ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE YEAR 2019 Prepared Jointly by The Nautical Almanac Office United States Naval Observatory and Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office United Kingdom Hydrographic Office WASHINGTON U.S. Government Publishing Office 2016 UNITED STATES Printed in the United States of America by the U. S. Government Publishing Office by permission For sale by the U.S. Government Publishing Office Superintendent of Documents P. O. Box 979050 St. Louis, MO 63197-9000 phone: 1-202-512-1800 order online at https://bookstore.gpo.gov/ UNITED KINGDOM ✂c Crown Copyright 2016 This publication is protected by international copyright law. All rights reserved. These pages may be reproduced under the terms of the UK Open Government Licence http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/2/ acknowledging the source as Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office, United Kingdom Hydrographic Office. The following United States government work is excepted from the above notice, and no copyright is claimed for it in the United States: cover, title page and reverse, pages 64-71, 73-76, 78-88. Available from HM Nautical Almanac Office UK Hydrographic Office Admiralty Way Taunton Somerset TA1 2DN [email protected] Further information: http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/ https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-nautical-almanac-office ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE YEAR 2019 CONTENTS Page Phenomena: Perihelion Passages of Comets ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 Seasons, Moon Phases, Eclipses ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 Occultations, Perigee and Apogee of the Moon ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 Geocentric and Heliocentric Planetary Phenomena ... ... ... ... ... 6 Visibility of the Planets ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 7, 8 Times of Meridian Passages of the Planets ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 9 Elongations and Magnitudes of the Planets ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10 Diary of Configurations of the Sun, Moon and Planets ... ... ... ... 12 Chronological Cycles and Eras; Religious and Civil Holidays ... ... ... ... ... ... 15 Gregorian Calendar and Julian Day Numbers ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 16 Mean Sidereal Time ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 17 Sun: Equation of Time and Declination ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 18 Circumpolar Stars: Positions of Polaris and σ Octantis ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 20 International Time Zones ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 22 Explanation of Rising and Setting Tables ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 23 Sunrise and Sunset Tables ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24 Moonrise and Moonset Tables ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 32 Eclipses ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 64 Transit of Mercury ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 82 Related Publications ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 89 Web Links ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 91 PREDICTED PERIHELION PASSAGES OF COMETS, 2019 Periodic comet Perihelion Period Periodic comet Perihelion Period date distance date distance Tq(au)P(yr) Tq(au)P(yr) 171P/Spahr Jan. 13 1·77 6·7 78P/Gehrels Apr. 2 2·01 7·2 131P/Mueller Jan. 24 2·42 7·0 209P/LINEAR June 12 0·97 5·1 123P/West-Hartley Feb. 5 2·13 7·5 260P/McNaught Sept. 9 1·42 6·8 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann Mar. 7 5·77 14·7 76P/West-Kohoutek-Ikemura Oct. 26 1·60 6·4 4 INTRODUCTORY NOTE The astronomical data in this booklet are expressed in the scale of universal time (UT); this is also known as Greenwich mean time (GMT) and is the standard time of the Greenwich meridian (0◦ of longitude). A time in UT may be converted to local mean time by the addition of east longitude (or subtraction of west longitude), where the longitude of the place is expressed in time-measure at the rate of 1 hour for every 15◦. The differences between standard times and UT are indicated in the chart on page 22; local clock times may, however, differ from these standard times, especially in summer when clocks are often advanced by 1 hour. PRINCIPAL PHENOMENA OF SUN AND MOON, 2019 THE SUN d h d h m d h m Perigee ... Jan. 3 05 Equinoxes ... Mar. 20 21 58 ...... Sept. 23 07 50 Apogee ... July 4 22 Solstices ... June 21 15 54 ...... Dec. 22 04 19 PHASES OF THE MOON Lunation New Moon First Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter dhm dhm dhm dhm 1188 Jan. 6 01 28 Jan. 14 06 46 Jan. 21 05 16 Jan. 27 21 10 1189 Feb. 4 21 04 Feb. 12 22 26 Feb. 19 15 54 Feb. 26 11 28 1190 Mar. 6 16 04 Mar. 14 10 27 Mar. 21 01 43 Mar. 28 04 10 1191 Apr. 5 08 50 Apr. 12 19 06 Apr. 19 11 12 Apr. 26 22 18 1192 May 4 22 46 May 12 01 12 May 18 21 11 May 26 16 34 1193 June 3 10 02 June 10 05 59 June 17 08 31 June 25 09 46 1194 July 2 19 16 July 9 10 55 July 16 21 38 July 25 01 18 1195 Aug. 1 03 12 Aug. 7 17 31 Aug. 15 12 29 Aug. 23 14 56 1196 Aug. 30 10 37 Sept. 6 03 10 Sept. 14 04 33 Sept. 22 02 41 1197 Sept. 28 18 26 Oct. 5 16 47 Oct. 13 21 08 Oct. 21 12 39 1198 Oct. 28 03 38 Nov. 4 10 23 Nov. 12 13 34 Nov. 19 21 11 1199 Nov. 26 15 06 Dec. 4 06 58 Dec. 12 05 12 Dec. 19 04 57 1200 Dec. 26 05 13 ECLIPSES AND TRANSIT OF MERCURY A partial eclipse of the Sun Jan. 5-6 North eastern China, Mongolia, Japan, eastern Russia, north Micronesia, westernmost Alaska A total eclipse of the Moon Jan. 21 Middle East, Africa, Europe, Americas, most of Oceania, easternmost Russia. A total eclipse of the Sun Jul. 2 Eastern Oceania, most of South America. A partial eclipse of the Moon Jul. 16-17 Australasia, Asia except north east, Africa, Europe except northernmost Scandinavia, most of South America A transit of Mercury Nov. 11 Middle East, most of Europe, Africa, southern Greenland, Antarctica, South America, North America (except Alaska), most of Oceania, New Zealand An annular eclipse of the Sun Dec. 26 Middle East, North Eastern Africa, Asia except North and Eastern Russia, North and Western Australia, Micronesia, Solomon Islands For further details see pages 64–88 LUNAR PHENOMENA, 2019 5 MOON AT PERIGEE MOON AT APOGEE dh dh dh dh dh dh Jan. 21 20 June 7 23 Oct. 26 11 Jan. 9 04 May 26 13 Oct. 10 18 Feb. 19 09 July 5 05 Nov. 23 08 Feb. 5 09 June 23 08 Nov. 7 09 Mar. 19 20 Aug. 2 07 Dec. 18 20 Mar. 4 11 July 21 00 Dec. 5 04 Apr. 16 22 Aug. 30 16 Apr. 1 00 Aug. 17 11 May 13 22 Sept. 28 02 Apr. 28 18 Sept. 13 14 OCCULTATIONS OF PLANETS AND BRIGHT STARS BY THE MOON Date Body Areas of Visibility Date Body Areas of Visibility dh dh Jan. 31 18 Venus E. Micronesia, Polynesia May 30 22 Vesta Parts of Indonesia, E. Asia, (except Hawaii), Galapagos N.W. Micronesia, Aleutian Is., S. Central America, N.W. Is., N.W. North America S. America June 15 15 Ceres Central and E. Russia, N.E. Feb. 2 07 Saturn N. and N.E. Africa, S. and Kazakhstan, N. and E. central Europe, Middle East, China, Japan W. Asia, parts of S. Russia June 19 04 Saturn Easter Island, S. South Feb. 2 20 Pluto N. Micronesia, Hawaii, America, Antarctic Aleutian Is., W. and central Peninsula, southern Africa North America (except June 19 11 Pluto Melanesia, N.E. Australia, S. Alaska) Micronesia, S. Polynesia, Feb. 6 08 Vesta Parts of western Russia Central America, W. South Mar. 1 18 Saturn Most of Micronesia, America Northern Polynesia (except July 4 06 Mars E. tip of Africa, Arabian Hawaii), Central America, S. Peninsula, most of Asia, North America Micronesia Mar. 2 04 Pluto N.E. Africa, S.W. Europe, July 16 07 Saturn E. Melanesia, S. Polynesia, Middle East, India, most of Easter Island, central South S. and E. Asia, most of America China, most of Mongolia July 16 17 Pluto E. Africa, Madagascar, S. Mar.29 05 Saturn E. edge of Brazil, southern Indonesia, N. and W. Africa, Madagascar, S. tip of Australia, W. Micronesia India, Sri Lanka Aug.12 10 Saturn E. Indonesia, most of Mar.29 12 Pluto W. and S. Mexico, Central Australia, N. New Zealand, America, N. half of S. Melanesia, Polynesia (except America, Madeira, Cape Hawaii) Verde Is., W. edge of Africa Aug.12 22 Pluto N.E. South America, Apr. 25 14 Saturn E. Australia, New Zealand, Ascension Island, central and W. South America E. Africa, S. Arabian Apr. 25 20 Pluto Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Peninsula Australia, Melanesia, S.E. Sept. 8 14 Saturn E. Africa, Madagascar, S. Micronesia, N.W. Polynesia Indonesia, W. and N. May 2 13 Vesta Galapagos Is., N. South Australia, W. Micronesia, W. America, Azores, Cape Melanesia Verde Is., N.W. Africa, S. Sept. 9 03 Pluto Polynesia (except Hawaii), Europe Easter Island, Galapagos Is., May 19 18 Ceres Parts of Antarctica N. South America May 22 22 Saturn S. tip of Africa, parts of E. Oct. 5 21 Saturn Easter Island, S. South Antarctica, Kerguelen Is., America, South Georgia, most of Australia, S. New Southern Africa Zealand May 23 04 Pluto Central South America, S. and E. Africa continued on page 14 ... 6 PLANETARY PHENOMENA, 2019 GEOCENTRIC PHENOMENA MERCURY dh dh dh Superior conjunction ... Jan. 30 03 May 21 13 Sept. 4 02 Greatest elongation East Feb. 27 01 (18◦) June 23 23 (25◦) Oct. 20 04 (25◦) Stationary ... ... ... Mar. 5 05 July 7 04 Oct. 31 20 Inferior conjunction ... Mar. 15 02 July 21 13 Nov. 11 15 Stationary ... ... ... Mar. 27 12 July 31 19 Nov. 20 15 Greatest elongation West Apr. 11 20 (28◦) Aug. 9 23 (19◦) Nov. 28 11 (20◦) VENUS dh dh Greatest elongation West Jan. 6 05 (47◦) Superior conjunction ... Aug. 14 06 EARTH dh dhm dhm Perihelion ... Jan. 3 05 Equinoxes ..