Sky Watch

I'm a naked eye astronomer, as were all astronomers before the invention of the telescope, four centuries ago. I love to watch the sky at night, observing the slow dance of the planets amongst the stars.

Today we get only a dim glimpse of what earlier peoples must have seen in skies free from dust pollution and, in urban areas, from the light pollution that bleaches out all but the moon and brightest stars.

Here are some things you can see in the night sky as the never-repeating, never-ending, cosmic dance continues. (Positions are for evening sky, unless otherwise stated.)

Planet Positions:

Mercury is usually hard to see because its stays close to the sun. Its orbits the sun once every 88 days, and so alternates between evening sky and morning sky approximately every 6 weeks. There's a good sighting in early March, when it is in a straight line from Jupiter down through Venus.

Venus is bright in the Western evening sky through the Spring. It meets with Jupiter in a spectacular conjunction on March 13. In April in begins to draw back down, and ends this year's spectacular appearance in early June, appearing as a bright morning star in the Autumn.

Mars is rising around dusk in the Spring, and is in opposition, high overhead at midnight, at tis closest approach to Earth for 15 years and its brightest in early March. Through the summer Mars and Saturn dance together across the heavens, meeting in the West in August as they disappear together into the sun's glare.

Jupiter Jupiter is high in the west in the Spring moving towards Jupiter, whom it meets on March 13. Then drops rapidly towards the sunset, disappearing from view in late April. It reappears in the evening sky at the end of the year, ending a couple of months of an evening sky devoid of planets. It ends the year in opposition and shining brightly through the night.

Saturn rises after dusk in the early Spring. By April it is in opposition, rising at dusk and up all night. It dances with Mars through the summer (see Mars).

Sky at a glance for current week.

NASA Solar System Simulator for a view of the planets and their moons at any time, and almost any angle.

Animated orrery Beautiful bird's view of solar system.

Meteor Showers

Quadrantids. Maximum at January 3-4
Lyrids. Maximum at April 21/22
Eta Aquirids. Maximum at May 5/6
Delta Aquarids. Maximums at July 29 (S hemisphere) and August 13 (N hemisphere)
Perseids. One of best meteor showers of the year. Maximums nights of 11-12 August.
Orionids. Maximum 21 October.
Leonids. Maximum 17-18 November.
Geminids. Maximum 13-14 December.

The Ecliptic
For spotting planets, and following their motion, it is helpful to know where the ecliptic is. The ecliptic is the imaginary line stretching across the sky, along which the sun, moon and planets all appear to move. If, for example, the sun has just set, and the moon is up high, then the ecliptic is the line from the sun (somewhere just over the horizon) through the moon and beyond to the opposite horizon. The planets will also be not far from that line. Or, if you can see two planets, but no moon, the line through the two planets defines the ecliptic. It doesn't take long to get to know where the ecliptic lies, and roughly where to look for planets.