will gradually go their separate ways after this date, on March 25 and 26, a crescent moon will pass by, adding additional beauty to this celestial scene.
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7 Comments
Add CommentHow come you didn't list all the planets lining up with the center of the Universe by Dec. 21, 2012? Or will nobody be able to see that?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSee: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades, Earth will not cross the galactic plane in 2012, and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. Each December the Earth and sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence."
Indeed 2012 will be interesting. The venus transit is the rarest. while you mention it happens on June 5th, this is only true for the west of the Us which will see only the beginning of the transit, until the sun set. Europe and Asias will see it as the sun rise on the 6th of June.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thischeck here for a full timetable for any location on earth:
http://www.thevenustransit.com/2011/12/venus-transit-timetable.html
There is another major event you did not mention maybe because it will not be seen from the US. On July 15th the moon will occulate Jupiter! This is a great site seeing jupiter disappear behind the moon. Watching with telescope will be even better. If not seen in the USA I am sure that many places will have a live cover of the event!
Also in 2012 the world willnot get to its end which is another major event (I hope)!
Is there some sky object that is designated Magnitude Zero? I kind of thought it was Sirius, the brightest star, but not according to the article.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTO Daniel35. Yes there is. Vega in Lyra is considered to be 0, although when the scale got very accurate it is now little less than 0 (Little less Bright). Sirius is about -1.5, Jupiter and Venus are the brightest but they are planets. You can see Venus in the west right after sunset. Very bright. Jupiter is seen high in the sky after sunset and set a little after midnight.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou worked very hard on composing an intelligent answer and you make a good point as well; you've earned yourself a nugget, however, there is no need for 'the' when speaking of planet Earth. You wouldn't say 'effects on the Mars' either, you would say effect on Mars. Capiche? Compredeh? Panimajes? Fierstein sie?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOn May 20 for the eclips. If I were to drive North on I15 from Las Vegas, where should I stop? Is there a map showing the shadows path?
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