Almanac Skygazer's

Skygazer’s 30°S SGAFOR LATITUDES2016 (Australia) Almanac NEAR 30° SOUTH EVENING MORNING A SUPPLEMENT TO SKY & TELESCOPE

7 p.m. 8 9 10 11 Midnight 20171 2 3 4 5 a.m.

Sunset

EVENING SKY +

4 0 7

0 Set

7 Jan 1 Neptune is just 0.2° north of Mars 7 8 9 Y

5 P R

Jan 4 Latest twilight of year, latitude 30° south , Sunrise

2 A

y 15 16 a U Jan 9 Latest sunset A

M N

U n 8 A

a Jan 12 Venus stands 47° east of the Sun; A i Pleiades Transit e l N 22 23

u Rise r J J c Neptune is 0.5° southwest of Venus A u J Canopus Transits Sirius Transits r Feb 26 Annular solar eclipse in a narrow path 29 LMC Culminates y 30

across southern South America (late 5

Set 9 R 8

morning) and Africa (near sunset) i Y 7 5 s 6

e R Sun P s

Y Feb 27 Uranus is 0.6° south of Mars A slow

R 12 Jupiter Rises 13 U Mar 20 Fall begins at equinox, 8:29 p.m. EST S A

A t R a

U Rise r Mar 25 Venus reaches inferior conjunction, 8° t B

o 20 R 19 10

f E north of the Sun

B Neptune Sets F

Apr 1 Mercury is 19° east of the Sun 26 s m 27 F t e o S r Apr 7 Jupiter comes to opposition Orion Nebula M42 TransitsSet P n i s n 5 u g 6 Jun 8 Earliest end of evening twilight n 11 3 e

1 V t w

8 Jun 10 Earliest sunset Equation H s i l t i

12 g 13 H e C Jun 15 Saturn is at opposition tonight of time Jupiter Transits h S Antares Rises t

C Rise R h m s A

Jun 21 Shortest day, 10 13 at latitude R 19 r 20 A a A

30° south; winter begins at the 12 M Uranus SetsM solstice, 2:24 p.m. EST M 26 27 Jul 27 Regulus is 1.1° lower right of P Mercury 2 3 s Set

t 13 Jul 30 Mercury is 27° east of Sun e Saturn Rises

4 9 S 10 L 4

Aug 21 Total solar eclipse in a 8 I

y r R path across the United L u A Rise I 16 rc 17 P

States, partial in R e A M northern South P 14 A 23 24 America P Sep 5 Neptune is at 30 Set 1 opposition tonight Eta Aquariids Sep 11 Spica is 3.1° upper 7 Southern Cross Transits 15 8

left of Jupiter t 8 Y A h

14 i 15 A Y l Oct 19 Uranus comes to i

w Rise M A t opposition Saturn Transits

M 21 22 16

Nov 24 Mercury reaches P g

P i its greatest M 28 n 29 e e elongation, 22° v Set

e r c

east of the Sun f u

o r 4 y 5 Dec 22 Longest day at d 17

A n A E

latitude 30° 0 9 11 V 12

R E

h m

south, 14 05 Rise e is N E n es

u U N 18 19

s J

U 18 P

MORNING SKY R J Neptune Rises i 25 s 26 Set e Jan 5 Earth is s 147,100,998 km 2 M 3 from the Sun e rc Alpha Centauri Transits 19 A u

(perihelion) at 12 9 r 10 5 Uranus Rises y

3 a.m. EST 9 Rise Y

S L

Jan 20 Mercury reaches Y 16 e 17 U

L t greatest s J

U 20 Rigel Rises P

elongation, 24° J 23 24 west of the Sun Set Jupiter Sets 30 31

Feb 11 Moon is deep inside A t h

g Earth’s penumbra i l i

h 6 21 6 7 6 w

shortly before 1 UT t

9 g T

for Africa (but not Rise i T S n

13 r 14 S Neptune Transits

Australia), and early o U U m G evening (of the 10th) P

G 20 21 U for South America 22 f s o

U e A t s

r i A Set May 18 Mercury is 26° west of a R 27 t y 28 S r E A u the Sun n rc d Sirius Rises e

Jun 4 Venus is at greatest 7 M

f 9 3 4

9 23 R

v elongation, 46° west of e E

n R Rise the Sun i B 10 n Small Magellanic Cloud Culminates 11 E g P M

t Jul 1 Latest sunrise B w E i l

M 17 i 18 Jul 4 Earth is 152,092,504 km g T h

E P t 24

from the Sun (aphelion) at T

Set Uranus Transits E P 24 25 6 a.m. EST; latest onset of S

morning twilight E S A 1 2

Aug 8 A slight partial lunar eclipse

7 1

for Australia from 3:22 to 0

0 8 9

0 R

5:19 a.m. EST, and early , Rise

8 P E R

evening of August 7th in 5 Pleiades Transit

4 B ,

E 15 16 2

O southern Africa B

y M

a T O

d e Set 2

Sep 13 Mercury stands 18° west of

r C

n 23

T 22 c

a S

i u

the Sun l A O C e Orionids

u t r

J s y

Sep 17 Mars is 0.1° above Mercury at O 29 LMC Culminatess 30 Southern e Computed by

dawn, but very low (use a Taurids is 8 Roger W. Sinnott,

5 R

telescope) 0 5 P 3 6

R Sky & Telescope Magazine s Rise r

Northern E Sep 23 Spring begins at the equinox, 6:02 M Saturn Sets 19 Taurids 20 V

a.m. EST E 4 Leonids

O V Sunset A Set ®

Oct 6 Mars is just 0.2° above Venus O 26 27 N Nov 30 Spica is 3.1° upper right of Mars this skyandtelescope.com

morning and tomorrow 8 3 4

0 P 5 P Sky & Telescope Rise Dec 3 Earliest sunrise Orion Nebula M42 Transits R 90 Sherman St.

Canopus Transits Sunrise R

10 11 E

Dec 9 Earliest morning twilight E Jupiter Rises Cambridge, MA 02140

es B B s Dec 22 Summer begins at the solstice, 2:28 Ri USA 18 M

M 17 y

a.m. EST Sirius TransitsGeminids r E

E A 6 Uranus Sets u

Set rc C C

24 e 25 E E

Antares M Rises D

D Saturn Rises 7 p.m. 8 9 10 11 Midnight 1 2 3 4 5 a.m.

Conjunction Greatest Greatest illumi- New First Full Last Waxing Waning Opposition A Apogee P Perigee (appulse) elongation nated extent Moon Quarter Moon Quarter (moonset) (moonrise) Conjunctions (close pairings) of two Rising or Setting Corrections add 4 minutes to times obtained from the planets are indicated by a symbol on chart for each degree of longitude that the planets’ event lines. Here, conjunc- Declination (North or South) you are west of your time-zone merid- Skygazer’s tions are indicated when the planets 0° 5° 10° 15° 20° 25° ian. Or subtract 4 minutes for each degree S appear closest in the sky (at appulse), not you are east of it. You can look up your 30° 10° 0 8 16 24 33 43 just when they have the same ecliptic longitude on a map. FOR LATITUDES 15° 0 6 12 19 26 33 longitude or right ascension. For instance, Melbourne, Australia NEAR 30° SOUTH 20° 0 4 8 13 18 23 Almanac Opposition of a planet, the date when (longitude 145°), is 5° west of its time- 2017 it is opposite the Sun in the sky and thus 25° 0 2 4 7 9 12 zone meridian (150°). So at Melbourne, visible all night, occurs when its transit 30° 0 0 0 0 0 0 add 20 minutes to any time obtained from slanting event lines. Each event line tells Near the midnight line is a white line crosses the Equation-of-time line 35° 0 2 5 7 10 13 the chart. The result is standard time.

What’s in the when something happens. curve labeled Equation of time weaving (not the line for midnight). Opposi- South Latitude Find your Local Mean Time correction 40° 0 5 10 16 22 29 The dotted line for January 8–9 begins narrowly right and left down the chart. If tion is marked there by a symbol. For and memorize it; you will use it always. 45° 1 8 17 26 37 49 sky tonight? at the heavy black curve at left, which you regard the midnight line as the previ- instance, Jupiter reaches opposition on The table below at far left has the correc- represents the time of sunset. Reading ous noon for a moment, this curve shows the night of April 7–8 this year. 50° 1 12 25 39 54 72 tions, in minutes, for some major cities. When does the Sun set, and when does up to the top of the chart, we find that when the Sun crosses the meridian and is Moonrise and moonset can be told • rising and setting. Times of rising twilight end? Which planets are visible? sunset on January 8th occurs at 7:06 p.m. due north. On January 8th the Sun runs apart by whether the round limb — the and setting need correction if your lati- What time is moonrise? Local Mean Time. (All times read from the slow, transiting at 12:07 p.m. This varia- outside edge — of the Moon symbol faces change to this value until 12:00 Univer- tude differs from 30° south. This effect Welcome to the Skygazer’s Almanac chart are Local Mean Time, which can tion is caused by the tilt of Earth’s axis left (waxing Moon sets) or right (wan- sal Time (UT). In Australia, 12:00 UT depends strongly on a star or planet’s 2017, a handy chart that answers these differ from your standard clock time by and the ellipticity of its orbit. ing Moon rises). Or follow the nearly falls during the evening of the same day declination. The declinations of the Sun and many other questions for every night many minutes. More on this later.) At 1:54 a.m. we see a small Moon horizontal row of daily Moon symbols (at 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, EST). and planets are listed in Sky & Telescope. of the year. This version is plotted for Moving to the right we see that at 8:35 symbol, and the legend at the chart’s bot- across the chart to find the word Rise or Before that time, subtract 1 from the If your site is south of latitude 30° S, skywatchers near latitude 30° south — p.m. the Pleiades transit the meridian, tom indicates it is at gibbous phase, set- Set. Quarter Moons are indicated by a Julian day number just obtained. then an object with a south declination in Australia, southern Africa, and the meaning the famous star cluster is then ting. (So we’ve had bright moonlight all larger symbol. Full Moon is always a large stays above the horizon longer than the southern cone of South America. highest in the sky. Moreover, the sky is night until now.) Then at 2:07 Antares, bright disk whether rising or setting; the Time Corrections chart shows (it rises earlier and sets later), For any date, the chart tells the times almost fully dark, because evening twi- a star we usually associate with later circle for new Moon is open. P and A All events on this southern version of while one with a north declination spends when astronomical events occur during light ends at 8:40 tonight when the Sun seasons, climbs above the horizon. The mark dates when the Moon is at perigee the Skygazer’s Almanac are plotted for an less time above the horizon. At a site north the night. Dates on the chart run verti- is 18° below the horizon. ringed planet Saturn rises at 3:16. and apogee (nearest and farthest from observer at 135° east longitude and 30° of 30° S, the effect is just the reverse. cally from top to bottom. The time of At 9:44 p.m. the brilliant planet The first hint of dawn — the start of Earth, respectively). south latitude. However, you need not Keeping these rules in mind, you can night runs horizontally, from sunset at Venus, prominent in the western sky morning twilight — comes at 3:34 a.m. Mercury and Venus never stray far live near McDouall Peak, South Austra- gauge the approximate number of minutes left to sunrise at right. Find the date you until now, finally sets. At 10:10 the Large Elusive Mercury rises soon thereafter, at outside the twilight bands. Their dates lia, to use the chart. Simple corrections by which to correct a rising or setting time want on the left side of the chart, and Magellanic Cloud culminates (another 3:48, which is early enough before sunup of greatest elongation from the Sun are will allow you to get times accurate to from the table above. read across toward the right to find the way of saying it transits) just as Mars that we might spot it when it climbs shown by ◗ symbols on their rising or a couple of minutes anywhere in the Finally, the Moon’s rapid orbital times of events. Times are labeled along sets. Then the Orion Nebula (Messier higher. The Sun finally peeks above the setting curves, and asterisks mark when world’s south temperate latitudes. motion alters lunar rising and setting the chart’s top and bottom. 42) transits at 10:23, followed by the two eastern horizon at 5:08 a.m. on the their telescopic disks have the greatest To convert the charted time of an event times slightly if your longitude differs In exploring the chart, you’ll find that brightest nighttime stars, Canopus and morning of January 9th. illuminated extent in square arcseconds. into your civil (clock) time, the following from 135° E. The Moon rises and sets its night-to-night patterns offer many Sirius, at 11:11 and 11:33, respectively. In the case of Venus, this is also very corrections must be made. They are given about two minutes earlier than the chart insights into the rhythms of the heavens. Transit times of such celestial landmarks Other Charted Information nearly the date when it reaches greatest in order of decreasing importance. shows for each time zone east of central help us follow the march of constella- Many of the year’s most important brilliancy, as on February 17th this year. • daylight-saving time (“summer Australia, and two minutes later for The Events of a Single Night tions during the night. astronomical events are listed in the Meteor showers are marked by a star- time”). When this is in effect, add one each time zone west of there. Observers To learn how to use the chart, consider The giant planet Jupiter rises at 11:50, chart’s left-hand margin. Some are burst symbol on the date of peak activity hour to any time read from the chart. in southern Africa can simply shift the some of the events of one night. We’ll so it will be well up toward dawn. marked on the chart itself. and at the time when the shower’s radi- • your longitude. The chart gives the Moon symbol a third of the way to that pick January 8, 2017. Running vertically down the mid- ant (point of origin) is highest in the Local Mean Time (LMT) of events, which for the following date. Those in South First find “January” and “8” at the left night line is a scale of hours. This shows night sky. This often occurs just as morn- differs from ordinary clock time by many America can shift it about halfway there. edge. This is one of the dates for which the sidereal time (the right ascension of Local Mean Time Corrections ing twilight begins. minutes at most locations. Our civil time a string of fine dots crosses the chart objects on the meridian) at midnight. Julian dates can be found from the zones are standardized on particular lon- Skygazer’s Almanac 2017 is a supplement to horizontally. Each horizontal dotted line On January 8–9 this is 7h 13m. To find Adelaide +16 Melbourne +20 numbers just after the month names on gitudes. Examples in Australia are 150° E Sky & Telescope. ©2017 F+W Media, Inc. Brisbane –13 Perth +18 represents the night from a Sunday eve- the sidereal time at any other time and the chart’s left. The Julian day, a seven- for the eastern states (which use Eastern All rights reserved. ning to Monday morning. The individual date on the chart, locate the point for Canberra +4 Sydney –4 digit number, is a running count of days Standard Time, EST), and 142.5° E for dots are five minutes apart. the time and date you want, then draw a beginning with January 1, 4713 BC. Its the two central states (an odd value that For reprints (item SGA17S, $5.95 each postpaid) Cape Town +46 Johannesburg +8 or to order a similar chart for north latitude 40 or Every half hour (six dots), there is a line through it parallel to the white event first four digits this year are 2457, as puts the minute hands of their clocks 30 ° Durban –3 Port Elizabeth +18 50°, contact Sky & Telescope, 90 Sherman St., Cam- vertical dotted line to aid in reading the lines of stars. See where your line inter- indicated just off the chart’s upper left minutes out of joint with most of the rest Harare –4 Pretoria +8 bridge, MA 02140, USA; phone +1 617-864-7360, hours of night at the chart’s top or sects the sidereal-time scale at midnight. margin. To find the last three digits for of the world). fax +1 617-864-6117. Send an Asunción –10 Rio de Janeiro –7 bottom. On the vertical lines, one dot is (A star’s event line enters the top of the days in January, add 754 to the date. For If your longitude is very close to your e-mail to skyprodservice@ Buenos Aires +54 Santiago +43 equal to one day. chart at the same time of night it leaves instance, on January 8th we have 754 + 8 standard time-zone meridian, luck is skyandtelescope.com, or you ® A sweep of the eye shows that the line the bottom. Sometimes one of these seg- Montevideo +45 São Paulo +6 = 762, so the Julian day is 2,457,762. with you and your LMT correction is can visit our online store at for the night of January 8–9 crosses many ments is left out to avoid crowding.) Note that the Julian day doesn’t zero. Otherwise, to get standard time skyandtelescope.com. skyandtelescope.com

SGA17S