The Old Farmer's Almanac contains 14 months' worth of Sky Watch information from our astronomer, Bob Berman. As a courtesy to our Web visitors, the information for the current and upcoming months is included below.
November 2009
On the 1st, Mars, now bright at magnitude 0.4, is in the Beehive star cluster in Cancer and pops above the eastern horizon at around 11:00 P.M. The Moon joins Mars on the 8th and Jupiter on the 23rd. On the 30th, Mars finally cracks magnitude zero, joining the ranks of the five brightest sky objects. By the end of the month, Jupiter, in the opposite part of the sky, is highest at nightfall and sets by 10:00 P.M. Venus closes out the month very low in the predawn east and has faded to magnitude -3.9; its show is over until it returns as a conspicuous evening star next April. Saturn, ensconced in Virgo, its new home for the next three years, is back and nicely high for early risers.
December 2009
Mars, in Leo, rises at around 9:30 P.M. on the 1st, just as Jupiter sinks into the west; they remain on exact opposite sides of the sky. On the 13th, moonless conditions make the Geminids the year's best meteor shower. Mercury has a so-so evening apparition from the 14th to the 26th and is to the upper left of the emerging crescent Moon on the 17th. the Moon passes through the Pleiades star cluster on the 28th; it will be easy to view using only binoculars. On the 31st, Mars, at magnitude -0.7, retrogrades through Leo in preparation for its opposition next month in Cancer. Winter begins with the solstice on the 21st, at 12:47 P.M.
January 2010
The new year opens like a Dickens novel: It’s the best of times for Mars and the worst for Venus, which hides behind the Sun, crossing from the morning to the evening sky on the 11th. Mars makes its closest approach this year on the 27th and is exactly opposite the Sun two nights later. Highest at midnight at magnitude –1.2, orange Mars outshines every star except blue Sirius. It’s a transition time: Mars starts the month in Leo but retrogrades into Cancer. Brilliant Jupiter, low in the southwest at nightfall, starts in Capricornus but crosses into Aquarius. Uranus, in Aquarius, ambles into Pisces. Earth comes closest to the Sun on the 2nd. The year’s nearest Moon—a full Moon, to boot—is on the 30th EST. (On the west coast, the full Moon is on the 29th.)
