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Contents 2 Jan Sky Guide 2020• BY MARTIN RATCLIFFE AND RICHARD TALCOTT • contents 2 Jan. 2020 Venus points the way to Neptune 3 Feb. 2020 Lovely Luna conceals Mars Mars returns to brilliance in 2020 as it climbs high into the sky for 4 March 2020 A series of splendid conjunctions Northern Hemisphere observers. 5 April 2020 Dazzling Venus meets the Pleiades NASA/JPL/USGS 6 May 2020 Watch a giant star wax and wane 7 June 2020 Mercury glows in evening twilight Martin Ratcliffe provides profes- 8 Jupiter and Saturn rule the night sional planetarium development July 2020 for Sky-Skan, Inc. Richard Talcott 9 Aug. 2020 A dwarf planet glows brightly is a senior editor of Astronomy. 10 Sept. 2020 An ice giant in the celestial sea 11 Oct. 2020 The Red Planet climbs high in the sky A supplement to 12 Nov. 2020 Dark skies for autumn meteors Astronomy magazine 13 Dec. 2020 Totality returns to South America 14 2021 Preview Looking ahead to next year … 618372 2020 Jan S M T W T F S Venus points the 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 way to Neptune 19 20 21 22 23 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 t’s rare to see Venus, the planet whose orbit brings Planetary conjunctions in 2020 it closest to Earth, line up Nearer planet Farther planet Date Separation with Neptune, the most Venus Neptune Jan. 27 0.1° 4 Quadrantid meteor distant major planet. Yet shower peaks Venus Uranus March 9 2.4° Ithey do just that January 27. Mars Jupiter March 20 0.7° The Moon passes That evening, the two worlds 5° south of Uranus, Mars Saturn March 31 0.9° appear closer to each other 1 P.M. EST Venus Mercury May 22 0.9° than they have at any point 10 Mercury is in supe- Mars Neptune June 12 1.7° since January 1984. Any tele- rior conjunction, Jupiter Saturn Dec. 21 0.1° 10 A.M. EST scope will show the pair in a Penumbral lunar single field of view. eclipse, 2 P.M. EST The two certainly make an Although Venus and Neptune on January 27. The 13 Pluto is in conjunc- odd couple. Although a thick Neptune cross paths roughly two lie 40° east of the Sun and tion with the Sun, atmosphere cloaks both plan- once a year, they rarely come stand some 20° high in the 8 A.M. EST ets, the similarities end there. as close as they do this month. west-southwest once darkness Saturn is in con- Venus is an Earth-sized world Part of the reason is that falls. You can’t miss Venus, junction with the that lies just 67 million miles Venus’ orbit tilts 3.4° to the which dazzles at magnitude Sun, 10 A.M. EST from the Sun. Baked by our plane of Earth’s orbit around –4.1. You’ll likely need a tele- Dwarf planet Ceres star’s intense heat, the rocky the Sun while Neptune’s tilts scope to spot magnitude 7.9 is in conjunction with the Sun, planet’s surface temperature only 1.8°. So, more often than Neptune in the brighter plan- 1 P.M. EST soars above 850 degrees not, when the two planets pass et’s glare. A slim crescent 16 Mars passes 5° Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt near each other, they miss by Moon adds to the naked-eye north of Antares, lead. Neptune is an ice giant at least 1°. Complicating mat- scene from its perch 7° below 11 P.M. EST four times Venus’ diameter ters further, the planets’ con- the planetary pair. 20 The Moon passes that lurks on the frigid edge of junctions often occur when The conjunction arrives 2° north of Mars, our solar system a staggering they lie too close to the Sun precisely at 2 p.m. EST. By the 2 P.M. EST 2.8 billion miles from the Sun. to observe. time night falls in North 22 The Moon passes Its atmospheric temperature That’s what makes this America a few hours later, 0.4° south of Jupiter, 10 P.M. EST dips to –330 F, nearly cold month’s event so appealing. Neptune appears 12' due west enough to freeze nitrogen. Venus passes just 5' south of of its companion. The 4th- 27 Venus passes 0.08° south of Neptune, magnitude star Phi (ϕ) Aquarii 2 P.M. EST N stands a nearly equal distance 28 The Moon passes to Venus’ east-northeast. A 4° south of Neptune, telescope shows Venus’ disk, 1 A.M. EST 96 which appears 15" across and The Moon passes 29 Path of Venus three-quarters lit. Neptune’s 4° south of Venus, disk spans 2.2" and looks fully 2 A.M. EST 28 φ illuminated. 31 The Moon passes E 27 Neptune If you miss this event, 5° south of Uranus, AQUARIUS 10 P.M. EST Venus and Neptune have two 26 more close conjunctions in the coming years. In April 2022, Jan 25 they approach within 0.5' of 83 χ each other, and in February 2023, they’ll appear 1' apart. 0.5° Unfortunately, the planets will Venus slides within 0.1° of Neptune on January 27, the closest approach of lie significantly lower in the the two planets in 36 years.ASY-SG0120_20 ALL ILLUSTRATIONS: ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY sky both times. 2 Sky Guide 2020 2020 Feb Lovely Luna S M T W T F S 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 conceals Mars 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 24 25 26 27 28 29 ars crosses West Coast, where Mars has the border already disappeared by the between time the two objects rise, Ophiuchus observers can still watch the the Serpent- planet reappear from behind 10 Mercury is at greatest eastern bearer and Sagittarius the the Moon’s dark limb. M elongation (18°), Archer on February 11, setting For example, Mars disap- 9 A.M. EST up a series of superb encoun- pears at 6:05 a.m. CST in 18 The Moon passes ters for early risers. On the Chicago and at 5:47 a.m. CST 0.8° north of Mars, 16th, the Red Planet forms an in Houston. In Denver, the 8 A.M. EST equilateral triangle with the disappearance occurs at 19 The Moon passes Lagoon Nebula (M8) and 4:40 a.m. MST with the 0.9° south of Jupiter, Trifid Nebula (M20). Mars objects 9° high in a dark sky. 3 P.M. EST shines at magnitude 1.2 and In San Francisco, Mars returns 20 The Moon passes adds an elegant focus to to view at 4:29 a.m. PST, while 0.7° south of Pluto, 3 A.M. EST Sagittarius’ rich star fields. the same event occurs one The Moon passes The planet’s eastward minute earlier in Los Angeles. 1.7° south of Saturn, motion against the stellar According to David Mars appeared at the limb of a 9 A.M. EST backdrop carries it midway Dunham of the International waxing crescent Moon on July 27, 25 Mercury is in infe- between the Lagoon and 2006, moments before the Moon Occultation Timing rior conjunction, Trifid on February 17, but occulted the planet. TUNÇ TEZEL Association (IOTA), Mars 9 P.M. EST that’s nothing compared with itself occults a faint star later 27 The Moon passes the show awaiting observers Midwest. Although it won’t be this year. On September 24, 6° south of Venus, on the 18th. That morning, visible along the East Coast the magnitude –2.4 planet 7 A.M. EST the waning crescent Moon because it happens after sun- passes in front of a 10th- 28 The Moon passes slides in front of Mars for rise, observers there can still magnitude star in eastern 4° south of Uranus, 7 A.M. EST observers across most of see a stunningly close con- Pisces. This will be a challeng- North America. junction between the two ing observation because of the Although you can watch objects before dawn. On the huge brightness difference. this wonderful occultation with your naked eyes, binocu- lars or a telescope greatly OPHIUCHUS enhance the view. Optical aid lets you see Mars slowly fade Moon Moon Phases out as the Moon’s bright limb devours its prey. Depending First Quarter Mars on your location, it can take Full Moon the Moon up to 15 seconds to fully engulf the planet’s Last Quarter 5.2"-diameter disk. New Moon The occultation’s timing SCORPIUS depends on where you live. Jupiter SAGITTARIUS Events that can be viewed Not only does the event occur with the naked eye 5° earlier the farther west you Events that can be viewed live, but changes in latitude with binoculars February 18, 5:00 A.M. CST also affect the timing. The Looking southeast Events that can be viewed event occurs in darkness with a telescope in western North America The waning crescent Moon glides in front of the Red Planet before dawn and during twilight in the February 18. This view capturesASY-SG0120_21 the scene just before the event starts. www.Astronomy.com 3 2020 March A series of splendid S M T W T F S 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 conjunctions 15 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 arch’s pre- dawn sky holds three planetary 8 Neptune is in con- gems.
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