2005: A Year of Sky Events

Mark your calendar for these interesting alignments, conjunctions, occultations, eclipses & meteor showers in the year 2005. Times are calculated for Phoenix, Arizona; other locations may differ. Most will be easy to see with the unaided eye, some very challenging -- take a look! Constructive comments and corrections welcome. This list may be copied and distributed for non-commercial use, but it must be credited to Joe Orman.

• January 1 (morning): Mercury 1 degree above Venus, low in SE before sunrise. Mars and star Antares to upper right.

• January 4 (morning): Star Spica 2 degrees to lower right of thick crescent moon, Jupiter 8 degrees to upper right, high in S before sunrise.

• January 7 (morning) Crescent moon, Mars and star Antares form triangle within 5 degrees, in SE before sunrise. Venus and Mercury to lower left.

• January 7-8 (night): Comet C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) 2 degrees west of the Pleiades star cluster.

• January 8 (morning): Mercury 1 degree to upper right of Venus, crescent moon 8 degrees to right, low in SE before sunrise.

• January 12-13 (mornings): Mercury 1/3 degrees to right of Venus, very low in SE before sunrise.

• February 15-16 (night): Star cluster Pleiades 1 degree to right of first-quarter moon, set in WNW about 1:30 a.m.

• March 2-3 (night): Last-quarter Moon occults star Antares (moonrise 1:19 a.m. MST, disappears behind bright side 1:25 a.m., reappears from dark side 2:22 a.m.), low in SE.

• March 11 (evening): Mercury 5 degrees to lower right of crescent moon, low in W after sunset.

• March 20: Spring equinox (5:33 a.m. MST). Sunrise straight east (6:32 a.m., azimuth 89.5 degrees), sunset straight west (6:40 p.m., azimuth 270.8 degrees). Always use proper eye protection when viewing the sun.

• March 25 (morning): Full moon sets straight west at sunrise (moon 1 degree up straight west at 6:16 a.m. MST, sunrise 6:25 a.m.).

• March 31 (morning): Star Antares 3 degrees to left of gibbous moon, in S before sunrise (occultation for Japan and Hawaii).

• April 8 (afternoon): Very slight partial solar eclipse, high in SW. Mere sliver of SE edge of sun will be covered. Starts 2:31 p.m. MST, greatest 3:04 p.m., ends 3:37 p.m. (annular/total in Southern Hemisphere). Always use proper eye protection when viewing the sun.

• April 11 (evening): Star cluster Pleiades 1 degree to lower right of crescent moon, in W after sunset.

• May 2 (morning): Mars 5 degrees to upper left of thick crescent moon, in SE before sunrise.

• May 23-24 (night): Full moon occults star Antares in S. Disappears 12:07 a.m. MST, reappears 1:25 a.m.

• May 31 (morning): Mars 1 degree above thick crescent moon, rising in E about 1:30 a.m. and in SE before sunrise.

• June 9 (evening): Saturn 5 degrees to lower left of crescent moon, in W after sunset. Stars Castor and Pollux straight in line to right, Venus to lower right.

• June 15-16 (night): Jupiter 2 degrees to upper left of gibbous moon, high in S after sunset. Set in W about 1:00 a.m. with Jupiter 1 degree to upper right of moon.

• June 25 (evening): Saturn 1 1/2 degrees to lower left of Venus, Mercury 1/2 degree to lower right of Venus, low in W after sunset. Stars Castor and Pollux straight in line to right.

• June 27 (evening): Mercury just 9 arc-minutes (!) to left of Venus, very low in WNW after sunset.

• July 2 (morning): Star cluster Pleiades 5 degrees to lower left of crescent moon, in E before sunrise.

• July 8 (evening): Mercury 2 degrees to lower left of Venus, crescent Moon 3 degrees above, low in W after sunset.

• July 17 (evening): Gibbous moon occults star Antares, in S after sunset. Disappears behind dark edge 8:32 p.m. MST, reappears from bright edge 9:13 p.m.

• July 22 (evening): Star Regulus 1 degree to lower left of Venus, low in W after sunset.

• August 7 (evening): Venus 1 degree to left of crescent Moon, low in W after sunset.

• August 9 (evening): Jupiter 3 degrees to upper left of crescent moon, in W after sunset. Venus to lower right, star Spica to upper left.

• August 11 - 12 (night): Perseids meteor shower. First-quarter moon setting about 11 p.m. will not interfere. Shower radiates from constellation Perseus, which rises in NE about 10 p.m. Best time to look between midnight and morning twilight. Typical rate 50 to 100 meteors per hour. Night of August 12 - 13 good too.

• August 25-26 (night): Star cluster Pleiades 1 degree to left of last-quarter moon, rise in ENE about 11:00 p.m. 2 degrees apart near zenith at dawn on August 26.

• September 1 (evening): Jupiter 1 1/2 degrees to the upper right of Venus, low in W after sunset. Star Spica 5 degrees to left.

• September 2 (morning): Mercury 3 degrees to right of crescent moon, very low in E before sunrise.

• September 6 (evening): Jupiter, Venus, star Spica and crescent moon tight grouping within 5 degrees, low in W after sunset.

• September 21 (evening): Mars 5 degrees to lower right of gibbous moon, rising in SE about 9 p.m.

• September 22: Fall equinox (3:23 p.m. MST). Sunrise straight east (6:16 a.m., azimuth 89.2 degrees), sunset straight west (6:25 p.m., azimuth 270.5 degrees). Always use proper eye protection when viewing the sun.

• October 6 (evening): Venus 3 degrees above crescent Moon, low in SW after sunset.

• October 16 (evening): Star Antares 1 1/2 degrees to lower left of Venus, low in SW after sunset.

• October 17 (morning): Very slight partial lunar eclipse, in W before sunrise. Moon enters umbra 4:32 a.m. MST, middle of eclipse 5:00 a.m. (only 6% of the moon's diameter in umbra), leaves umbra 5:26 a.m.

• October 18-19 (night): Mars 5 degrees directly below full moon as they rise in ENE about 7:00 p.m., close all night.

• October 29-30 (night): Mars closest to earth and biggest diameter (20.2 arc-seconds). Close to opposition, up all night.

• November 3 (evening): Mercury 2 degrees to upper right of very thin crescent Moon, very low in SW after sunset. Venus to upper left.

• November 6 (evening): Venus 4 degrees to right of crescent Moon, in SW after sunset.

• November 14 (evening): Mars 2 degrees straight below full moon, low in E after sunset.

• December 4 (evening): Venus 5 degrees to right of crescent Moon, in SW after sunset.

• December 11-12 (night): Mars 1 1/2 degrees to lower left of gibbous moon, high in E after sunset. Pass within 1 degree of each other later at night, set in W about 4:00 a.m. with Mars 3 degrees directly below moon.

• December 25 (morning): Star Spica very close to thick crescent moon, high in S before sunrise. Only 3 arc-minutes (!) from edge of moon at dawn (occultation for central and eastern North America).