Looking for Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, or Mars? This is your last good month to see all of them at the same time. Also, get ready for some longer nights, a shallow dive into Sagittarius, the Summer Triangle, and Cassiopeia.
August, even with very short nights, will be a great month for watching the four brightest naked-eye planets at sunset, the usual close encounters, and the annual Perseid Meteor Shower.
Mars at opposition, four planets at sunset, Venus shining bright, and a lunar eclipse for the other half of the globe. All these make July a pretty great month this year.
June is more exciting than normal, by providing us a chance to see all the naked eye planets by month’s end, lunar close encounters with all but Mercury, and an especially close one with Saturn (only 1˚!), with most planets visible for long periods of the night. So get out your scope and try to find all the planets in one night!
May will be a month for 4 out of the 5 naked eye planets, with Venus and Jupiter visible early each night and Mars and Saturn visible in the mornings, along with close encounters between each of these and the Moon.
April brings us plenty of Jupiter time, a close encounter between Mars and Saturn, and a potentially decent Lyrid meteor shower. And MAYBE some better weather.
March will brought you a few planet conjunction to watch.
February is a rather uneventful month for beginner’s stargazing, but take advantage of the month-long line up of Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter in the mornings in the East, with the Moon stopping by from the 7th to the 12th. Should make for some good pictures.
Mornings are for the planets this month, with Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn all making appearances, including conjunctions of two different pairs of these planets. The Moon will pass by each of these planets, be full twice, and be eclipsed by Earth’s shadow, but only visibly in certain spots.
The holidays are upon us, and we have a great Geminid Meteor Shower, the winter constellations appearing, 2 or 3 morning planets, and a year-end occultation of Aldebaran by the Moon.