Jan - April 2009
I rely heavily on the Sky Calendar from Abrams Planetarium for the information here. You can get your own copy by sending $11 to SKy Calendar, Abrams Planetarium, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI 48824.
January
4th Mercury at greatest eastern elongation, look for it in the west just after sunset
10th Full moon
13th Venus greatest easter elongation, look for it in the west in the evening. Will be getting brighter in the coming weeks
26th annular eclipse visible from indian ocean
28th look for a crescent moon with Venus
Winter objects are best, with fall objects early in the evening in the west and Spring objects in view later in the east.
February
2nd first quarter moon
5th Saturn rises as Venus sets
9th Penumbral eclipse visible from western US
13th Mercury at greatest western elongation, look half an hour before sunrise in the east
23rd Very old moon, Mars, Jupiter and Mercury crowd together in the morning sky.
27th Moon and Venus less than 1º apart
Winter objects are best, with Spring objects in view late in the evening.
March
2nd last day to catch Mercury
5th Venus begins retrograde
8th Saturn at opposition, begins rising before sunet tomorrow
9th best day to catch both Venus and Saturn in a single night this semester
22nd cresent moon and Jupiter less thatn 1º apart in morning sky
23rd crescent moon and Mars less than 1º apart in morning sky. Last easy old moon for a while.
27th Venus at inferior conjunction. It passes 8º N of the Sun, which means it is far enough to observe it at sunset and sunrise on the 28th using binoculars, but BE CAREFUL NOT TO POINT AT THE SUN!
30th Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all visible in the pre-dawn sky
Winter and Spring objects share the sky.