Here are some of the more
noteworthy sky events that will take place this year. SPACE.com's weekly Night
Sky column will provide more extensive coverage of each event as they draw closer.
March 3, May 24, July
17-18 - Occultations of the star Antares. This ruddy, first-magnitude star
will be hidden three times for parts of North America in 2005. The March event
involves a last quarter Moon and favors central and western regions before sunrise.
The May occultation will be visible across the lower 48 states and southern
Canada during the predawn hours, but the Moon is practically full. The July
opportunity will be accessible only across the southern U.S., though elsewhere
Antares and the 85% waxing gibbous Moon will appear to come tantalizingly close
to each other.
April 8 - Partial Eclipse
of the Sun. This event will be visible only across the southern half of
the United States. An unusual annular-total eclipse will occur chiefly over
the South Pacific Ocean, coming to an end toward sunset over Panama, Colombia
and Venezuela. In the United States, this is primarily a late-afternoon to early
evening eclipse, with the Moon appearing to take a relatively small "bite"
out of the Sun's lower limb.
April 24 - Penumbral
Eclipse of the Moon. This minor lunar eclipse will be visible across much
of North America. The Moon begins to enter the Earth's outer penumbral shadow
at 2:50 a.m. CDT, but the best time to look will be from about 4:30 a.m. until
around 5:20 a.m., when a slight charcoal shading may be evident along the Moon's
upper edge. Maximum eclipse occurs at 4:55 a.m. when 89% of the Moon's diameter
will lie inside the penumbra. For those in the eastern U.S., however, the Moon
will either stand very low above the western horizon, or may have already set.
June 23-29 - Planet
trio. The three planets that will cluster to within 5º of each other, low
in the west-northwest evening twilight are Venus (magnitude -3.9), Saturn (+0.2)
and Mercury (-0.2). Between June 23 and 29, these three will fit within a circle
measuring just 5º across, the smallest circle (1.4º) occurring on June 26. As
such, their rapidly changing night-to-night positions relative to one another
should be most fascinating to watch. Individual conjunctions include Venus and
Saturn (1.3º on June 25), Mercury and Saturn (1.4º on June 26), and Mercury
and Venus (a mere 0.1º on June 27). A drawback for observers will be that these
three planets will be visible for at best for only about an hour after sundown
before they start getting too low to the horizon to be readily observable. Also
during this time frame, take note of the "Twin Stars," Pollux (+1.2)
and Castor (+1.6) of Gemini, which will be positioned roughly 6 to 10º above
and to the right (west-northwest) of the trio.
August 11-12 - Perseid
Meteor Shower. The year 2005 should be a good year for the Perseids because
the bright first quarter Moon will set just before 11 p.m. leaving the sky dark
for the prime meteor-watching hours of early morning. A very good shower such
as this will produce about one meteor per minute for a given observer under
a dark country sky. Any light pollution or moonlight considerably reduces the
count. Typically during an overnight watch, the Perseids are capable of producing
a number of bright, flaring and fragmenting meteors, which leave fine trains
in their wake, making for an exciting night for those who plan to spend a summer's
night camped out under the stars.
October 17 - Partial
Eclipse of the Moon. Admittedly, this really isn't much of an eclipse. The
western U.S. and Canada will see the umbral phase in its entirety (4:34 to 5:33
a.m. PDT), though the central states will get views of the opening stages before
the Moon sets. At maximum, a whopping 7 percent of the Moon is within the Earth's
dark shadow.
October and November:
The Autumn of Mars - Shining like a star with a yellowish-orange hue, Mars
can vary considerably in brightness and this characteristic will be clearly
demonstrated through much of 2005. While initially not much to look at, this
year will evolve into a splendid year for observing Mars. It will be closest
to the Earth on October 29 when it will be just 43.1 million miles away. It
arrives at opposition to the Sun nine days later on November 7. While not as
close an approach as its previous two favorable oppositions (in 2003 and 2001)
such a close approach this year will still loan itself to making Mars appear
exceptionally brilliant. Indeed, through much of the fall, Mars will outshine
Sirius (the brightest of all stars) and during most of October and November
it will rival even Jupiter (the planet normally second in brightness only to
Venus).
December 25 - Occultation
of the star Spica. A celestial Christmas gift for those living in the northwestern
United States and western Canada. Observers will be able to watch as a fat crescent
Moon hides this bluish first magnitude star about 60 to 90 minutes before local
sunrise.
Basic Sky Guides
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Joe Rao
serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium.
He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and
he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News
12 Westchester, New York.
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