Monthly Night Sky Calendar

This chart shows the night sky as appears the first of the month at 9:30 p.m., the middle of the month at 8:30 p.m., and the end of the month at 7:30 p.m. from latitude 30º N. Hold the chart so the direction you are facing is at the bottom. For example, if you are facing north, turn the chart around so "Northern Horizon" is at the bottom as you hold it out in front of you. The stars on the lower part of the chart are those you will be facing in the sky. The stars at the chart's center represents the part of the sky straight overhead. [Sky chart generated using Cartes du Ciel freeware.] / To keep your eyes adjusted to the darkness as you look a the night sky, use a red-light flashlight to view the chart. You can make your own by putting red cellophane over the light or by coloring the lens of the flashlight with a red marker pen.

Sun

Feb. 1 – Sunrise: 7:21 a.m.; Sunset: 6:03 p.m. / Feb. 15 – Sunrise: 7:10 a.m.; Sunset: 6:15 p.m. / Feb. 29 – Sunrise: 6:56 a.m.; Sunset: 6:27 p.m. (Times exact for Waco, TX)

Night Sky Events

[Held at arm's length, the width of your fist is 10º and the width of your index finger is 1º. The width of a full Moon is ½º.][ ** denotes "don't miss" events ]

• Feb. 2 Thu.: Groundhog Day and Candlemas, a cross-quarter day celebrating the middle of winter; and whether or not the groundhog sees his shadow, there will be 46 more days of winter.
• 2 Thu. evening: The gibbous Moon is in Taurus the Bull, between the Pleiades star cluster and the star Aldebaran, the bull's red eye, high overhead.
• 7 Tue.: Mercury is at superior conjunction with (behind) the Sun, moving into the evening sky.
• 7 Tue.: The full Moon is called the Wolf Moon, Snow Moon, and Hunger Moon.
• 8 Wed.: Saturn begins retrograde (westward) motion as seen against the background stars.
• 9 Thu. evening: Brilliant Venus passes less than a moonwidth (18') to the right of much fainter Uranus low in the west; seeing Uranus requires at least binoculars.
• 9 Thu. evening: After they rise ~8 p.m., the bright gibbous Moon is one fist-width (held at arm's length) (9 degrees) to the right of reddish Mars which has brightened notably since the beginning of the year.
• 12 Sun. late evening: After they rise ~11 p.m., the gibbous Moon is six moonwidths (3 degrees) to the upper right of the star Spica which itself is twice that far to the upper right of slightly brighter Saturn; by morning the trio will high in the south.
• 14 Tue. morning: The Moon is at 3rd quarter.
• 15 Wed. morning: The Moon is one-half a fist-width (5 degrees) above the reddish star Antares low in the south southeast at dawn.
• 21 Tue.: The Moon is new – between the Earth and Sun.
• 22 Wed. early evening: Soon after sunset, the very thin crescent Moon is one-half of a fist-width to the right of Mercury very low in the west with brilliant Venus looking down from three fist-widths above. Binoculars will help.
• 25 Sat. evening: The crescent Moon passes 3+ degrees to the upper right of Venus in the west.
• 26 Sun. evening: The crescent Moon passes 4 degrees to the lower right of Jupiter in the west.
• 29 Wed.: Leap Day is inserted every four years to account for the fact that a year is actually 365¼ days, thus 2012 has 366 days rather than the usual 365.
• 29 Wed. evening: The Moon is at 1st quarter.
• Late February, under clear, dark moonless skies, is a good time to see the zodiacal light for a couple of hours after evening darkness, and gegenschein (counter-glow) around midnight. Both appear as soft glows resulting from sunlight reflected off meteoric dust in the plane of our solar system.

Naked-eye Planets

• EVENINGS: Neptune (early in month), Venus, Uranus, Jupiter, Mars (late evening), Mercury (latter part of month)
• MORNINGS: Saturn, Mars
• Mercury starts Feb. in the Sun, then emerges in the evening low in the west by mid-month.
• Venus is the brilliant “evening star” in the west setting three hours after the Sun.
• Mars is up by 9 p.m. and is high in the southwest in the morning.
• Jupiter, in the west in the evening, sets by midnight.
• Saturn is up by midnight and high in the south southeast in the morning.

The Planets on February 1

Moon

[Except when doing lunar viewing, stargazers regard the Moon as "natural" light pollution which interferes with viewing the night sky, just as human-created light pollution does. This is why most evening star parties are held around 3rd quarter and new Moon.]

• Tue. Feb. 07 -- Full Moon (poor stargazing all night)
  
• Tue. Feb. 14 -- 3rd quarter (good evening stargazing, poor morning)
  
• Tue. Feb. 21 -- New Moon (good stargazing all night)
  
• Wed. Feb. 29 -- 1st quarter (good morning stargazing, poor evening)
  

January 2012

This chart shows the night sky as appears the first of the month at 9 p.m., the middle of the month at 8 p.m., and the end of the month at 7 p.m. from latitude 30º N. Hold the chart so the direction you are facing is at the bottom. For example, if you are facing north, turn the chart around so "Northern Horizon" is at the bottom as you hold it out in front of you. The stars on the lower part of the chart are those you will be facing in the sky. The stars at the chart's center represents the part of the sky straight overhead. [Sky chart generated using Cartes du Ciel freeware.] / To keep your eyes adjusted to the darkness as you look a the night sky, use a red-light flashlight to view the chart. You can make your own by putting red cellophane over the light or by coloring the lens of the flashlight with a red marker pen.

Sun

Jan. 1 – Sunrise: 7:28 a.m.; Sunset: 5:36 p.m. / Jan. 15 – Sunrise: 7:28 a.m.; Sunset: 5:48 p.m. / Jan. 31 – Sunrise: 7:22 a.m.; Sunset: 6:02 p.m. (Times exact for Waco, TX)

Night Sky Events

[Held at arm's length, the width of your fist is 10º and the width of your index finger is 1º. The width of a full Moon is ½º.][ ** denotes "don't miss" events ]

• Jan. 1 Sun. evening: The Moon is at 1st quarter.
  
• 2 Tue. evening: The gibbous Moon is 5 degrees above bright Jupiter high in the south.
  
• 4 Wed.: Earth is at perihelion, its nearest point to the Sun in its annual elliptical orbit at a distance of 91.3 million miles (.9833 a.u.).
  
• 4 Wed. morning: The Quadrantid meteor shower, which peaks in the north, is best seen this year after the Moon sets at 3:20 a.m. and before the light of dawn.
  
• 9 Mon.: The Full Moon is called the Old Moon, Moon After Yule, and Wolf Moon.
  
• 13 Fri.: Friday the 13th, considered unlucky by the superstitious, comes around twice more, in April and July; avoid bad luck by not being superstitious.
  
• 13 Fri. morning: The gibbous Moon is a fist-width (held at arm's length) to the lower right of Mars high in the southwest, and is the same distance to the lower left the next evening.
  
• 13 Fri. evening: Brilliant Venus is two moonwidths to the left of much fainter Neptune low in the west southwest; seeing Neptune requires at least binoculars or a small telescope.
  
• 16 Mon. morning: The 3rd quarter Moon (lower right), the star Spica (4 degrees above the Moon), and the planet Saturn (7 degrees to their left) form a triangle high in the south southeast.
  
• 19 Thu. morning: The crescent Moon is 4 degrees to the upper left of Scorpius' brightest star Antares low in the southeast before dawn.
  
• 23 Mon.: The Moon is new – between the Sun and Earth.
  
• 24 Tue.: Mars begins retrograde (westward) motion as seen against the background stars.
  
• 25 Wed. evening: The crescent Moon is a fist-width (9 degrees) to the lower right of Venus low in the west in the early evening, and the same distance (8 degrees) to the upper right the next evening.
  
• 29 Sun. evening: The Moon is 7 degrees to the lower right of Jupiter high in the south, and 8 degrees above the giant planet the next evening.
  
• 30 Mon. evening: The Moon is at 1st quarter for the second time this month.
  

Naked-eye Planets

[The Sun, Moon and planets rise in the east and set in the west due to Earth's west-to-east rotation on its axis.]

• EVENINGS: Venus, Jupiter, Mars (later in evening)
• MORNINGS: Mercury (early in the month), Saturn, Mars
• Mercury is low in the east southeast early in the month, then spends the rest of January in the Sun.
• Venus is the brilliant “evening star” in the west.
• Mars now rises in the late evening and is high in the southwest in the morning.
• Jupiter, high in the southwest in the evening, sets after midnight.
• Saturn is up after midnight and high in the south southeast in the morning.

The Planets on January 1

	Mag	Rises	Transits	Sets
Sun	-27	7:27 a.m.	12:31 p.m.	5:36 p.m.
Mercury	-0.4	6:00 a.m.	11:05 a.m.	4:10 p.m.
Venus	-4.0	9:40 a.m.	2:56 p.m.	8:13 p.m.
Mars	0.2	10:54 p.m.	5:15 a.m.	11:33 a.m.
Jupiter	-2.6	1:11 p.m	7:39 p.m.	2:10 a.m.
Saturn	0.7	1:54 a.m.	7:34 a.m.	1:15 p.m.
Uranus	5.8	11:47 a.m.	5:48 p.m.	11:49 9.m.
Neptune	7.9	10:18 a.m.	3:49 p.m.	9:20 p.m.

Times are exact for Waco/Central Texas and may vary +/-30 minutes for other areas.
Mag = magnitude, a measure of brightness where the lower the number, the brighter the object.
Transit occurs when an object is on the meridian (the north-south line across the sky) and is at its highest point in the sky.

Morning planets one hour before sunrise (E to W):

Planet	Altitude	Azimuth
Mercury	5º	120º ESE
Saturn	47º	155º SSE
Mars	60º	218º SW

Evening planets one hour after sunset (W to E):

Planet	Altitude	Azimuth
Venus	18º	235º SW
Neptune	31º	229º SW
Uranus	56º	202º SSW
Jupiter	64º	142º SE

Altitude = degrees above the horizon where 0º is at the horizon and 90º is straight overhead.
Azimuth = degrees around the horizon clockwise with N = 0º, E = 90º, S = 180º, and W = 270º.

Moon

[Except when doing lunar viewing, stargazers regard the Moon as "natural" light pollution which interferes with viewing the night sky, just as human-created light pollution does. This is why most evening star parties are held around 3rd quarter and new Moon.]

• Sun. Jan. 01 -- 1st quarter (good morning stargazing, poor evening)
  
• Mon. Jan. 09 -- Full Moon (poor stargazing all night)
  
• Mon. Jan. 16 -- 3rd quarter (good evening stargazing, poor morning)
  
• Mon. Jan. 23 -- New Moon (good stargazing all night)
  
• Mon. Jan. 30 -- 1st quarter (good morning stargazing, poor evening)
  

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December 2011

This chart shows the night sky as appears the first of the month at 9 p.m., the middle of the month at 8 p.m., and the end of the month at 7 p.m. from latitude 30º N. Hold the chart so the direction you are facing is at the bottom. For example, if you are facing north, turn the chart around so "Northern Horizon" is at the bottom as you hold it out in front of you. The stars on the lower part of the chart are those you will be facing in the sky. The stars at the chart's center represents the part of the sky straight overhead. [Sky chart generated using Cartes du Ciel freeware.] / To keep your eyes adjusted to the darkness as you look a the night sky, use a red-light flashlight to view the chart. You can make your own by putting red cellophane over the light or by coloring the lens of the flashlight with a red marker pen.

• Sun
  Dec. 1 – Sunrise: 7:10 a.m.; Sunset: 5:25 p.m. / Dec. 15 – Sunrise: 7:20 a.m.; Sunset: 5:27 p.m. / Dec. 31 – Sunrise: 7:28 a.m.; Sunset: 5:36 p.m. (Times exact for Waco, TX)

• Moon
  Dec. 2: 1st Quarter / Dec. 10: Full / Dec. 17: 3rd Quarter / Dec. 24: New

• Night Sky Events [Held at arm's length, the width of your fist is 10º and the width of your index finger is 1º. The width of a full Moon is ½º.]
  

• 2 Fri. evening: The Moon is at 1st quarter.
  
• 4 Sun.: Mercury is in inferior conjunction between Earth and Sun, passing into the morning sky.
  
• 6 Tue. evening: The large gibbous Moon is to the left of bright Jupiter.
  
• 10 Sat.: The full Moon, called the Moon Before Yule and the Long Night Moon, features a total lunar eclipse visible only over the extreme western and northwestern U.S., the Pacific, and the far east.
  
• 13 Tue. all night: The Geminid meteor shower peaks with the best chance of seeing meteors before the 10:30 p.m. moonrise; face east and look upward.
  
• 17 Sat. morning: The 3rd quarter Moon is below Mars high in the south.
  
• 9 Mon.: Saturnalia, an ancient Roman festival honoring the god Saturn, father of Jupiter.
  
• 19 Mon. morning: A waning crescent Moon is a fist-width (held at arm's length) to the right of Saturn with the star Spica between them; the next morning the Moon is below them.
  
• 21 Wed.: Winter solstice – Northern Hemisphere’s first day of winter and shortest day of year.
  
• 22 Thu. morning: A thin crescent Moon is to the upper right of Mercury and straight above the star Antares which is near the southeastern horizon; binoculars will help in spotting Mercury and Antares.
  
• 22 Thu. all night: The Ursid meteor shower peaks with the best chance of seeing meteors coming after midnight; face north and look upward.
  
• 24 Sat.: The Moon is new.
  
• 26 Mon. early evening: At dusk the crescent Moon is to the lower right of Venus low in the west southwest, and above the brilliant “evening star” the next night.
  

Planets

[The Sun, Moon and planets rise in the east and set in the west due to Earth's west-to-east rotation on its axis.]

• Mercury begins the month in the Sun and emerges in the morning low in the E by mid-month.
• Venus is becoming increasingly prominent as the “evening star” low in the W.
• Mars, in Leo, rises around midnight and is high in the SE by morning.
• Jupiter, in retrograde (westard) motion, leaves Aries and spends most of the month back just inside Picses; well up in the E in the evening, Jupiter sets in in the wee hours of morning.
• Saturn, in Virgo, rises in the wee hours of morning and is well up in the E by dawn.
• Uranus, in Pisces, and Neptune, in Aquarius, are both well up in the S and SW; Neptune sets just before midnight, Uranus, soon after.

The Planets on December 1

	Mag	Rises	Transits	Sets
Sun	-27	7:10 a.m.	12:17 p.m.	5:25 p.m.
Mercury	3.8	7:41 a.m.	12:43 p.m.	5:46 p.m.
Venus	-3.9	9:18 a.m.	2:16 p.m.	7:13 p.m.
Mars	0.7	12:09 a.m.	6:36 a.m.	1:03 p.m.
Jupiter	-2.8	3:16 p.m	9:44 p.m.	4:16 a.m.
Saturn	0.7	3:44 a.m.	9:27 a.m.	3:09 p.m.
Uranus	5.8	1:49 p.m.	7:49 p.m.	1:54 a.m.
Neptune	7.9	12:18 p.m.	5:49 p.m.	11:19 p.m.

Times are exact for Waco/Central Texas and may vary +/-30 minutes for other areas.
Mag = magnitude, a measure of brightness where the lower the number, the brighter the object.
Transit occurs when an object is on the meridian (the north-south line across the sky) and is at its highest point in the sky.

Morning planets one hour before sunrise (E to W):

Planet	Altitude	Azimuth
Saturn	29º	121º ESE
Mars	68º	163º SSE

Evening planets one hour after sunset (W to E):

Planet	Altitude	Azimuth
Venus	8º	234º SW
Neptune	45º	192º SSW
Uranus	52º	144º SE
Jupiter	39º	103º ESE

Altitude = degrees above the horizon where 0º is at the horizon and 90º is straight overhead.
Azimuth = degrees around the horizon clockwise with N = 0º, E = 90º, S = 180º, and W = 270º.

December Moon

[Except when doing lunar viewing, stargazers regard the Moon as "natural" light pollution which interferes with viewing the night sky, just as human-created light pollution does. This is why most evening star parties are held around 3rd quarter and new Moon.]

• Fri. Dec. 02 -- 1st quarter (good morning stargazing, poor evening)
  
• Sat. Dec. 10 -- Full Moon (poor stargazing all night)
  
• Sat. Dec. 17 -- 3rd quarter (good evening stargazing, poor morning)
  
• Sat. Dec. 24 -- New Moon (good stargazing all night)
  

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November 2011

This chart shows the night sky as appears on the 1st at 9 p.m., on the 15th at 8 p.m., and on the 30th at 7 p.m. from latitude 30º N. Hold the chart so the direction you are facing is at the bottom. For example, if you are facing north, turn the chart around so "Northern Horizon" is at the bottom as you hold it out in front of you. The stars on the lower part of the chart are those you will be facing in the sky. The stars at the chart's center represents the part of the sky straight overhead. [Sky chart generated using Cartes du Ciel freeware.] / To keep your eyes adjusted to the darkness as you look a the night sky, use a red-light flashlight to view the chart. You can make your own by putting red cellophane over the light or by coloring the lens of the flashlight with a red marker pen.

Events

[Held at arm's length, the width of your fist is 10º, the width of your index finger is 1º. The width of a full Moon is 1/2º.]
[ ** denotes "don't miss" events ]

• Nov. 2 Wed. evening: The Moon is at 1st quarter.
  
• 6 Sun., 2 a.m.: Set clocks back one hour to Standard Time.
  
• 9 Wed. evening: Venus, Mercury, Antares are setting in WSW 30 minutes after sunset as Jupiter and the nearly full Moon are rising in the E.
  
• 10 Thu.: The full Moon is called the Frosty Moon, the Beaver Moon, and the Snow Moon.
  
• 11 Fri. morning: Mars is just to the left of the star Regulus high in the SE and Saturn is to the upper left of the star Spica low in the ESE.
  
• 14 Mon. evening: Mercury is at greatest eastern elongation 23º from the setting Sun.
  
• 17 Thu. morning: The Leonid meteor shower peaks but the Moon, which rises after midnight, will interfere with the best meteor-viewing hours of morning.
  
• 18 Fri. morning: The Moon is at 3rd quarter.
  
• 18 & 19 Fri. & Sat. mornings: The Moon passes to the upper right (Fri.) then lower right (Sat.) of Mars and Regulus well up in the ESE.
  
• 22 Tue. morning: The crescent Moon passes just to the right of Spica (nearest) and Saturn low in the ESE.
  
• 25 Fri.: The new Moon produces a partial solar eclipse that won't be visible in our part of the world.
  
• 26 Sat. early evening: Brilliant Venus and a thin crescent Moon are low in the WSW with Mercury to their lower right.
  

Planets

[The Sun, Moon and planets rise in the east and set in the west due to Earth's west-to-east rotation on its axis.]

• Mercury is near the SW horizon at dusk, just below Venus, most of the month.
• Venus is climbing higher daily, becoming the prominent “evening star” in the W.
• Mars, now in Leo, is up in the E well before sunrise.
• Jupiter, in Aries, is well up in the E in the early evening and high in the W by morning.
• Saturn, in Virgo, is beginning to emerge from the glare of the rising Sun low in the E at dawn.
• Uranus, in Pisces, and Neptune, in Aquarius, are both well up in the S in the evening and set in the wee hours of morning.

The Planets on November 1

[Standard Times]

	Mag	Rises	Transits	Sets
Sun	-27	6:44 a.m.	12:12 p.m.	7:13 p.m.
Mercury	-0.3	8:23 a.m.	1:29 p.m.	6:35 p.m.
Venus	-3.9	8:22 a.m.	1:33 p.m.	6:44 p.m.
Mars	1.1	12:58 a.m.	7:38 a.m.	2:17 p.m.
Jupiter	-2.9	5:24 p.m	11:55 p.m.	6:30 a.m.
Saturn	0.7	5:27 a.m.	11:12 a.m.	4:57 p.m.
Uranus	5.7	3:48 p.m.	9:49 p.m.	3:55 a.m.
Neptune	7.9	2:16 p.m.	7:46 p.m.	1:30 a.m.

Times are exact for Waco/Central Texas and may vary +/-30 minutes for other areas.
Mag = magnitude, a measure of brightness where the lower the number, the brighter the object.
Transit occurs when an object is on the meridian (the north-south line across the sky) and is at its highest point in the sky.

Morning planets one hour before sunrise (E to W):

Planet	Altitude	Azimuth
Saturn	3º	100º ESE
Mars	59º	116º ESE
Jupiter	9º	278º W

Evening planets one hour after sunset (W to E):

Planet	Altitude	Azimuth
Neptune	43º	157º SSE
Uranus	35º	116º ESE
Jupiter	15º	85º E

Altitude = degrees above the horizon where 0º is at the horizon and 90º is straight overhead.
Azimuth = degrees around the horizon clockwise with N = 0º, E = 90º, S = 180º, and W = 270º.

November Moon

[Except when doing lunar viewing, stargazers regard the Moon as "natural" light pollution which interferes with viewing the night sky, just as human-created light pollution does. This is why most evening star parties are held around 3rd quarter and new Moon.]

• Wed. Nov. 02 -- 1st quarter (good morning stargazing, poor evening)
  
• Thu. Nov. 10 -- Full Moon (poor stargazing all night)
  
• Fri. Nov. 18 -- 3rd quarter (good evening stargazing, poor morning)
  
• Fri. Nov. 25 -- New Moon (good stargazing all night)
  

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