Sky Events in 2009

As 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, I have added some stellar events. This will help me tie in stellar events in the southern sky with the Southern Wheel of the Year, as most available information is relevant to the Northern Hemisphere.

The mythology of the planets is added to re-activate my knowledge of the Roman and Greek pantheons.

Times apply to Sydney. (Adelaide add 20 mins, Brisbane take 67, Darwin take 8, Hobart add 16, Melbourne add 25. Perth add 21 mins 1st January to 28th March, take 39 29th March to 4th April, add 21 5th April to 3rd October, take 39 4th October to 24th October, add 21 25th October to 31st December.)

January

First quarter Sunday 4th 10.56pm

Perihelion (Earth closest to Sun) 5th 2am
Perihelion and aphelion are named after Helios the Greek god of the Sun, also known as Titan, Hyperion and Apollo, who daily drove the Sun across the sky in a chariot. In art he wears a crown of the Sun's rays.

Full Moon Sunday 11th 2.27pm

Last quarter Sunday 18th 1.46pm

Dark Moon Monday 26th 6.55pm

Partial eclipse of the Sun by the Moon Australia Day 26th evening
Visible across mainland Australia, 2% visible from Melbourne, 34% visible from Perth. Never look directly into the Sun.

Constellations visible include Orion (3 stars in a short line form his belt) and Eridanus the River (longest constellation, from the bright star Rigel in Orian to Achernar, meaning end of the river).

The Hyades form an inverted V shape within the constellation Taurus the Bull. Look north in the early evening and follow an imaginary line west through Orion's belt.


February

First quarter Tuesday 3rd 10.13am

Full Moon Tuesday 10th 1.49am

Last quarter Tuesday 17th 8.37am

Dark Moon Wednesday 25th 12.35pm

Constellations visible in the night sky include Hydra the Water Snake, which is made up of faint stars but is the largest constellation recognised by modern astronomers.

At 5.30am on the 23rd in the eastern sky, the crescent moon is just above Mercury, Jupiter and Mars which are very close to each other.

Mercury is the Roman god who was the messenger of the gods and a god of trade, profit and commerce. Mercury carries a winged staff with two snakes twined round it and often has a winged helmet. Courier companies, the messengers of commerce, often use wings in their logos. His Greek counterpart is Hermes.

Jupiter was the father and king of the gods and the god of the sky and thunder. His equivalent in the Greek pantheon is Zeus. He is the son of Saturn.


March

First quarter Wednesday 4th 6.46pm

Full Moon Wednesday 11th 1.38pm

Last quarter Thursday 19th 4.47am

Autumnal Equinox (Wine Harvest) Friday 20th 10.44pm
Equinox means equal night, meaning that at the equinoxes the day and night are of equal length.

Dark Moon Friday 27th 3.06am

Mercury and Mars are very close to each other in the eastern sky at 5.30am on the 2nd.

Mars is the warrior god of the Roman pantheon, the lover of Venus and son of Jupiter.


April

First quarter Friday 3rd 1.34am

Daylight Savings in NSW ends at 3am

Full Moon Friday 10th 12.56am

Last quarter Friday 17th 11.36pm

Dark Moon Saturday 25th 1.23pm
Samhain's Dark Moon falls on Anzac Day this year. (International visitors note Anzac Day is the commemoration of Australia's war dead.)

Acrux is the brightest star in the constellation the Southern Cross.

At 5.30am on the 23rd, Venus and Mars are level and very close in the north-north-eastern sky with the crescent moon just below Venus.

Venus is the Roman goddess of love and fertility, counterpart to the Greek goddess Aphrodite. The most famous depiction of Venus is Botticelli's painting The Birth of Venus.


May

First quarter Saturday 2nd 6.44am

Full Moon Saturday 9th 2.10pm

Last quarter Sunday 17th 5.26pm

Dark Moon Sunday 24th 10.11pm

First quarter Sunday 31st 1.22pm

Corvus the Crow is high in the eastern sky. It is four close stars forming a kite shape.

Scorpius is a long curving constellation of bright stars, perpetually chasing Orion with its sting curved up over its back.


June

Full Moon Monday 8th 4.12am

First quarter Tuesday 16th 8.15am

Winter Solstice (Longest Night) Sunday 21st 3.46pm
The god is re-born and the days get longer again.

Dark Moon Tuesday 23rd 5.35am

First quarter Monday 29th 9.28pm

Centaurus (half-human half-horse) is high in the southern sky wrapped around the Southern Cross.

Vela the Sails is to the west of the Southern Cross. Its brightest star is Gamma Velorum.

Antares is the bright red star in Scorpius. Its name means "rival of Mars".

Mars and Venus are still close together in the north-eastern sky at 6am at the solstice. Some distance below them the crescent moon and Mercury are fairly close and on a level.


July

Aphelion (Earth fartherest from the Sun) Saturday 4th 12pm

Full Moon Tuesday 7th 7.21pm

Last quarter Wednesday 15th 7.53pm

Dark Moon Wednesday 22nd 12.35pm

First quarter Wednesday 29th 8am

The Southern Cross (Crux) is high in the southern sky. Nearby is the False Cross. The Southern Cross has brighter stars. It is also hedged in one three sides by Centaurus the Centaur, also know as the wise and kind centaur Chiron.


August

Full Moon Thursday 6th 10.55am

Last quarter Friday 14th 4.55am

Dark Moon Thursday 20th 8.02pm

First quarter Thursday 27th 9.42pm

Sagittarius the Archer, another centaur, is high in the eastern sky. In Greek mythology he killed Scorpius with an arrow for killing Orion.

Lyra the Lyre in low in the northern sky. It represents the lyre given to Orpheus by the sun god Apollo and is seen in many tarot decks on the chariot card.


September

Full Moon Saturday 5th 2.03am

First quarter Saturday 12th 12.16pm

Dark Moon Saturday 19th 4.44am

Vernal Equinox (Spring Equinox, Easter) Wednesday 23rd 7.19am
At the equinoxes the day and night are of equal length. Vernal Equinox will fall on the 23rd of September until 2020.

First quarter Saturday 26th 2.50pm

Aquila the eagle is high in the northern sky.

At 6.30pm on the 2nd Jupiter is quite close under the almost full moon.


October

Daylight Savings (NSW) begins at 2am on Sunday 4th

Full Moon Sunday 4th 5.10pm

Last quarter Sunday 11th 7.56pm

Dark Moon Sunday 18th 4.33pm

First quarter Monday 26th 11.42am

Mars is close to the crescent moon at 5.30am on the 12th.


November

Full Moon Tuesday 3rd 6.14am

Last quarter Tuesday 10th 2.56am

Dark Moon Tuesday 17th 6.14am

First quarter Wednesday 25th 8.39am

Pegasus the Winged Horse is visible in the northern sky and this is the best time of year to se this constellation from the Southern Hemisphere. Though it has no bright stars, four stars form a large square that is its body and its head is to the west. Pegasus was fathered by Poseidon, Greek god of the sea and horses.

Saturn is quite close under the crescent moon at 4.45am on the 13th. He was the Roman god of the fields and the harvest and can be identified in art as holding a sickle and sheaf of wheat. In the Greek pantheon he is Cronos the god of harvests, agriculture and time.


December

Full Moon Wednesday 2nd 6.30pm

Last quarter Wednesday 9th 11.13am

Dark Moon Wednesday 16th 11.02pm

Summer Solstice (Longest Day, Midsummer) Tuesday 22nd 4.47am

First quarter Friday 25th 4.36am

Orion the Hunter is in the north-eastern sky. This constellation is often known as the Saucepan.

Jupiter and Neptune are very close in the western sky at 9.15pm on the 18th, though Neptune is invisible to the naked eye. Neptune is the god of the sea in Roman mythology (Poseidon in Greek) and appropriately Neptune is a blue planet.

Moon in December 2008

For information on and pictures of the "smiley face" lunar conjunction with Venus and Jupiter on the 1st of December, go here for information and here for photographs.


6th
First quarter of the Moon at 8.26am

13th
Full Moon at 3.37am

19th
Last quarter at 9.29pm

21st
Summer Solstice at 11.04pm

27th
Dark Moon at 11.22pm