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Contents

CoverTitlePageCopyright

Introduction

TheConstellationsTheSouthernCircumpolarConstellationsCometsandtheMoonMapoftheMoon

IntroductiontotheMonth-by-MonthGuide

Month-by-MonthGuideJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember

GlossaryandTablesAcknowledgementsFurtherInformationAboutthePublisher

TimeZonesThetimesofeventsinthisbookaregiveninCoordinatedUniversalTime(UTC),hereabbreviatedtoUniversalTime(UT).ThistimeisequivalenttothetimeontheGreenwichmeridian(GMT),andisusedbyastronomersaroundtheworldsothat

observationsmaybecomparedeasily,withouthavingtoconvertfromlocal(zone)times.

UniversalTimeisalwaysgivenona24-hourclock(sometimesknownas‘militarytime’or‘Zulu’,‘Z’).Inmanycountriestimesare

generallygivenasa.m.orp.m.andsuchtimesareshownonthechartsshowingthe

appearanceoftheskyforeachmonth.Givingthetimesofindividualeventsasa.m.orp.m.wouldbecomplexandconfusing,sothosetimesmayneedtobeconvertedfromUT.

AustraliaAustralian time zones are shown on this map. There are three: AustralianWestern Standard Time (AWST); Australian Central Standard Time (ACST);andAustralianEasternStandardTime(AEST).Someindividualstates(WesternAustralia,NorthernTerritoryandQueensland)donotusedaylight saving time(DST)during the summermonths.Toobtain local (zone) time fromUniversalTime (UT), add the hours shown in this table. If the result is greater than 24,subtract24hours.Iftheinitialorsubsequentresultislessthan12:00,thezonetime is a.m.; ifgreater, subtract12hours toget the timep.m.ThedateswhenDaylight SavingTime begins and ends are shown on the individual calendarsinside thebook.At the timeofwriting, it is introducedon the firstSundayofOctoberandendsonthefirstSundayinApril.

Timezone Winter Summer Timezone Winter Summer

Australia Add hours shown toUT

Australian CapitalTerritory

10:00(AEST)

11:00(DST)

WesternAustralia

08:00(AWST)

noDST Victoria 10:00(AEST)

11:00(DST)

NorthernTerritory

09:30(ACST)

noDST Tasmania 10:00(AEST)

11:00(DST)

Queensland 10:00(AEST)

noDST

SouthAustralia

09:30(ACST)

10:30(DST)

NewZealand 12:00(NZST)

13:00(NZDT)

New SouthWales

10:00(AEST)

11:00(DST)

SouthAfrica 02:00(SAST)

noDST

NewZealandNewZealandusesasingletimezonefortheNorthandSouthIslands:NewZealandStandardTime (NZST)which is 12hours aheadofUT.Daylightsavingtime(NZDT)isusedinthesummer,andbeginsonthelastSundayinSeptemberandendsonthefirstSundayofApril.(NotethatitbeginsoneweekbeforetheAustralianstartofDaylightSavingTime.)AsforAustralia, the hours shown above should be added toUniversal Time(UT). If the result is greater than 24, subtract 24 hours. If the initial orsubsequent result is less than 12:00, the zone time is a.m.; if greater,subtract12hourstogetthetimep.m.ThedateswhenDaylightSavingTimebeginsandendsareshownontheindividualcalendarsinsidethebook.

SouthAfricaSouthAfricausesa single timezone:SouthAfricaStandardTime(SAST).This istwohoursinadvanceofUT.DaylightSavingTime/SummerTimeisnotused.Toobtainlocal(zone)time,addtwohourstoUT.Iftheresultisgreaterthan24,subtract24hours.Iftheinitialorsubsequentresultislessthan12:00,thezonetimeisa.m.;ifgreater,subtract12hourstogetthetimep.m.

Introduction

TheaimofthisGuideistohelppeoplefindtheirwayaroundthenightsky,byshowing how the stars that are visible change from month to month and byincludingdetails of various events that occur throughout theyear.Theobjectsand events described may be observed with the naked eye, or nothing morecomplicatedthanapairofbinoculars.

The conditions for observing naturally vary over the course of the year.During the summer, twilight may persist throughout the night and make itdifficult to see the faintest stars.Thereare three recognized stagesof twilight:civiltwilight,whentheSunislessthan6°belowthehorizon;nauticaltwilight,when the Sun is between 6° and 12° below the horizon; and astronomicaltwilight,whentheSunisbetween12°and18°belowthehorizon.FulldarknessoccursonlywhentheSunismorethan18°belowthehorizon.Duringnauticaltwilight, only the very brightest (navigation) stars are visible. Duringastronomical twilight, the faintest stars visible to the naked eye may be seendirectly overhead, but are lost at lower altitudes. At Sydney, full darknesspersists for about six hours at mid-summer. Even at Christchurch, NZ (notshown), fulldarkness lastsabout fourhours.Bycontrast, as far southasCapeHorn,atmid-summernautical twilightpersists, soonly theverybrighteststarsarevisible.

Another factor that affects the visibility of objects is the amount ofmoonlightinthesky.AtFullMoon,itmaybeverydifficulttoseesomeofthefainterstarsandobjects,andevenwhentheMoonisatasmallerphaseitmayseriouslyinterferewithvisibilityifitisnearthestarsorplanetsinwhichyouareinterested.Afulllunarcalendarisgivenforeachmonthandmaybeusedtoseewhennightsarelikelytobedarkestandbestforobservation.

ThecelestialsphereAll theobjects in the sky (including theSun,Moonand stars) appear to lie atsome indeterminate distance on a large sphere, centred on the Earth. ThiscelestialspherehasvariousreferencepointsandfeaturesthatarerelatedtothoseoftheEarth.If theEarth’srotationalaxisisextended,forexample, itpointstotheNorthandSouthCelestialPoles,whichare thus in linewith theNorthandSouthPolesonEarth.Similarly, thecelestialequator lies in thesameplaneastheEarth’sequator,anddividestheskyintonorthernandsouthernhemispheres.BecausethisGuideiswrittenforuseinthesouthernhemisphere,theareaoftheskythatitdescribesincludesthewholeofthesoutherncelestialhemisphereandthoseportionsofthenorthernthatbecomevisibleatdifferenttimesoftheyear.Starsinthefarnorth,however,remaininvisiblethroughouttheyear,andarenotincluded.

ThedurationoftwilightthroughouttheyearatSydneyandCapeHorn.

Itisusefultoknowsomeofthespecialtermsforvariouspartsofthesky.Asseenbyanobserver,halfofthecelestialsphereisinvisible,belowthehorizon.Thepointdirectlyoverheadisknownasthezenith,andthe(invisible)onebelowone’sfeetasthenadir.Thelinerunningfromthenorthpointonthehorizon,upthroughthezenithandthendowntothesouthpointisthemeridian.Thisisanimportant invisible line in the sky, becauseobjects arehighest in the sky, andthuseasiesttosee,whentheycrossthemeridianinthesouth.Objectsaresaidto

transit,whentheycrossthislineinthesky.Inthisbook,referenceisfrequentlymadeinthetextandinthediagramsto

the standard compasspoints around thehorizon.Thepositionof anyobject inthe sky may be described by its altitude (measured in degrees above thehorizon),anditsazimuth(measuredindegreesfromnorth0°,througheast90°,south180°andwest270°).Experiencedamateursandprofessionalastronomersalsouseanothersystemofspecifyinglocationsonthecelestialsphere,butthatneednotconcernushere,wherethesimplermethodwillsuffice.

Measuringaltitudeandazimuthonthecelestialsphere.

The celestial sphere appears to rotate about an invisible axis, runningbetweentheNorthandSouthCelestialPoles.Thelocation(i.e.,thealtitude)oftheCelestialPolesdependsentirelyontheobserver’spositiononEarthor,morespecifically, their latitude.Thecharts inthisbookareproducedfor thelatitudeof 35°S, so theSouthCelestialPole (SCP) is 35° above the southernhorizon.The fact that the SCP is fixed relative to the horizonmeans that all the stars

within35°ofthepolearealwaysabovethehorizonandmay,therefore,alwaysbeseenatnight,regardlessofthetimeofyear.Thesoutherncircumpolarregionisanidealplacetobeginlearningthesky,andwaystoidentifythecircumpolarstarsandconstellationswillbedescribedshortly.

TheeclipticandthezodiacAnotherimportantlineonthecelestialsphereistheSun’sapparentpathagainstthebackgroundstars– inreality theresultof theEarth’sorbitaroundtheSun.Thisisknownastheecliptic.ThepointwheretheSun,apparentlymovingalongthe ecliptic, crosses the celestial equator from south to north is known as the(southern)autumnequinox,whichoccursonMarch20or21.Atthistimeandatthe(southern)springequinox,onSeptember22or23,whentheSuncrossesthecelestialequatorfromnorthtosouth,dayandnightarealmostexactlyequalinlength. (There is a slight difference, but that need not concern us here.) TheMarch equinox is currently located in the constellation of Pisces, and isimportantinastronomybecauseitdefinesthezeropointforasystemofcelestialcoordinates,whichis,however,notusedinthisGuide.

ThealtitudeoftheSouthCelestialPoleequalstheobserver’slatitude.

The Sun crossing the celestial equator at the September equinox (spring equinox in the southernhemisphere).

TheMoonandplanetsare tobe found inabandofsky thatextends8°oneithersideoftheecliptic.ThisisbecausetheorbitsoftheMoonandplanetsareinclinedatvariousanglestotheecliptic(i.e., totheplaneof theEarth’sorbit).Thisbandofskyisknownasthezodiacand,whenoriginallydevised,consistedof twelveconstellations, allofwhichwereconsidered tobeexactly30°wide.When the constellation boundaries were formally established by theInternational Astronomical Union in 1930, the exact extent of mostconstellations was altered and, nowadays, the ecliptic passes through thirteenconstellations. Because of the boundary changes, the Moon and planets mayactuallypassthroughseveralotherconstellationsthatareadjacenttotheoriginaltwelve.

TheconstellationsSince ancient times, the celestial sphere has been divided into variousconstellations,mostdatingbacktoantiquityandusuallyassociatedwithcertainmyths or legendary people and animals. Nowadays, the boundaries of theconstellations have been fixed by international agreement and their names (inLatin)arelargelyderivedfromGreekorRomanoriginals.Someofthenamesofthemostprominent stars areofGreekorRomanorigin, butmanyarederivedfromArabicnames.Manybrightstarshavenoindividualnamesand,formanyyears,starswereidentifiedbytermssuchas‘thestarinHercules’rightfoot’.Amore sensible scheme was introduced by the German astronomer JohannesBayer in the early seventeenth century. Following his scheme –which is stillusedtoday–mostofthebrighteststarsareidentifiedbyaGreekletterfollowedbythegenitiveformof theconstellation’sLatinname.Anexampleis thePoleStar, also known as Polaris and α Ursae Minoris (abbreviated α UMi). TheGreekalphabetisshownhereandalistofalltheconstellationsthatmaybeseenfromlatitude35°S,togetherwithabbreviations,theirgenitiveformsandEnglishnamesishere.Othernamingschemesexistforfainterstars,butarenotusedinthisbook.

AsterismsApartfromtheconstellations(88ofwhichcoverthewholesky),certaingroupsof stars, which may form a part of a larger constellation or cross severalconstellations, are readily recognizable andhavebeengiven individual names.Thesegroupsareknownasasterisms,andthemostfamous(andwell-knowntonorthern observers) is the ‘Plough’, the common name for the seven brighteststarsintheconstellationofUrsaMajor,theGreatBear.Thenamesanddetailsofsomeasterismsmentionedinthisbookaregiveninthelisthere.

MagnitudesThebrightnessofastar,planetorotherbodyisfrequentlygiveninmagnitudes(mag.).This isamathematicallydefinedscalewherelargernumbersindicateafainterobject.Thescaleextendsbeyondthezeropointtonegativenumbersforvery bright objects. (Sirius, the brightest star in the sky is mag. -1.4.) Mostobserversareabletoseestarstoaboutmag.6,underveryclearskies.

TheMoonAlthough the daily rotation of theEarth carries the sky from east towest, theMoon graduallymoves eastwards by approximately its diameter (about half adegree) in an hour. Normally, in its orbit around the Earth, theMoon passesaboveorbelowthedirectlinebetweenEarthandSun(atNewMoon)oroutsidetheareaobscuredbytheEarth’sshadow(atFullMoon).Occasionally,however,the three bodies are more-or-less perfectly aligned to give an eclipse: a solareclipseatNewMoonora lunareclipseatFullMoon.Dependingon theexactcircumstances,asolareclipsemaybemerelypartial (when theMoondoesnotcover the whole of the Sun’s disk); annular (when theMoon is too far fromEarthinitsorbittoappearlargeenoughtohidethewholeoftheSun);ortotal.TotalandannulareclipsesarevisiblefromveryrestrictedareasoftheEarth,butpartialeclipsesarenormallyvisibleoverawiderarea.

Somewhatsimilarly,atalunareclipse,theMoonmaypassthroughtheouterzoneoftheEarth’sshadow,thepenumbra(inapenumbraleclipse,whichisnotgenerallyperceptible to thenakedeye), so that justpartof theMoon iswithinthe darkest part of the Earth’s shadow, the umbra (in a partial eclipse); orcompletely within the umbra (in a total eclipse). Unlike solar eclipses, lunareclipsesarevisiblefromlargeareasoftheEarth.

Occasionally,asitmovesacrossthesky,theMoonpassesbetweentheEarthand individual planets or distant stars, giving rise to an occultation. As withsolareclipses,suchoccultationsarevisiblefromrestrictedareasoftheworld.

TheplanetsBecause the planets are alwaysmoving against the background stars, they aretreatedinsomedetailinthemonthlypagesandinformationisgivenwhentheyareclosetootherplanets, theMoonoranyoffivebrightstarsthatlieneartheecliptic. Such events are known as appulses or, more frequently, asconjunctions.(Therearetechnicaldifferencesinthewaythesetermsaredefined–andshouldbeused–inastronomy,buttheseneednotconcernushere.)Thepositions of the planets are shown for every month on a special chart of theecliptic.

ThetermconjunctionisalsousedwhenaplanetiseitherdirectlybehindorinfrontoftheSun,asseenfromEarth.(Undernormalcircumstancesitwillthenbeinvisible.)Theconditionsofmostfavourablevisibilitydependonwhethertheplanetisoneofthetwoknownasinferiorplanets(MercuryandVenus)oroneof the three superior planets (Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) that are covered indetail. (Some details of the fainter superior planets, Uranus and Neptune, areincludedinthisGuide,andspecialchartsforbotharegivenhereandhere.)

Inferiorplanet.

Theinferiorplanetsaremostreadilyseenateasternorwesternelongation,whentheirangulardistancefromtheSunisgreatest.Forsuperiorplanets, theyarebestseenatopposition,whentheyaredirectlyoppositetheSuninthesky,andcrossthemeridianatlocalmidnight.

It isoftenuseful tobeable toestimateangleson thesky,andapproximatevaluesmaybeobtainedbyholdingonehandatarm’slength.Thevariousanglesare shown in thediagram, togetherwith the separationsof thevarious stars inandaroundOrion.

MeteorsAtsometimeorother,nearlyeveryonehasseenameteor–a‘shootingstar’–asitflashedacrossthesky.Theparticlesthatcausemeteors–knowntechnicallyas‘meteoroids’–rangeinsizefromthatofagrainofsand(orevensmaller)tothesizeofapea.Onanynightof theyear thereareoccasionalmeteors,knownassporadics,thatmaytravelinanydirection.Theseoccurataratethatisnormallybetween three and eight in an hour. Farmore important, however, aremeteorshowers,whichoccuratfixedperiodsoftheyear,whentheEarthencountersatrailofparticlesleftbehindbyacometor,veryoccasionally,byaminorplanet(asteroid). Meteors always appear to diverge from a single point on the sky,knownastheradiant,andtheradiantsofmajorshowersareshownonthecharts.Meteors that come from a circular area 8° in diameter around the radiant areclassedasbelongingtotheparticularshower.Allothersthatdonotcomefromthatareaaresporadics(or,occasionallyfromanothershowerthatisactiveatthesametime).Alistofthemajormeteorshowersisgivenhere.

Superiorplanet.

Although the positions of the various shower radiants are shown on thecharts, looking directly at the radiant is not themost effective way of seeingmeteors.Theyaremostlikelytobenoticedifoneislookingabout40–45°awayfromtheradiantposition.(Thisisapproximatelytwohand-spansasshowninthediagramformeasuringangles.)

OtherobjectsCertain other objectsmay be seenwith the naked eye under good conditions.Someweregivennamesinantiquity–Praesepeisoneexample–butmanyareknown by what are called ‘Messier numbers’, the numbers in a catalogue ofnebulous objects compiled by CharlesMessier in the late eighteenth century.Some,suchas theAndromedaGalaxy,M31,andtheOrionNebula,M42,maybeseenbythenakedeye,butallthosegiveninthelistwillbenefitfromtheuseof binoculars. Apart from galaxies, such asM31, which contain thousands ofmillionsofstars,therearealsotwotypesofcluster:openclusters,suchasM45,thePleiades,whichmayconsistofafewdozentosomehundredsofstars;andglobularclusters,suchasOmegaCentauri,whicharesphericalconcentrationsofmany thousands of stars. One or two gaseous nebulae (emission nebulae),consistingofgas illuminatedby starswithin them, are alsovisible.TheOrionNebula,M42,isone,andisilluminatedbythegroupoffourstars,knownastheTrapezium,whichmaybeseenwithinitbyusingagoodpairofbinoculars.

Meteorshower(showingtheGeminidsradiant).

Measuringanglesinthesky.

Someinterestingobjects.

Messier /NGC

Name Type Constellation Maps(months)

— 47Tucanae globularcluster

Tucana Allyear

— Hyades opencluster Taurus Sep.–Apr.— Melotte 111 (Coma

Cluster)opencluster Coma

BerenicesJan.–Aug.

M3 — globularcluster

CanesVenatici

Jan.–Sep.

M4 — globularcluster

Scorpius May–Aug.

M8 LagoonNebula gaseousnebula

Sagittarius Jun.–Sep.

M11 WildDuckCluster opencluster Scutum May–Oct.M13 HerculesCluster globular

clusterHercules Feb.–Nov.

M15 — globularcluster

Pegasus Jun.–Dec.

M22 — globularcluster

Sagittarius Jun.–Sep.

M27 DumbbellNebula planetarynebula

Vulpecula May–Dec.

M31 AndromedaGalaxy galaxy Andromeda AllyearM35 — opencluster Gemini Oct.–MayM42 OrionNebula gaseous

nebulaOrion Nov.–Mar.

M44 Praesepe opencluster Cancer Nov.–Jun.M45 Pleiades opencluster Taurus Aug.–Apr.

M57 RingNebula planetarynebula

Lyra Apr.–Dec.

M67 — opencluster Cancer Dec.–MayIC2602 SouthernPleiades opencluster Carina Nov.–Aug.NGC2070 TarantulaNebula emission

nebulaDorado(LMC)

Allyear

NGC3242 GhostofJupiter planetarynebula

Hydra Feb.–May

NGC3372 EtaCarinaeNebula gaseousnebula

Carina Nov.–Aug.

NGC4755 JewelBox opencluster Crux Dec.–Aug.NGC5139 OmegaCentauri globular

clusterCentaurus Jan.–Aug.

TheSouthernCircumpolarConstellationsThesoutherncircumpolarconstellationsarethekeytotostartingtoidentifytheconstellations. For anyone in the southern hemisphere they are visible at anytimeoftheyear,andnearlyeveryoneisfamiliarwiththestrikingpatternoffourstarsthatmakeuptheconstelllationofCrux(theSouthernCross),andalsothetwo nearby bright stars Rigil Kentaurus and Hadar (α and β Centaurirespectively). This pattern of stars is visible throughout the year for mostobservers,althoughforobserversfarthernorth,thestarsmaybecomedifficulttosee, low on the horizon in the southern spring, espcially in the months ofOctoberandNovember.

CruxThe distinctive shape of the constellation ofCrux is usually easy to identifyalthoughsomepeople (especiallynorthernersunused to the southern sky)maywrongly identify the slightly largerFalseCross, formedby the starsAspidiskeandAvior(ιandεCarinaerespectively)plusκandδVelorum.ThedarkpatchoftheCoalsack (a dark cloudof obscuringdust) is readily visible on the easternsidebetweenAcruxandMimosa(αandβCrucis).

AlinethroughGacrux(γCrucis)andAcrux(αCrucis)pointsapproximatelyinthe direction of the South Celestial Pole, crossing the faint constellations ofMusca andChamaeleon. Although there is no bright star close to the SouthCelestialPole (andeven theconstellation inwhich it lies,Octans, is faint), anideaofitslocationhelpstoidentifytheregionofskythatisalwaysvisible.(ThealtitudeoftheSouthCelestialPoleisequaltotheobserver’slatitudesouthoftheequator.)ThebasictriangularshapeofOctansitselfisbestfoundbyextendinga

linefromPeacock(αPavonis)throughβPavonis,byaboutthesamedistanceasthatbetweenthestars.

CentaurusAlthough Crux is a distinctive shape,Centaurus is a large, rather stragglingconstellation,withonenotableobject, thegiant,brightglobularclusterOmegaCentauri(thebrightestglobularinthesky),whichliestowardsthenorth,onthelinefromHadar(βCentauri),throughεCentauri.RatherthanlocatingtheSouthCelestialPolefromCrux,abetterindicationistheline,atrightanglestothelinebetween Hadar and Rigil Kentaurus that passes along the brightest star inCircinus(α).

CarinaApart fromthe twostars that formpartof theFalseCross, theconstellationofCarina is, like Centaurus, a large, sprawling constellation. It contains onestrikingopencluster,theSouthernPleiades,andaremarkableemissionnebula,theEtaCarinaeNebula. The second brightest star in the sky (after Sirius) isCanopus,αCarinae,whichliesfarawaytothewest.

TheMagellanicCloudsOntheoppositesideof theSouthCelestialPole toCruxandCentaurus lie thetwoMagellanicClouds.TheSmallMagellanicCloud(SMC)liestoonesideofthe relatively inconspicuous, triangular constellationofHydrus, but is actuallywithintheconstellationofTucana.Nearbyisanotherbrightglobularcluster,47Tucanae. Hydrus itself is also easily identified from the star, Achernar, αEridani,theratherisolatedbrilliantstaratthesouthernendofEridanus,whichwandersalongwaysouth,havingbegunatthefootofOrion.

Thestarsandconstellationsinsidethecirclearealwaysabovethehorizon,seenfromfromlatitude35°S.

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) lies within the faint constellation ofDorado.Notonlyis ita largesatellitegalaxyoftheMilkyWayGalaxy,but itcontainsthelarge,readilyvisible,TarantulaNebula,anemissionnebulathatisamajorstar-formingregion.

CometC/2006P1McNaught, imaged on 20 January 2007, fromLawlersGoldMine,WesternAustralia(Photographer:Sjbmgrtl).

TheMurchisonmeteoriteThe year 2019 includes the 50th anniversary of the arrival of theMurchisonmeteorite, which fell nearMurchison,Victoria,Australia,on28September1969.Thetotalmassof fragmentscollectedisover100kg:and theone illustrated isnow in theNationalMuseumofNaturalHistory, inWashington,D.C.Themeteorite proved to be a carbonaceous chondrite, and as such, is one of the most primitive types ofmeteorites, representative of the primordial material from which the Solar System was formed. Themeteoritehasbeenextensivelystudiedandisparticularlyrichinorganiccompounds,suchasaminoacids(thebuildingblocksof life).Many thousandsof chemical compoundshavebeen identified in thisobject,morethaninanyothermeteorite.

CometsandtheMoon

CometsAlthoughcometsmayoccasionallybecomeverystrikingobjectsinthesky,theiroccurrenceandparticularly theexistenceor lengthofany tailand theiroverallmagnitude are notoriously difficult to predict. Naturally, it is only possible topredict thereturnofperiodiccomets(whosenameshavetheprefix‘P’).Manycomets appear unexpectedly (these have names with the prefix ‘C’). Bright,readilyvisiblecometssuchasC/1995Y1Hyakutake&C/1995O1Hale-BopporC/2006P1McNaught(sometimeknownastheGreatCometof2007)arerare.(CometHale-Bopp,inparticular,wasvisibleforarecord18monthsandwasaprominent object in northern skies.) Comet McNaught was notable for itsmultiple tail structure. Most periodic comets are faint and only a very smallnumbereverbecomebrightenoughtobereadilyvisiblewith thenakedeyeorwithbinoculars.Nobrightcometsarepredictedtobevisiblefromthesouthernhemispherein2019.

CometC/2014Q2Lovejoy,whichreachednaked-eyevisibility,photographedon20December2014,wheninColumba,byDamianPeach.

TheMoonThemonthlypagesincludediagramsshowingthephaseoftheMoonforeverydayofthemonth,andalsoindicatethedayinthelunation(orageoftheMoon),whichbeginsatNewMoon.Althoughthemainfeaturesofthesurface–thelighthighlandsandthedarkmaria(seas)–maybeseenwiththenakedeye,farmorefeaturesmaybedetectedwiththeuseofbinocularsoranytelescope.Themanycraters are best seen when they are close to the terminator (the boundarybetweentheilluminatedandthenon-illuminatedareasofthesurface),whentheSunrisesorsetsoveranyparticularregionoftheMoonandthecraterwallsorcentralpeakscaststrongshadows.MostfeaturesbecomedifficulttoseeatFullMoon,although this is thebest time to see thebright ray systemssurroundingcertaincraters.AccompanyingtheMoonmaponthefollowingpagesisalistofprominent features, including the days in the lunation when features arenormally close to the terminator and thus easiest to see.A fewbright featuressuch asLinné andProclus, visiblewhenwell illuminated, are also listed.Onefeature,RupesRecta (theStraightWall) is readilyvisibleonlywhen it casts ashadowwithlightfromtheeast,appearingasalightlinewhenilluminatedfromtheoppositedirection.

Thedatesofvisibilityvaryslightlythroughtheeffectsoflibration.BecausetheMoon’sorbitisinclinedtotheEarth’sequatorandalsobecauseitmovesinanellipse,theMoonappearstorockslightlyfromsidetoside(andnodupanddown).Featuresnearthelimb(theedgeoftheMoon)mayvaryconsiderablyintheirlocationandvisibility.(ThisiseasilynoticeablewithMareCrisiumandthecraters Tycho and Plato.) Another effect is that at crescent phases before andafterNewMoon, thenormallynon-illuminatedportionof theMoonreceivesacertain amountof light, reflected from theEarth.ThisEarthshinemayenablecertain bright features (such as Aristarchus, Kepler and Copernicus) to bedetectedeventhoughtheyarenotilluminatedbysunlight.

MapoftheMoonAbulfeda 6:20Agrippa 7:21Albategnius 7:21Aliacensis 7:21Alphonsus 8:22Anaxagoras 9:23Anaximenes 11:25Archimedes 8:22Aristarchus 11:25Aristillus 7:21Aristoteles 6:20Arzachel 8:22Atlas 4:18Autolycus 7:21Barrow 7:21Billy 12:26Birt 8:22Blancanus 9:23Bullialdus 9:23Bürg 5:19Campanus 10:24Cassini 7:21Catharina 6:20Clavius 9:23Cleomedes 3:17Copernicus 9:23Cyrillus 6:20Delambre 6:20Deslandres 8:22Endymion 3:17Eratosthenes 8:22Eudoxus 6:20

9:23

FraMauro9:23

Fracastorius 5:19Franklin 4:18Gassendi 11:25Geminus 3:17Goclenius 4:18Grimaldi 13-14:27-28Gutenberg 5:19Hercules 5:19Herodotus 11:25Hipparchus 7:21Hommel 5:19Humboldt 3:15Janssen 4:18JuliusCaesar 6:20Kepler 10:24Landsberg 10:24Langrenus 3:17Letronne 11:25Linné 6Longomontanus 9:23Macrobius 4:18Mädler 5:19Maginus 8:22Manilius 7:21MareCrisium 2-3:16-17Maurolycus 6:20Mercator 10:24Metius 4:18Meton 6:20MonsPico 8:22MonsPiton 8:22MonsRümker 12:26MontesAlpes 6-8:21MontesApenninus 8Orontius 8:22Pallas 8:22Petavius 3:17Philolaus 9:23

5:19

Piccolomini 5:19Pitatus 8:22Pitiscus 5:19Plato 8:22Plinius 6:20Posidonius 5:19Proclus 14:18Ptolemaeus 8:22Purbach 8:22Pythagoras 12:26RabbiLevi 6:20Reinhold 9:23RimaAriadaeus 6:20RupesRecta 8Saussure 8:22Scheiner 10:24Schickard 12:26SinusIridum 10:24Snellius 3:17Stöfler 7:21Taruntius 4:18Thebit 8:22Theophilus 5:19Timocharis 8:22Triesnecker 6-7:21Tycho 8:22VallisAlpes 7:21VallisSchröteri 11:25Vlacq 5:19Walther 7:21Wargentin 12:27Werner 7:21Wilhelm 9:23Zagut 6:20

IntroductiontotheMonth-by-MonthGuide

Themonthlycharts

The pages devoted to each month contain a pair of charts showing theappearanceofthenightsky,lookingsouthandlookingnorth.Thecharts(aswithallthechartsinthisbook)aredrawnforthelatitudeof35°S,soobserversfarthernorthwillseeslightlymoreoftheskyonthenorthernhorizon,andslightlylesson the southern, with corresponding changes if they are farther south. Thehorizonareasare,ofcourse,thosemostlikelytobeaffectedbypoorobservingconditionscausedbyhaze,mistorsmoke.Inaddition,starsclosetothehorizonare alwaysdimmedby atmospheric absorption, so sometimes the faintest starsmarkedonthechartsmaynotbevisible.

Thethreetimesshownforeachchartrequirealittleexplanation.Thechartsaredrawntoshowtheappearanceat11p.m.forthe1stofeachmonth.Thesameappearancewillapplyanhourearlier(10p.m.)onthe15th,andyetanotherhourearlier (9 p.m.) at the end of the month (shown as the 1st of the followingmonth). Daylight Saving Time (DST) is not used in South Africa. In NewZealand, it applies from the last Sunday of September to the first Sunday ofApril. In those Australian states with DST, it runs from the first Sunday inOctober to the first Sunday inApril. The appropriate times are shown on themonthly charts. Times of specific events are shown on the 24-hour clock ofUniversalTime (UT), usedby astronomersworldwide, and corrections for thelocaltimezone(andDSTwhereemployed)maybefoundfromthedetailsinsidethefrontcover.

Thechartsmaybeusedforearlierorlatertimesduringthenight.Toobservetwohoursearlier,usethechartsfortheprecedingmonth;fortwohourslater,thechartsforthenextmonth.

MeteorsDetailsofspecificmeteorshowersaregivenin themonthswhentheycometomaximum, regardlessofwhether theybeginor end inothermonths.Note that

notalltherespectiveradiantsaremarkedonthechartsforthatparticularmonth,because theradiantsmaybebelowthehorizon,or lie inconstellations thatarenotreadilyvisibleduringthemonthofmaximum.Forthisreason,specialchartsfortheEtaAquariids(May),theAlphaAurigids(August&September)andtheLeonids(November)aregivenhere.As justexplained,however,meteors fromsuch showers may still be seen, because the most effective region for seeingmeteorsissome40–45°awayfromtheradiant,andthatareaofskymaywellbeabovethehorizon.Atableofthebestmeteorshowersvisibleduringtheyearisalsogivenhere.

Shower Datesofactivity2019 Date of maximum2019

Possible hourlyrate

Centaurids January 28 to February21

February8 5

GammaNormids

February 25 to March22

March13 6

PiPuppids April15toApril28 April23 var.EtaAquariids April19toMay26 May6–7 55AlphaCapricornids

July11toAugust10 July26–August1 5

Perseids July13toAugust26 August11–12 100PiscisAustrinids

July15toAugust10 July27–28 5

DeltaAquariids July21toAugust23 July29–30 <20AlphaAurigids AugusttoOctober August 28 &

September1510

SouthernTaurids

September 23 toNovember19

October28–29 <5

Orionids September 23 toNovember27

October21–22 25

NorthernTaurids

October19toDecember10

November10–11 <5

Leonids November 5 toNovember30

November17–18 <15

Phoenicids November 28 toDecember9

December2 var.

PuppidVelids December 1 toDecember15

December7 10

Geminids December 4 toDecember16

December13–14 100+

Meteors that are brighter than magnitude -4 (approximately the maximummagnitudereachedbyVenus)areknownasfireballsorbolides.

ThephotographsAsanaidtoidentification–especiallyassomepeoplefinditdifficulttorelatecharts to the actual stars they see in the sky – one or more photographs ofconstellationsvisibleincertainspecificmonthsareincluded.Itshouldbenoted,however, that because of the limitations of the photographic and printingprocesses,andthedifferencesbetweenthesensitivityofdifferentindividualsto

faint starlight (especially in their ability to detect different colours), and thedegreetowhichtheyhavebecomeadaptedtothedark,theapparentbrightnessofstarsinthephotographswillnotnecessarilypreciselymatchthatseenbyanyoneobserver.

TheMooncalendarTheMooncalendarislargelyself-explanatory.ItshowsthephaseoftheMoonfor every day of themonth,with the exact times (inUniversalTime) ofNewMoon, First Quarter, Full Moon, and Last Quarter. Because the times arecalculatedfromtheMoon’sactualorbitalparameters,someofthetimesshownwill,naturally,fallduringdaylight,butanydifferenceistoosmalltoaffecttheappearanceof theMoonon thatdate.Alsoshown is theageof theMoon(thedayinthelunation),beginningatNewMoon,whichmaybeusedtodeterminethebesttimeforobservationofspecificlunarfeatures.

TheMoonThesectionontheMoonincludesdetailsofanylunarorsolareclipsesthatmayoccurduringthemonth(visiblefromanywhereonEarth).Similarinformationisgiven about any important occultations. Mainly, however, this sectionsummarizeswhen theMoonpassesclose toplanetsor thefiveprominentstarsclosetotheecliptic.ThedateswhentheMoonisclosesttotheEarth(atperigee)and farthest from it (atapogee) are shown in themonthly calendars, andonlymentioned herewhen they are particularly significant, such as the nearest andfarthestduringtheyear

TheplanetsandminorplanetsBriefdetailsaregivenof the location,movementandbrightnessof theplanetsfrom Mercury to Saturn throughout the month. None of the planets can, ofcourse, be seenwhen they are close to theSun, so such periods are generallynoted.AlloftheplanetsmaysometimeslieontheoppositesideoftheSuntotheEarth(atsuperiorconjunction),but in thecaseof the inferiorplanets,Mercuryand Venus, they may also pass between the Earth and the Sun (at inferiorconjunction) and are normally invisible for a longer or shorter period of time.Those twoplanetsarenormallyeasiest to seearoundeithereasternorwesternelongation,intheeveningormorningsky,respectively.Noteveryelongationisfavourable, so although every elongation is listed, only thosewhere observingconditionsarefavourableareshownintheindividualdiagramsofevents.

ThepathsofJupiterandSaturnin2019.JupitercomestooppositiononJune10;Saturnalmostamonthlater,onJuly9.Backgroundstarsareshowndowntomagnitude6.5(southisup).

The dates at which the superior planets reverse their motion (from directmotiontoretrograde,andretrogradetodirect)andofopposition(whenaplanetgenerally reaches itsmaximumbrightness) aregiven.Someplanets, especiallydistantSaturn,mayspendmostoralloftheyearinasingleconstellation.Jupiterand Saturn are normally easiest to see around opposition,which occurs everyyear.Mars, by contrast,moves relatively rapidly against the background starsand in someyears never comes to opposition. In 2019, Jupiter andSaturn areclosetogetherintheskythroughouttheyear,soaspecialchartisshownhere.

Uranusisnotalwaysincludedinthemonthlydetailsbecauseitisgenerallyatthelimitofnaked-eyevisibility(magnitude5.7–5.9),althoughbrightenoughtobevisibleinbinoculars,orevenwiththenakedeyeunderexceptionallydarkskies. Its path in 2019 is shown on the special chart in October. It comes tooppositiononOctober28 in theconstellationofAries.NewMoonoccurs thatday,sotheplanet,atmagnitude5.7shouldbedetectablereasonablyeasily.Itisat the same magnitude for an extended period of the year (from August toDecember)andshouldbevisiblewhenfreefrominterferencebymoonlight.

Similar considerations apply to Neptune, although this is always fainter(magnitude 7.8–8.0 in 2019), but still visible in most binoculars. It reachesoppositionatmag.7.8onSeptember10inAquarius.FullMoonoccursfourdayslater, soNeptunewillbedifficult todetect, foraboutaweekafterFullMoon.Again,Neptune’spathin2019anditspositionatoppositionareshowninachartinSeptember.

Chartsforthethreebrightestminorplanetsthatcometooppositionin2019areshownintherelevantmonth:Pallas(mag.7.9)onApril10,Ceres(mag.7.0)

onMay28,andVesta(mag.6.5)onNovember12.

TheeclipticchartsAlthough the ecliptic charts are primarily designed to show the positions andmotionsof themajorplanets, theyalsoshowthemotionof theSunduring themonth.The light-tinted area shows the area of the sky that is invisible duringdaylight, but the darker area gives an indication of which constellations arelikelytobevisibleatsometimeofthenight.Thecloseraplanetistotheborderbetweendarkandlight,themoredifficultitwillbetoseeinthetwilight.

ThemonthlycalendarForeachmonth,acalendarshowsdetailsofsignificantevents, includingwhenplanetsareclosetooneanotherinthesky,closetotheMoon,orclosetoanyoneoffivebrightstarsthatarespacedalongtheecliptic.ThetimesshownaregiveninUniversalTime (UT),alwaysusedbyastronomers throughout theyear, andwhich is identical to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). So during the summermonths, theydonot showSummerTime,whichwill alwaysbeonehour laterthanthetimeshown.

ThediagramsofinterestingeventsEachmonth,anumberofdiagramsshowtheappearanceoftheskywhencertainevents take place. However, the exact positions of celestial objects and theirseparationsgreatlydependontheobserver’spositiononEarth.WhentheMoonisoneoftheobjectsinvolved,becauseitisrelativelyclosetoEarth,theremaybe very significant changes from one location to another. Close approachesbetweenplanetsorbetweenaplanetandastarare lessaffectedbychangesoflocation,whichmaythusbeignored.

Thediagramsshowingtheappearanceoftheskyaredrawnatlatitude35°Sand longitude 150°E (approximately that of Sydney, Australia), so will beapproximately correct formuchofAustralia.However, for anobserver farthernorth(sayBrisbaneorDarwin),aplanetorstarlistedasbeingnorthoftheMoonwillappearevenfarthernorth,whereasonesouthoftheMoonwillappearcloserto it – or may even be hidden (occulted) by it. For an observer at a latitudegreaterthan35°S(suchasinNewZealand),therewillbecorrespondingchangesintheoppositedirection:Forastarorplanetsouthof theMoontheseparation

will increase, and for onenorthof theMoon the separationwill decrease.Forexample,on8September2019duringtheoccultationofSaturn(hereandhere),the apparent path of the planet will be farther south for observers in Perth,WesternAustralia,thanforobserversinDarwin,NorthernTerritory.

Ideally,detailsshouldbecalculatedforeachindividualobserver,butthisisobviously impractical. In fact,positionsandseparationsareactuallycalculatedforatheoreticalobserverlocatedatthecentreoftheEarth.

Sothedetailsgivenregardingthepositionsofthevariousbodiesshouldbeusedasaguidetotheirlocation.Asimilarsituationariseswiththetimesthatareshown.Thesearecalculatedaccording tocertain technicalcriteria,whichneednot concern us here.However, they do not necessarily indicate the exact timewhentwobodiesareclosesttogether.Similarly,datesandtimesaregiven,evenif they fall in daylight,when the objects are likely to be completely invisible.However,suchtimesdogiveanindicationthattheobjectsconcernedwillbeinthe samegeneral areaof the skyduringboth thepreceding, and the followingnights.

Keytothesymbolsusedonthemonthystarmaps.

January–LookingSouth

January–LookingSouth

January01 11p.m.(12p.m.DST)January15 10p.m.(11p.m.DST)February01 9p.m.(10p.m.DST)

Cruxisnowquiteprominentasitrisesintheeast,andevenRigilKentaurusandHadar(αandβCentauri),althoughlow,arebecomingeasiertosee.Thewholeof Carina is visible, with both the Eta Carinae Nebula and the SouthernPleiadesbetweenCruxand theFalseCrossof stars from theconstellationsofCarina and Vela. Canopus (α Carinae) is high in the south, roughly three-quartersofthewayfromthehorizontothezenith.Alsointhesouth,butslightlylower, is the Large Magellanic Cloud. Achernar (α Eridani) is prominent

between the constellations of Hydrus and Phoenix. The Small MagellanicCloud and 47 Tucanae are well-placed for observation alongside Hydrus.Fomalhaut(αPiscisAustrini)maybeglimpsedlowonthehorizontowardsthewestasmayPeacock(aPavonis)farthertowardsthesouth.

MeteorsThe year does not start well for southern meteor observers. The Centaurids(active late January to February) have lowmaximum rates, as do theGammaNormids(FebruarytoMarch).OnlywiththePiPuppids(maximumApril23)isthereanylikelihoodofahigherrateofabout40,altougheventhatisrare.TheSouthernDeltaAquariids (maximum July 29–30) have a rate of about 20 perhour, as do theOrionids (maximum October 21–22). Only with the Leonids(maximumNovember17–18)isthereachanceofahighrateofaround100,butit is likely to be about 15 per hour. ThePhoenicids in November-December(maximumDecember 2) are unpredictable, butmay show strong activity. Thelastmajorshoweroftheyear,theGeminids(maximumDecember13–14)finallyachievesarateofabout120perhour.

TheconstellationofOriondominatesthenorthernskyduringthisperiodoftheyear,andisausefulstartingpointforrecognizingotherconstellationsinthearea(seehere).Here,orangeBetelgeuse,blue-whiteRigelandthepinkishOrionNebulaareprominent(southisup).

January – Looking North

January–LookingNorth

January01 11p.m.(12p.m.DST)January15 10p.m.(11p.m.DST)February01 9p.m.(10p.m.DST)

At this timeofyear thenorthern sky isdominatedbyOrion.This is themostprominent constellation during the summermonths,when it is visible at sometime during the night. (A photograph of Orion appears here.) It has a highlydistinctive shape, with a line of three stars that form the ‘Belt’. To mostobservers, the bright star at the northeastern corner of the constellation,Betelgeuse(αOrionis),showsareddishtinge,incontrasttothebrilliantbluish-whitecolourofthebrightstaratthesouthwesterncorner,Rigel(βOrionis).Thethreestarsofthebeltliedirectlysouthofthecelestialequator.Averticallineofthree ‘stars’ forms the ‘Sword’ that hangs to the southof theBelt.Withgood

viewingconditions, thecentral‘star’appearsasahazyspot,eventothenakedeye.This isactually theOrionNebula.Binocularswill reveal thefourstarsofthe‘Trapezium’,whichilluminatethenebula.

The line of Orion’s Belt points up to the northwest towards Taurus (theBull)andaboveorange-tintedAldebaran(αTauri).ClosetoAldebaran,thereisaconspicuous ‘V’of stars,pointingdown to the southwest, called theHyadescluster. (Despite appearances, Aldebaran is not part of the cluster.) Fartheralong, the same line from Orion passes above a bright cluster of stars, thePleiades, or Seven Sisters. Even the smallest pair of binoculars reveals thisclustertobeabeautifulgroupofbluish-whitestars.Thetwomostconspicuousof the other stars in Taurus lie directly above Orion, and form an elongatedtriangle with Aldebaran. The northernmost, Elnath (β Tauri), was onceconsideredtobepartoftheconstellationofAuriga.

TheconstellationofGemini.ThetwobrighteststarsarePolluxandCastor,visibleontheright-handsideofthephotograph(southisup).

The Moon’s phases for January

January–MoonandPlanetsTheEarthTheEarthreachesperihelion(theclosestpointtotheSuninitsannualorbit)on3 January 2019, at 05:20 Universal Time. Its distance is then 0.9833 AU(147,099,586km).

TheMoonOn January 3 theMoon is close to Jupiter in Scorpius.On January 6 atNewMoonthereisapartialsolareclipse,visiblefromtheregionofthenorthwesternPacificandnortheasternAsia.OnJanuary17,theMoonisclosetoAldebaraninTaurus.AtotallunareclipseoccursatFullMoononJanuary21,visiblefromawideareaofthePacific,includingAustraliaandeasternAsia.TheMoonpassesclosetoRegulusinLeoonJanuary23.

TheplanetsMercuryistooclosetotheSuntobereadilyvisiblethismonth.Venusreachesgreatest elongationwest (47°)on January6,when itsmagnitude is -4.6.Marsmovesacross theconstellationofPisces, fading frommag.0.5 to0.9over themonth.Jupiterisfairlybright(mag.-1.9to-1.8)andinOphiuchus,seenonlyinthe early morning. Saturn is in Sagittarius, too near the Sun to be visible.Uranus(mag.5.8)isontheborderofPiscesandAries.Neptune(mag.7.9)isinAquarius,whereitremainsthroughouttheyear.

ThepathoftheSunandtheplanetsalongtheeclipticinJanuary.

CalendarforJanuary01 21:48 Venus1.3°SofMoon02 05:50 SaturninconjunctionwithSun03 05:20 Earthatperihelion(147,099,586km=0.9833AU)03 07:35 Jupiter3.1°SofMoon04 17:40 Mercury2.7°SofMoon05 18:42 Saturn0.9°SofMoon06 01:28 NewMoon06 01:41 Partialsolareclipse(NWPacific,NEAsia)06 04:59 Venusatgreatestelongation(47°W,mag.-4.6)09 04:29 Moonatapogee(406,117km)12 19:47 Mars5.3°NofMoon14 06:45 FirstQuarter15 21:00* Venus7.9°NofAntares17 18:20 Aldebaran1.6°SofMoon21 05:12 Totallunareclipse(Pacific,Australia,E.Asia)21 05:16 FullMoon

21 20:00 Moonatperigee(357,342km)22 15:10 Venus2.4°NofJupiter23 01:41 Regulus2.5°SofMoon27 21:10 LastQuarter28–Feb.21 Centauridmeteorshower30 02:46 Mercurysuperiorconjunction30 23:54 Jupiter3°SofMoon31 17:36 Venus0.1°SofMoon

*Theseobjectsareclosetogetherforanextendedperiodaroundthistime.

January2–4 •TheMoonpassesVenusandJupiter.Mercury is close to thehorizonandmaybe lost indawn.

January17•TheMoonisbetweenAldebaranandthePleiades.Elnathisfarthernorth.

January23•VenusandJupiterwithAntares,SabikandtheCat’sEyes(λandνSco),lowintheeast.

January 31 • The Moon with Antares, Jupiter, Venus and Sabik about 30 degrees above the easternhorizon.

February–LookingSouth

February–LookingSouth

February01 11p.m.(12p.m.DST)February15 10p.m.(11p.m.DST)March01 9p.m.(10p.m.DST)

Thewhole ofCentaurus is nowclear of the horizon in the south-east,where,below it, the constellation of Lupus is beginning to be visible. TriangulumAustrale is nowhigher in the sky and easier to see.BothCrux and theFalseCross are also higher andmore visible. TheLargeMagellanicCloud (LMC)andbrilliantCanopusarenowalmostduesouth,withtheconstellationofPuppisatthezenith.BothHydrusandtheSmallMagellanicCloud(SMC)arelowerinthesky,asisPhoenix,whichismuchclosertothehorizoninthewest.Nexttoit, the constellation ofTucana is also lower although the globular cluster 47

TucanaeremainsreadilyvisibleasdoesAchernar(αEridani).TheconstellationofGrus andbrightFomalhaut (αPiscisAustrini)havedisappearedbelow thehorizon.Peacock (αPavonis) is skimming the horizon in the south and is noteasilyseenatanytimeinthenight.

MeteorsThe Centaurid shower (which actually consists of two separate streams (theAlpha andBetaCentaurids),with both radiants lying near α andβCentauri),continuesinFebruary,reachingalowmaximum(around5meteorsperhour)onFebruary 8, when theMoon is a waxing crescent. Another weak shower, theGammaNormids, begins to be active in late February (February 25), but themeteors are difficult to differentiate from sporadics. It reaches its weak (butsharp)maximuminMarch.

Parts of Carina and Vela. The ‘False Cross’ is indicated with blue lines. The red blurry spot near thebottomleftcorner is theEta (η)CarinaeNebula.To theright,anda little lower, isanopencluster thatsurroundsTheta(ϑ)Carinae.Thiscluster(IC2602)isalsoknownastheSouthernPleiades.

February – Looking North

February–LookingNorth

February01 11p.m.(12p.m.DST)February15 10p.m.(11p.m.DST)March01 9p.m.(10p.m.DST)

TheconstellationofGemini,with thepairofstarsCastorandPollux (αandβGeminorum) isnowduenorth.Pollux ishigher in thesky(farther towards thezenith),andaboveitisProcyon(αCanisMinoris),half-waytothezenith.Stillhigher is Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and the constellation of CanisMajor.The faint constellationofCancer,with itsmost noticeable feature, thecluster Praesepe, lies to the east of Gemini. Above it, and directly east ofProcyon, is the distinctive asterism forming the head ofHydra, the whole ofwhichconstellationisnowvisiblestretchingacrosstheskytowardstheeast.The

constellationofTaurus,withorangeAldebaran(αTauri)isstillclearlyseeninthewest.By contrast,Auriga ismuch lower towards the horizon andbrilliantCapella (αAurigae) is extremely low and visible only early in the night. ThefainteststretchoftheMilkyWayrunsfromAurigainthenorthwestuptowardsthe zenith, passing through Gemini and the indistinct constellation ofMonoceros. In the northeast, the zodiacal constellation of Leo and brightRegulus(αLeonis)areclearlyseen.

The constellation of Cancer. Just below the centre is the open star clusterM44 (Praesepe), sometimescalledthe‘Beehive’.ThetwobrightstarsneartheleftsideareCastorandPollux,andtheheadofHydramaybefoundintheupperright(southisup).

The Moon’s phases for February

February–MoonandPlanetsTheMoonTheMoonisatitsmostdistantapogeeonFebruary5.Itis0.7°NofSaturnonFebruary2andis1.2°SofVenuslaterthatday.OnFebruary14,itis1.7°NofAldebaran,andfivedayslater(February19)is2.4°NofRegulus.Itis2.5°NofJupiteronFebruary27.

OccultationsOf the bright stars near the ecliptic that may be occulted by the Moon(Aldebaran,Antares,Pollux,Regulus andSpica), none are occulted in 2019.(ThereareoccultationsofSaturnin2019,visiblefromthesouthernhemisphere,butnotofanyotherplanets.)TheplanetsMercury is lost indaylight,andalthough it reachesgreatesteasternelongationonFebruary27,istoolowtobereadilyvisible.Venusisvisibleinthemorningsky,rapidlymovingclosertotheSunandfadingslightlyfrommag.-4.3to-4.1overthemonth.Mars(atmag.0.9to1.2)movesfromPiscesintoAriesinmid-month.Jupiter(mag.-1.9to-2.0)isslowlymovingeastinOphiuchus.Saturn,inSagittarius,isalsomovingveryslowlyeastwardsatmag.0.6.Uranus(mag.5.8)isinAries,justinsidetheborderwithPisces.Neptune(mag.7.9)remainsinAquarius.

ThepathoftheSunandtheplanetsalongtheeclipticinFebruary.

CalendarforFebruary02 07:18 Saturn0.7°SofMoon02 21:27 Venus1.2°NofMoon04 21:04 NewMoon05 07:02 Mercury6.1°NofMoon05 09:29 Moonatapogee(farthestofyear,406,555km)07 12:37 Mercury8.4°NofMoon08 Centauridshowermaximum10 16:19 Mars6.1°NofMoon12 22:26 FirstQuarter14 02:29 Aldebaran1.7°SofMoon18 14:16 Venus1.1°NofSaturn

19 09:03 Moonatperigee(closestofyear,356,761km)19 13:08 Regulus2.4°SofMoon19 15:54 FullMoon26 11:28 LastQuarter25–Mar.22 GammaNormidmeteorshower27 01:25 Mercuryatgreatestelongation(18.1°E,mag.-0.5)27 14:16 Jupiter2.5°SofMoon

February1–3•TheMoonpassesVenus,andSaturn,shortlybeforesunrise.NunkiandKausAustralisarenearby.

February18–19•VenuspassesSaturnwithNunkinearby.

February20•TheFullMoonisbetweenRegulusandAlgieba.Denebolaisfarthereast.

February26–28•AroundLastQuarter,theMoonpassesAntares,SabikandJupiter,highintheeast.

March–LookingSouth

March–LookingSouth

March01 11p.m.(12p.m.DST)March15 10p.m.(11p.m.DST)April01 9p.m.(10p.m.DST)

InMarch,theSuncrossesthecelestialequatoronWednesday,March20,whenday and night are of almost exactly equal length, and the southern autumn isconsidered to have begun. (The hours of daylight and darkness change mostrapidlyaroundtheequinoxes,inMarchandSeptember.)

Scorpiusisbeginningtobecomevisibleintheeasternsky,butaboveit,thewholeoftheconstellationofLupusisnoweasytosee.Themagnificentglobularcluster of Omega Centauri is now readily visible, north-east of Crux. TheCoalsackandthedenserregionoftheMilkyWayinCarina, togetherwiththe

EtaCarinaeNebulaandtheSouthernPleiadesarewellplacedforobservation.TheFalseCrossontheCarina/Velaborderisnowhighinthesky,betweentheSouth Celestial Pole and the zenith. Brilliant Canopus (α Carinae) is onlyslightlylowertowardthewest,abovetheLargeMagellanicCloud(LMC)andthe striking Tarantula Nebula. Achernar (α Eridani), the Small MagellanicCloud (SMC) and 47 Tucanae are considerably lower, but still clear of thehorizon.Peacock (αPavonis) remains low, skimming thehorizon, just east ofsouth.Orionisnowvisiblygettinglowerinthewest,andisbeingfollowedbySiriusandCanisMajor.

MeteorsThe only significantmeteor shower inMarch is theGammaNormids, whichhavealowrate,andarethusdifficulttodifferentiatefromsporadics.However,theyexhibitaverysharppeakadayorsooneithersideofmaximumonMarch13(whentheMoonisawaxingcrescentthatmaycausesomeinterference).ThefaintconstellationofNormarisesearlyinthenight,butmostmeteorsarelikelytobeseen(awayfromtheradiant)inthehoursaftermidnight.

The dark area left of the centre of the image is the Coalsack. Above it lie the stars that form theconstellationofCrux, theSouthernCross.TheconstellationofMusca is in thebottomhalfof the image.NeartheupperrightcorneristheEtaCarinaeNebula,withtheSouthernPleiadesjustbelowit(northisup).

March – Looking North

March–LookingNorth

March01 11p.m.(12p.m.DST)March15 10p.m.(11p.m.DST)April01 9p.m.(10p.m.DST)

AlmostduenorthistheconstellationofLeo,withthe‘backwardquestionmark’(or‘Sickle’)ofbrightstarsformingtheheadofthemythologicallion.Regulus(αLeonis)–the‘dot’ofthe‘questionmark’orthehandleofthesickleandthebrighteststarinLeo–liesveryclosetotheeclipticandisoneofthefewfirst-magnitudestarsthatmaybeoccultedbytheMoon,althoughnoneoccurin2019.TothewestliesthefaintconstellationofCancer,withtheopenclusterM44,orPraesepe.The constellationsofGemini andOrion are nowgetting low in thewest, but above them, bothProcyon in CanisMinor and the constellation ofCanisMajorremaincleartosee.ThewholeofHydra(thelargestconstellation)

now sprawls right across the southern and eastern skies. The unremarkableconstellation ofAntlia is at the zenith. In the east,Arcturus (α Boötis) – thebrightest star in thenorthernhemisphereof thesky– isbecomingvisible,andclimbshigherduringthenight.

ThedistinctiveconstellationofLeo,withRegulusand‘TheSickle’onthewest.Algieba(γLeonis),northofRegulus,appearingdouble,isamultiplesystemoffourstars(southisup).

The Moon’s phases for March

March–MoonandPlanetsTheMoonTheMoonpassesclose toVenus (justwithinCapricornus) in themorningskyonMarch2,(thetwobodiesareclosestlaterinthedayinCapricornus,invisiblein daylight). AtNewMoon, onMarch 6, theMoon is inAquarius (as is theSun). It isnorthofAldebaran inTaurusonMarch11andRegulus inLeoonMarch19.ItisininVirgo,lyingalmosthalf-waybetweenSpicaandRegulus,atFullMoononMarch21.ItpassesclosetoJupiteronMarch27andSaturnonbothMarch1andMarch29.

TheplanetsMercuryislostindaylight(itpassesinferiorconjunctiononMarch15).Venusatmag.-4.0isvisibleinthemorningsky,crossingCapricornusintoAquarius,close to the Sun at the end of themonth.Mars is an evening object, initiallymag.1.2andinAries,movesintoTaurusandfadesslightly(tomag.1.4)bytheend of the month. Jupiter (mag. -2.0 to -2.2) is moving slowly eastwards inOphiuchus.Saturn (mag. 0.6) is alsomoving slowly eastwards inSagittarius.Uranusismag.5.9inAries,andNeptune(mag.7.9)remainsinAquarius.

ThepathoftheSunandtheplanetsalongtheeclipticinMarch.

CalendarforMarch01 18:40 Saturn0.3°SofMoon02 21:28 Venus1.3°NofMoon04 11:26 Moonatapogee(406,391km)06 16:04 NewMoon11 12:09 Mars5.7°NofMoon13 GammaNormidshowermaximum13 11:13 Aldebaran2°SofMoon14 10:27 FirstQuarter15 01:47 Mercuryatinferiorconjunction19 00:59 Regulus2.5°SofMoon19 19:48 Moonatperigee(359,377km)20 21:58 Southernautumnequinox21 01:43 FullMoon27 03:28 Jupiter2°SofMoon28 04:10 LastQuarter29 06:11 Saturn0.1°NofMoon

31 SummerTimebegins(Europe)31 04:04 Mars3.2°SofPleiades

March1–4•TheMoonpassesNunki,SaturnandVenus.OnMarch4itisprobablylostinthedawn.

March11–13•TheMoonpassesMars,thePleiadesandAldebaran,whichisslightlybrighterthanMars.

March26–28•TheMoonpassesAntares,SabikandJupiter,atanaltitudeofabout20degrees.

March29–30•TheMooninthecompanyofNunkiandSaturn.

April–LookingSouth

April–LookingSouth

April01 11p.m.(12p.m.DST)April15 10p.m.May01 9p.m.

DaylightSavingTimeendsinbothAustraliaandNewZealandonSunday,April7 with the arrival of autumn. Crux is now high in the south, with the twobrighteststarsofCentaurus(αandβCentauri)toitseast.WestofCrux,boththeSouthernPleiadesand theEtaCarinaeNebulaareclearlyseen, two-thirdsofthewaytowardsthezenith.Fartherwest,theFalseCrossisbeginningtodeclinetowards the horizon.Canopus (α Carinae) is even lower, andOrion has nowdisappeared below the horizon. Canis Major and briliant Sirius are alsodescendinginthewest.Achernar(αEridani)isskimmingthesouthernhorizon,

but Peacock (α Pavonis) is now slightly higher and more easily visible.AlthoughtheLMCisroughlyashighastheSouthCelestialPole,theSMCand47Tucanaeareratherlow(butstillvisible)inthesouth.Intheeast,thewholeof Scorpius is now well clear of the horizon with the constellation of Librapreceding it along the ecliptic. The dense regions of the Milky Way inSagittariusbecomevisiblelaterinthenight.

MeteorsTwometeorshowers,inparticular,occurinApril.ThePiPuppidshowerbeginsonApril 15, but conditions are not particularly favourable in 2019, with FullMoononApril19,andshowermaximumonApril23,whentheMoonis18–19daysold(waninggibbous).Thehourlyrateisvariablebutthemeteorstendtobefaint. The parent body is the comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup. A second, moreprolific, shower, the Eta Aquariids, begins at Full Moon on April 19, andcontinuesintoMay.

ThepathofminorplanetPallas (2)which isatopposition(mag.7.9)onApril10.Backgroundstarsareshowndowntomagnitude8.5(southisup).

April – Looking North

April–LookingNorth

April01 11p.m.(12p.m.DST)April15 10p.m.May01 9p.m.

LeoisthemostprominentconstellationinthesouthernskyinApril,andvaguelylookslikethecreatureafterwhichitisnamed.Gemini,withCastorandPollux,is low on the horizon in the west, and Cancer lies between the twoconstellations.TotheeastofLeo,thewholeofVirgo,withSpica(αVirginis)itsbrighteststar,isclearlyvisible,withtheconstellationofLibrafarthereastalongtheecliptic.AboveLeoandVirgo,thecompletelengthofHydraisvisible,withAlphard(αHydrae)formingaprominenttrianglewithRegulusandProcyoninCanisMinor.High in the sky, the two small constellations ofCrater and the

ratherbrighterCorvusliebetweenHydraandVirgo.BoötesandArcturusareprominentinthenortheasternsky,togetherwiththe

circletofCoronaBorealis, close to thehorizon.BetweenLeoandBoötes liestheconstellationofComaBerenices,notableforbeingthelocationoftheopenclusterMelotte 111 and theComaCluster of galaxies (Abell 1656).There areabout 1000 galaxies in this cluster, which is located near the North GalacticPole,wherewearelookingoutoftheplaneoftheGalaxyandarethusabletoseedeepintospace.OnlyabouttenofthebrightestgalaxiesintheComaClusterarevisiblewiththelargestamateurtelescopes.

Avery large,andfrequently ignored,openstarcluster,Melotte111,alsoknownas theComaCluster, isreadilyvisibleinthenorthenskyduringAprilandMay(southisup).

The Moon’s phases for April

April–MoonandPlanetsTheMoonAtNewMoononApril5, theMoon is inCetus,belowtheSun,which lies inPisces.OnApril9itisvisibleinthewesternsky,northofAldebaraninTaurus.OnApril15itpassesRegulusinLeo.AtFullMoon,onApril19,itisinVirgo,not far from Spica. On April 23, theMoon passes close to Jupiter and thenSaturnonApril25.

TheplanetsMercurybegins inAquarius and rapidlymoves togreatestwesternelongationonApril 11.Venus also begins themonth inAquarius, atmag. -3.8, but thenmoves into the dawn twilight. Both planets are too low to be readily visible.Mars,intheeveningsky,initiallymag.1.4,fadesslightlytomag.1.6asitmoveswestinTaurusoverthemonth.Jupiter,movingslowlyinOphiuchus,brightensslightly frommag. -2.2 to -2.4. andSaturn is inSagittarius atmag.0.6—0.5.Bothplanetsarereadilyvisiblelaterinthenight.UranusisinAriesatmag.5.9andNeptuneinAquariusatmag.8.0.Bothplanetsareinvisibleinthedaytimesky.MinorplanetPallas(2)comestooppositioninBoötesonApril10atmag.7.9(seehere).

ThepathoftheSunandtheplanetsalongtheeclipticinApril.

CalendarforApril01 00:14 Moonatapogee(405,577km)02 04:17 Venus2.7°NofMoon03 23:01 Mercury3.6°NofMoon05 08:50 NewMoon06 22:00* Mars6.5°NofAldebaran07 EndofDaylightSavingTime(Australia&NewZealand)09 07:40 Mars5°NofMoon09 16:43 Aldebaran2.2°SofMoon10 01:17 Pallasatopposition(mag.7.9)11 19:42 Mercuryatgreatestelongation(27.7°W,mag.0.3)12 19:06 FirstQuarter15–28 PiPuppidmeteorshower15 01:08 Aldebaran6.5°NofMars

15 09:22 Regulus2.7°SofMoon16 19:03 Mercury4.3°SofVenus16 22:05 Moonatperigee(364,205km)19–May26 EtaAquariidmeteorshower19 11:12 FullMoon23 PiPuppidshowermaximum23 11:35 Jupiter1.6°SofMoon25 14:27 Saturn0.4°NofMoon26 22:18 LastQuarter28 18:20 Moonatapogee(404,582km)

*Theseobjectsareclosetogetherforanextendedperiodaroundthistime.

April9•TheMoonwithAldebaran,Mars.andthePleiadeslowinthenorthwest.

April11–13•ThewaxingcrescentMoonpassesAlhenaandthetwinstarsCastorandPollux.Betelgeuseisfartherwest.

April15•ThewaxinggibbousMoonisbetweenRegulusandAlgieba.

April22–26•ThewaninggibbousMoonisclosetothezenithwhenitpassesAntares,Sabik,Jupiter,NunkiandSaturn.

May–LookingSouth

May–LookingSouth

May01 11p.m.May15 10p.m.June01 9p.m.

In thewest,CanisMajorhassetbelow thehorizon,andCanopus (αCarinae)andPuppisaregettingratherlow.ThewholeofSagittariusisnowclearlyseenin the east, with Corona Australis beneath it and Scorpius higher above.Centaurusisfullyseenhighinthesouth,withCrux,theEtaCarinaeNebula,theSouthernPleiadesand theFalseCrosswithVelaalong theMilkyWaytothewest. In the south,Achernar (αEridani) is skimming the southernhorizonandtheSmallMagellanicCloud (SMC)isbeginningtorisehigher in thesky,unlike the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) which is now lower. Pavo and

Peacock (αPavonis)arenowmuchhigherandeven the faintconstellationsofTucanaandIndusarevisiblebetweenPavoandthesouthwesternhorizon.

MeteorsTheEtaAquariids are one of the twometeor showers associatedwithComet1P/Halley(theotherbeingtheOrionids,inOctober).TheEtaAquariidradiantisnear the celestial equator, close to the ‘Water Jar’ in Aquarius, but theconstellation is well below the horizon until late in the night (around dawn).However,meteorsmaystillbeseenintheeasternskyevenwhentheradiantisbelowthehorizon.ThereisaradiantmapfortheEtaAquaridshere.

Theirmaximum in2019,onMay6–7,occurswhen theMoon is awaxingcrescent,justbeforeFirstQuarter,soconditionsshouldbeacceptable.Maximumhourlyrateisabout55perhourandalargeproportion(about25percent)ofthemeteorsleavepersistenttrains.

ThepathofminorplanetCeres(1)whichcomestoopposition(mag.7.0)onMay28.Backgroundstarsareshowndowntomagnitude8.5(southisup).

May – Looking North

May–LookingNorth

May01 11p.m.May15 10p.m.June01 9p.m.

Boötes is almost due north, with brilliant, slightly orange-coloured Arcturusextemelyprominent.ThedistinctivecircletofCoronaBorealisisclearlyvisibleto its east. The brightest star (α Coronae Borealis) is known as Alphecca.Hercules isrisingin theeastandbecomesclearlyvisible later in thenight.TothewestofBoötes is the inconspicuousconstellationofComaBerenices,withtheclusterMelote111(seehere)and,aboveit,theVirgoClusterofgalaxies(seechart).

The large constellation ofOphiuchus (which actually crosses the ecliptic,

and is thus the ‘thirteenth’ zodiacal constellation) is climbing into the easternsky. Before the constellation boundaries were formally adopted by theInternational Astronomical Union in 1930, the southern region of Ophiuchuswas regardedas formingpartof theconstellationofScorpius,whichhadbeenpart of the zodiac since antiquity.Scorpius and brilliant, reddishAntares arehighintheeast.

Early in the night, the constellation ofVirgo,withSpica (αVirginis), liesduesouth,withtheratherfaintzodiacalconstellationofLibratoitseast.FartheralongtheeclipticareScorpiusandbrilliant,reddishAntares(αScorpii).Inthewest, the constellation of Leo is readily visible now, and both Regulus andDenebola(αandβLeonis,respectively)areprominent.

AfinderchartforsomeofthebrightestgalaxiesintheVirgoCluster.Allstarsbrighterthanmagnitude8.5areshown(southisup).

Virgocontainsthenearestlargeclusterofgalaxies,whichisthecentreoftheLocal Supercluster, of which the Milky Way galaxy forms part. The VirgoCluster contains some 2000 galaxies, the brightest of which are visible inamateurtelescopes.

TheMoon’sphasesforMay

May–MoonandPlanetsTheMoonNewMoonoccursonMay4,when it is actually in theconstellationofAries,closetotheborderwithCetus.ItisvisibleneartoMarsonMay7justbeforetheplanet sets in thewest. Itappears inLeo,not far fromRegulusonMay12,atFirstQuarter.FullMoonisonMay18,intheconstellationofLibra.ItisclosetoJupiteronMay20andpassesSaturnonMay22.

TheplanetsMercuryisinvisible,closetotheSun,andisatsuperiorconjunctiononMay21.Venusisclosetothehorizonatdawnatthebeginningofthemonth,butrapidlybecomesinvisibleindaylight.Mars(mag.1.6–1.7)maybeglimpsedinTaurusintheeveningtwilightearlyinthemonth,butbytheendofthemonthbecomestoo low as itmoves intoGemini.Jupiter (mag. -2.5), and still inOphiuchus,rises about 04:30UT.Saturn (mag. 0.5), inSagittarius, rises slightly later atabout 06:00 and brightens slightly to mag. 0.3 over the month.Uranus is inAriesatmag.5.9andNeptuneinAquariusatmag.7.9.TheminorplanetCeresisatopposition(mag.7.0)onMay28inOphiuchus,justinsidetheborderwithScorpius.

ThepathoftheSunandtheplanetsalongtheeclipticinMay.

CalendarforMay02 11:39 Venus3.6°NofMoon03 06:25 Mercury2.9°NofMoon04 22:45 NewMoon06–07 EtaAquariidshowermaximum06 22:20 Aldebaran2.3°SofMoon07 23:35 Mars3.2°NofMoon10 03:56 Pollux6.3°NofMoon12 01:12 FirstQuarter12 14:44 Regulus3°SofMoon13 21:53 Moonatperigee(369,009km)16 06:37 Spica7.7°SofMoon18 21:11 FullMoon19 17:05 Antares7.9°SofMoon

20 16:54 Jupiter1.7°SofMoon21 13:07 Mercuryatsuperiorconjunction22 22:14 Saturn0.5°NofMoon26 13:27 Moonatapogee(404,138km)26 16:34 LastQuarter28 22:36 Ceresatopposition(mag.7.0)

May6–9•TheMoonpassesAldebaran(mag.0.9),Mars(mag.1.6)andAlhena(mag.1.9),shortlyaftersunset.

May12•TheMoonisinthecompanyofRegulusandAlgiebawhenitsets.

May16•TheMoonisbetweenSpicaandζVir.Porrima(γVir)isnearby.

May21–24•ThewaninggibbousMoonisveryhighinthenorthwhenitpassesSabik,Jupiter,NunkiandSaturn.

June–LookingSouth

June–LookingSouth

June01 11p.m.June15 10p.m.July01 9p.m.

BothCanopus(αCarinae)andAchernar(αEridani)areskimmingthesouthernhorizon. Although the whole of Carina is visible, all of Eridanus (exceptAchernar)ishiddenbelowthehorizon.TheLargeMagellanicCloud(LMC)islow, altough the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), the globular cluster, 47Tucanae and Hydrus are now rather higher. Alphard (α Hydrae) is on thehorizon, and the constellation of Sextans is becoming low. However, theremainder of the long constellation of Hydra is clearly seen as are the twoconstellations of Crater and Corvus to its north. The False Cross between

Carina andVela is beginning todescend in thewest, butVela itself is clearlyvisible. The whole of both Crux and Centaurus is clearly seen, as are themagnificentglobularcluster,OmegaCentauri,and theconstellationofLupus,closer to the zenith. The constellation of Triangulum Australe is on themeridian, roughly half-way between the South Celestial Pole and the zenith.BothScorpius,withbrilliant, redAntares (αScorpii) andSagittarius arehighoverhead,with the faint constellationofCoronaAustralis visiblebelow them.ThewholeofCapricornusisvisible,andtheconstellationofGrushasnowrisenabovethehorizon,withthefaintconstellationofIndusbetweenitandPavo.Tothe east of Grus is Piscis Austrinus, although brilliant Fomalhaut (α PiscisAustrini)isonlyjustclearofthehorizon,andbecomesclearlyvisibleonlylaterinthenightandlaterinthemonth.

OmegaCentauri (NGC5139) is the largestand finestglobularcluster in the sky (and in theMilkyWaygalaxy).Itisbelievedtocontain10millionstarsanddiffersinchemicalcompositionandnaturesogreatlyfromotherglobularsthatitmaybethecoreofadisrupteddwarfgalaxy,capturedbythefarmoremassiveGalaxy.

June – Looking North

June–LookingNorth

June01 11p.m.June15 10p.m.July01 9p.m.

Vega inLyra isjustabovethenortheasternhorizon.ClosertothemeridianthewholeofHerculesisvisibleincludingthe‘Keystone’andM13,widelyregardedasthefinestglobularclusterinthenorthernhemisphere.ThesmallconstellationofCoronaBorealis isalmostduenorth.Tothewestof themeridianisBoötesandArcturus (αBoötis).MuchofLeo is nowbelow thewesternhorizon, butDenebola (β Leonis) is still visible. Higher in the sky, thewhole ofVirgo isclearly visible and, still higher, not far from the zenith is the constellation ofLibra. To its east isScorpius and reddishAntares. Farther along the ecliptic,

both the constellations ofSagittarius andCapricornus are completely visible.BetweenHerculesandSagittariusisthelargeconstellationofOphiuchusand,toitseast,AquilaandAltair(αAquilae),oneofthestarsoftheSummerTriangle.

FinderchartforM13,thefinestglobularclusterinthenorthernsky.Allstarsdowntomagnitude7.5areshown(southisup).

The Moon’s phases for June

June–MoonandPlanetsTheMoonNewMoonisonJune3whenitisclosetoAldebaraninTaurus,butthestarisinvisible in morning twilight. Later in the month the Moon is again nearAldebaranonJune30,butthestarisnowindaylight.ItpassesclosetoMarsonJune5,andbothbodiesmaybeglimpsedlaterinGeminijustbeforetheysetinthewest.ItpassesSpicainVirgoindaylightonJune12andagainbothbodiesmay be seen later in the day as they begin to set in the southwest. It is inOphiuchus,aboveAntares(inScorpius)onJune16andpassesclosetoJupiterlater thatday.FullMoon isonJune17(inOphiuchus,nearJupiter). ItpassesveryclosetoSaturn(inSagittarius)onJune19,buttheeventoccurswhenthebodiesarebelowthehorizon.Theymaybeseenrelativelyclosetooneanothersomehourslaterwhentheyhaverisenintheeast.

TheplanetsMercury is initially in the daytime sky, but rapidlymoves to greatest easternelongation on June 23, when it is actually close toMars, but too low to bevisibleaftersunset.ItmaybepossibletoglimpseVenus(atmag.-3.9)earlyinthemonth,verylowinmorningtwilight,butitsoonmovesintodaylight.MarsisinGemini,butinvisibleindaylight,althoughmovingintothewesterneveningsky.JupiterisinOphiuchusatmag.-2.6andcomestooppositiononJune10,Saturn (mag. 0.3– 0.1) is in Sagittarius. The opposition of both planets areshown on the special chart here. Uranus remains in Aries at mag. 5.9 andNeptuneinAquariusatmag.7.9.

ThepathoftheSunandtheplanetsalongtheeclipticinJune.

CalendarforJune01 18:14 Venus3.2°NofMoon03 06:12 Aldebaran2.3°SofMoon03 10:02 NewMoon04 15:41 Mercury3.7°NofMoon05 15:05 Mars1.6°NofMoon06 10:07 Pollux6.2°NofMoon07 23:15 Moonatperigee(368,504km)08 20:01 Regulus3.2°SofMoon10 05:59 FirstQuarter10 15:28 Jupiteratopposition(mag.-2.6)12 12:49 Spica7.8°SofMoon16 01:02 Antares8°SofMoon16 18:50 Jupiter2°SofMoon17 08:31 FullMoon

17 21:00* Venus4.8°NofAldebaran18 15:00* Mars0.2°SofMercury19 03:46 Saturn0.4°NofMoon21 15:54 Summersolstice23 07:00* Mars5.6°SofPollux23 07:50 Moonatapogee(404,548km)23 23:16 Mercuryatgreatestelongation(25.2°E,mag.0.4)25 09:46 LastQuarter30 15:34 Aldebaran2.3°SofMoon

*Theseobjectsareclosetogetherforanextendedperiodaroundthistime.

June4–6•TheMoonpassesMercuryandMars.Mercuryisverylowandmaybelostinthedawn.

June8–9•TheMoonpassesbetweenRegulusandAlgieba.Denebolaishigherandfarthernorth.

June17–20•TheMoonisagainveryhighinthenorthwhenitpassesSabik,Jupiter,NunkiandSaturn.

June18•AftersunsetMercury(mag.0.4)andMars(mag.1.8)areclosetogether.

July–LookingSouth

July–LookingSouth

July01 11p.m.July15 10p.m.August01 9p.m

Although theLargeMagellanic Cloud (LMC) is almost due south, it is verylow. Slightly farther west, the False Cross is nearing the horizon. Some ofHydra remains visible, but the constellation ofCrater is becoming very low.Corvus is still easy to see. The zodiacal constellation ofVirgo will soon bedisappearinginthewest.Crux,CentaurusandLupusarestillclearlyseen,highin the sky, as is Scorpius, the tail of which is near the zenith.Achernar (αEridani),Hydrus,andtheSmallMagellanicCloud(SMC)arenowhigherabove

thehorizonandeasiertoobserve.ThewholeoftheconstellationofPhoenixisalsonowclearofthehorizon.AboveitareTucanaand,halfwaytothezenith,theconstellationofPavo.GrusandPiscesAustrinus(withbrilliantFomalhaut)are now fully visible. Higher in the sky are the zodiacal constellations ofCapricornusandAquarius,andeventhewesternmostportionofPiscesisrisingabovethehorizon.

MeteorsJuly brings increasingmeteor activity,mainly because there are severalminorradiants active in the constellations of Capricornus and Aquarius. The firstshower,theAlphaCapricornids,activefromJuly11toAugust10(peakingJuly26 toAugust 1), does often produce very bright fireballs. Themaximum rate,however,isonlyabout5perhour.TheparentbodyisComet169P/NEAT.ThemostprominentshowerisprobablythatoftheDeltaAquariids,whichareactivefromaround July 21 toAugust 23,with a peakon July 29–30, although eventhen thehourly rate is unlikely to reach20meteorsperhour. In this case, theparent body is possiblyComet 96P/Machholz. This year both showermaximaoccur when the Moon is a waning crescent, so observing conditions arereasonablyfavourable.ThePiscisAustrinidsbeginonJuly15andcontinueuntilAugust10,withamaximum(witharateofabout5perhour)onJuly27–28.

TheconstellationofCruxisinthelowerrightpartoftheimage,withtheCoalsacknearby.ThetwobrightstarsneartheleftedgeareRigilKentaurus(αCentauri)andHadar(βCentauri).ThefuzzyspotnearthetopoftheimageisthebeautifulglobularclusterOmegaCentauri(seeimagehere).Northisup.

July – Looking North

July–LookingNorth

July01 11p.m.July15 10p.m.August01 9p.m

TheconstellationsofHerculesandLyraareoneithersideofthemeridianandbothareclearlyvisiblewellabovethehorizon.Totheeast,Deneb(αCygni)isskimmingthehorizon,butnearlyalloftherestoftheconstellationiseasilyseenasisAquilawithAltair(αAquilae).BetweenCygnusandAquilaliesthesmallconstellationofSagitta,withM27 (theDumbbellNebula, aplanetarynebula).Even farther east, the whole extent of both the zodiacal constellations ofAquariusandCapricornusisvisible.AboveAquila,fartheralongtheGreatRiftis thesmallconstellationofScutum,withM11, theWildDuckCluster.To its

eastisthetiny,butdistinctiveconstellationofDelphinus.StillfartheralongtheGreatRiftliesthecentreoftheMilkyWayGalaxy(inSagittarius)and,nearit,twoemissionnebulae:M8(theLagoonNebula)andM20(theTrifidNebula).Inthe western sky, the constellations of Boötes and Arcturus (α Boötis) arebeginning to approach the horizon, butCorona Borealis is still clearly seen.Evenfartherwest,thewholeofVirgoisvisible,withLibraaboveit.ThelargeconstellationofOphiuchusandthetwohalvesofSerpensliebetweenHerculesandthezenith.ScorpiusisdrapedaroundtheactualzenithwithSagittariustoitseast.

Part of the centralMilkyWay in the constellations ofNorma and Scorpius, showing the dark clouds ofobscuringdust(northisup).

The Moon’s phases for July

July–MoonandPlanetsTheMoonNewMoonoccursonJuly2,whentheMoon(andSun)areinGemini.Thatdaythereisatotalsolareclipse,visiblefromtheSouthPacificandthesoutherntipofSouthAmerica.On July 4, theMoon is very close toMars inCancer, butbothbodiesarelostindaylight.ItpassesRegulusinLeoonJuly6,visibleastheconstellationsetsinthewest.OnJuly9,theMoonisclosetoSpicainVirgo,butbeforecloseapproach,theobjectsarevisibleearlierinthenight.OnJuly13theMoonisclosetoAntaresinScorpiusandthenpassesJupiterinOphiuchus.OnJuly16itliesveryclosetoSaturninSagittarius,butFullMoonoccurslaterintheday,soSaturnwillbedifficulttosee.Thatdaythereisapartiallunareclipse,visible from Africa and theMiddle East. On July 28, theMoon is a waningcrescentclose toAldebaran, inTaurus,visibleonly lateras theobjectsrise intheeast.

TheplanetsMercuryremainsinvisibleindaylightandpassesinferiorconjunction(betweenEarthandtheSun)onJuly21.VenusisalsotooclosetotheSuntobedetected.Mars remains close to the Sun inCancer. Jupiter (mag. -2.6 to -2.4) is stillretrograding slowly inOphiuchus andSaturn (mag.0.1) isdoing the same inSagittarius,reachingoppositiononJuly9.Itspositionatopposition(andthatofJupiterinJune)isshownonthecharthere.UranusisstillinAriesatmag.5.9andNeptuneinAquariusatmag.7.9.

ThepathoftheSunandtheplanetsalongtheeclipticinJuly.

CalendarforJuly

01 21:45 Venus1.6°NofMoon02 19:16 NewMoon02 19:23 Totalsolareclipse(S.Pacific,southernS.America)03 18:24 Pollux6.1°NofMoon04 05:39 Mars0.1°SofMoon04 08:34 Mercury3.2°SofMoon04 22:11 Earthataphelion(152,104,213km=1.01675AU)05 05:00 Moonatperigee(363,726km)06 02:42 Regulus3.2°SofMoon09 10:55 FirstQuarter09 17:07 Saturnatopposition(mag.0.1)09 18:10 Spica7.9°SofMoon11–Aug.10 AlphaCapricornidmeteorshower13 07:19 Antares8°SofMoon13 19:43 Jupiter2.3°SofMoon

13–Aug.26 Perseidmeteorshower16 07:15 Saturn0.2°NofMoon16 21:38 FullMoon16 21:31 Partiallunareclipse(Africa)20 23:59 Moonatapogee(405,481km)21 12:34 Mercuryatinferiorconjunction21–Aug.23 DeltaAquariidmeteorshower23 16:00* Venus6.1°SofPollux25 01:18 LastQuarter26–Aug.01 AlphaCapricornidshowermaximum28 01:16 Aldebaran2.3°SofMoon29–30 DeltaAquariidshowermaximum31 02:18 Mercury4.5°SofMoon31 04:29 Pollux6.1°NofMoon31 20:36 Venus0.6°SofMoon

*Theseobjectsareclosetogetherforanextendedperiodaroundthistime.

July6•TheMoonwithRegulusandAlgiebaintheeveningsky,inthenorthwest.

July13–16•ThewaxinggibbousMoonpassesAntares,Jupiter,Sabik,NunkiandSaturn,notfarfromthezenith.

July28•TheMoonisbetweenAldebaranandthePleiades.BetelgeuseandRigelarefarthereast.

July30–31•TheMoonwithAlhenaandMercury.Mercuryisratherfaint(mag.1.8)andhardtodetect.

August–LookingSouth

August–LookingSouth

August01 11p.m.August15 10p.m.September01 9p.m.

Threeinconspicuousconstellations:Volans,ChamaeleonandOctansareonthemeridian, withPavo higher towards the zenith.Much ofCarina is below thehorizon, although theEtaCarinaeNebula and theSouthernPleiades are stillvisible. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the faint constellation ofMensa are slightly higher in the sky. Crux is now lower, but the whole ofCentaurus andLupus remainsvisible.MuchofVirgo has set in thewest andLibra is following it down towards the horizon.Scorpius andSagittarius arestillvisiblehighinthesky.Achernar,theLargeMagellanicCloud(SMC)and

Hydrus are now well clear of the horizon, but below them are more small,inconspicuous constellations: Dorado, Reticulum and Horlogium. More ofEridanus is visible, togetherwithparts ofPictor andFornax.MuchofCetushas risen and the whole of the western arm of Pisces is now clearly seen.Sculptor,Grus andPiscisAustrinus lie half-way between the eastern horizonandthezenith,withfaintMicroscopiumclosertotheactualzenith.

MeteorsThePiscisAustrinidshowercontinuesuntilaboutAugust10,aftermaximumonJuly27–28.TheSouthernDeltaAquariidsreachmaximumonJuly29–30,butareunlikely toexhibitmore thanabout20meteorsperhour.Thereareseveralminorsouthernshowersactiveduringthemonth:theNorthernDeltaAquariids(maximum August 13), the Southern andNorthern Iota Aquariids (maximaAugust4andAugust19, respectively),but inall cases the rates arevery low,justsinglefiguresperhour.

Thecross-shapedconstellationofGrus.Thebrigheststar,Alnair(αGruis), inthecentreoftheimage,ismagnitude1.8(northisup).

August – Looking North

August–LookingNorth

August01 11p.m.August15 10p.m.September01 9p.m.

Cygnus,withbrilliantDeneb(αCygni),isnowprominentjusttotheeastofthemeridian.Theothertwostarsofthe(northern)SummerTriangle,VegainLyraandAltair inAquila are also unmistakeable in the sky.Hercules, however, isbeginningtodescendtowardsthenorthwesternhorizon.Aboveit,thesprawlingconstellationofOphiuchusisreadilyseen.TheGreatSquareofPegasusisnowvisible in the east, althoughAlpheratz (αAndromedae) is lowon thehorizon.Thewestern side ofPisces,Aquarius andCapricornus are fully visible alongthe ecliptic. Sagittarius, withM8 (the Lagoon Nebula) andM20 (the Trifid

Nebula)isatthezenith,withScorpiustothewest.

A finder chart for the gaseous nebulaeM8 (the Lagoon Nebula) andM20 (the Trifid Nebula) and theglobular clusterM22,all inSagittarius.ClustersM21&M23 (open)andM28 (globular)are faint.Thechartshowsallstarsbrighterthanmagnitude7.5(southisup).

The Moon’s phases for August

August–MoonandPlanetsTheMoonNewMoonoccursonAugust1inCancer.Afewhourslater,itpassesMars,justinsideLeo and the next day it is close toRegulus, but these events occur indaylight.OnAugust6,justbeforeFirstQuarter,itpassesSpicainVirgo,buttheconstellationisvisibleonlyasitsetsinthewest.OnAugust9,theMoonisclosetobothAntaresinScorpiusandJupiter(inOphiuchus),visiblejustbeforetheyset. On August 12, the Moon occults Saturn in Sagittarius, with the eventvisible from New Zealand (particularly North Island) and eastern Australia(Sydney,Brisbane).FullMoonisonAugust15,on theborderofCapricornusand Aquarius. On August 30, at New Moon, the Moon, the Sun,Mercury,VenusandMarsareallclusteredtogetherinLeo.

TheplanetsMercuryisatgreatesteasternelongationonAugust9,butrapidlybecomescloseto the Sun. Venus is invisible near the Sun in daylight. It is at superiorconjunctiononAugust14.Mars(inLeo)atmag.1.8isalsotooclosetotheSuntobereadilyvisible,butmightbeglimpsedearlyinthemonthasitsets inthewest.Jupiter(mag.-2.4to-2.2)isinOphiuchus,reachesastationarypointonAugust8andthenbeginsnormaleastwardsmotion.Saturn(mag.0.1to0.3)isstill retrograding slowly in Sagittarius. An occultation is visible from NewZealand and eastern Australia. Uranus (mag. 5.9) and Neptune (mag. 7.9)remaininAriesandAquarius,respectively.

ThepathoftheSunandtheplanetsalongtheeclipticinAugust.

CalendarforAugust01 03:12 NewMoon01 19:55 Mars1.7°SofMoon02 07:11 Moonatperigee(359,398km)02 11:41 Regulus3.2°SofMoon06 00:35 Spica7.8°SofMoon07 17:31 FirstQuarter09 12:50 Antares7.9°SofMoon09 22:53 Jupiter2.5°SofMoon09 23:08 Mercuryatgreatestelongation(19.0°W,mag.-0.0)11–12 Perseidshowermaximum12 09:53 Saturn0.1°NofMoon(OccultationfromNZandE.Australia)14 06:07 Venusatsuperiorconjunction15 12:29 FullMoon17 10:49 Moonatapogee(406,244km)

17 23:00* Mars0.7°NofRegulus21 04:00* Venus1.0°NofRegulus23 14:56 LastQuarter24 09:54 Aldebaran2.4°SofMoon27 14:56 Pollux6.1°NofMoon28 AlphaAurigidshowermaximum29 22:19 Regulus3.2°SofMoon30 01:07 Mercury1.9°SofMoon30 10:22 Mars3.1°SofMoon30 10:37 NewMoon30 15:53 Moonatperigee(357,176km)30 16:18 Venus2.9°SofMoon

*Theseobjectsareclosetogetherforanextendedperiodaroundthistime.

August6•TheMoonSpicainthewesternsky.Arcturusisfarthernorth.

August9–11•TheMoonsetsinthewest,inthecompanyofAntares,JupiterandSabik.

August11–13•TheMoonwithNunkiandSaturn.KausAustralisandtheCat’sEyesarefarthersouth.

August23•TheMoonpassesbetweenAldebaranandthePleiades.

September–LookingSouth

September–LookingSouth

September01 11p.m.September15 10p.m.October01 9p.m.(10p.m.NZDT)

Crux isnowvery low,butCanopus (αCarinae)hasnowbecomevisibleoncemore.DoradoandtheLargeMagellanicCloud(LMC)arehigherandeasiertosee,asarethefaintconstellationofPictor,CaelumandReticulum.TheSmallMagellanicCloud(SMC)and47Tucanaearenownearlyhalf-waybetweenthehorizon and the zenith.Although becoming low, thewhole ofCentaurus andLupus remains visible in the southwest. Scorpius with reddish Antares isbeginningtodescendinthewest,butSagittariusisclearlyseenhighinthesky.TheconstellationofPiscisAustrinus,withFomalhaut(αPiscisAustrini),isat

thezenith.BelowitaretheconstellationsofGrusandPavo,withAchernar(αEridani)andalmostthewholeofthelongconstellationofEridanus.

MeteorsTherearenomajormeteorshowersactiveinSeptember,Afewmeteorsmaybeseen from theAlpha Aurigid shower, active from late August, with possibledoublemaximaonAugust28andSeptember15.Thereisoneminorshower,thePiscids,activethroughoutSeptemberwithaslightmaximumonSeptember19,but with an overall rate of no more than 3–5 meteors per hour. However,Septembershowsaconsiderableincreaseinthenumberofsporadicmeteors.

The‘Teapot’ofSagittarius is in theupperhalfof the imageand, justbelowthecentre, thesmallcurlofstarsthatisCoronaAustralis.

September – Looking North

September–LookingNorth

September01 11p.m.September15 10p.m.October01 9p.m.(10p.m.NZDT)

TheGreatSquareofPegasus isnearingthemeridianfromtheeastand,onthewest,thethreebrightstarsofDeneb(αCygni),Altair(αAquilae)andVega(αLyrae)arestillclearlyseen,althoughVegaislowonthehorizon,asisM31inAndromeda.Intheeast,thewholeofCetushasbecomevisibleandthezodiacalconstellationofPiscesisalsoclearofthehorizon.Delphinusiswell-placed,asarethefainterconstellationsofSagittaandScutumalongtheMilkyWay.GiantOphiuchus is beginning to descend towards thewestern horizon andmuch ofLibrahasdisappeared.ThethreezodiacalconstellationsofPisces,Aquariusand

Capricornus are readily visible. Somewhat higher, Pisces Austrinus withFomalhaut(αPiscesAustrini)isatthezenith.ScorpiusandSagittariusarenowonthewesternsideofthesky.

The path of Neptune in 2019. Neptune comes to opposition on September 10. All stars brighter thanmagnitude8.5areshown(southisup).

The Moon’s phases for September

September–MoonandPlanetsTheMoonOnSeptember5,onedaybeforeFirstQuarter,theMoonisclosetoAntaresand,thenextday,nearJupiterinOphiuchus.OnSeptember8,9daysold,itoccultsSaturn in Sagittarius. The event is visible from a wide area of northern andwestern Australia, including Darwin and Perth. Full Moon (in Pisces) is onSeptember 14. By September 20, as waning gibbous, the Moon is close toAldebaran inTaurus.OnSeptember26,theMoonisclosetoRegulus inLeo,visibleintheearlymorningbeforesunrise.NewMoonisonSeptember28whentheMoon(andtheSun)areinVirgo.

TheplanetsMercuryandVenusaretooclosetotheSunandtoolowtobevisible.Marsisalso lost indaylight. Jupiter (mag. -2.2 to -2.0) ismovingeastwardsslowly inOphiuchus. Saturn (mag. 0.3 to 0.5) is also moving eastwards slowly inSagittarius.Uranus (mag. 5.9) is inAries.Neptune (inAquarius) comes tooppositiononSeptember10atmag.7.8(herethereisafinderchartshowingthepathofNeptunein2019).

ThepathoftheSunandtheplanetsalongtheeclipticinSeptember.

CalendarforSeptember02 09:13 Spica7.7°SofMoon02 10:42 MarsinconjunctionwithSun04 01:40 Mercuryatsuperiorconjunction05 19:06 Antares7.8°SofMoon06 03:10 FirstQuarter06 06:52 Jupiter2.3°SofMoon08 13:42 Saturn0.1°NofMoon(OccultationfromN.&W.Australia)10 07:24 Neptuneatopposition(mag.7.8)13 13:32 Moonatapogee(406,377km)14 04:33 FullMoon15 AlphaAurigidshowersecondmaximum20 16:45 Aldebaran2.7°SofMoon22 02:41 LastQuarter23 07:50 Autumnalequinox23–Nov.20 SouthernTauridsmeteorshower23–Nov.27 Orionidmeteorshower24 00:01 Pollux3.3°NofMoon

26 08:54 Regulus3.3°SofMoon28 01:19 Mars4.1°SofMoon28 02:24 Moonatperigee(357,802km)28 18:26 NewMoon29 12:46 Mars4.4°SofMoon29 19:44 Spica7.6°SofMoon29 DaylightSavingTimebegins(NewZealand)29 22:01 Mercury6.2°SofMoon

September5–6•TheMoonwithAntares,JupiterandSabik,beforeitsetsinthesouthwest.

September8•TheoccultationofSaturn,asseenfromPerth(top)andDarwin(bottom).TimeisgiveninUT.

September23–25•TheMoonpassesAlhenaandthetwinstarsCastorandPollux,lowinthenortheast.

September26–27•TheMoonpassesbetweenRegulusandAlgieba,whichisprobablylostindawn.

October–LookingSouth

October–LookingSouth

October01 11p.m.(12p.m.NZDT)October15 10p.m.(11p.m.DST)November01 9p.m.(10p.m.DST)

Cruxisnowextremelylow,onlyjustvisibleabovethehorizon.TheFalseCrosshas reappeared, also low, farther towards the east on the opposite side of themeridian.Canopus(αCarinae)isnowmuchhigherasistheLargeMagellanicCloud(LMC).TheSmallMagellanicCloud(SMC)and47Tucanaeareonthesouthern meridian, half-way to the zenith, as is Achernar (α Eridani). (ThewholeofthelongconstellationofEridanusisnowvisibletogetherwithRigelinOrion.)StillhigherarePhoenix,GrusandPiscisAustrinus.Pavohasbegunto

descendinthesouthwest.OphiuchushasnowslippedbelowthehorizonashasmuchofScorpius,onlythe‘tail’ofwhichremainsvisible.Sagittariusisgettinglower,butremainsvisible,asdothezodiacalconstellationsofCapricornusandAquarius.

MeteorsTheOrionidsarethemajor,fairlyreliablemeteorshoweractiveinOctober.Likethe May Eta Aquariid shower, the Orionids are associated with Comet1P/Halley. During this second pass through the stream of particles from thecomet,slightlyfewermeteorsareseenthaninMay.Inbothshowersthemeteorsareveryfast,andmanyleavepersistenttrains.AlthoughtheOrionidmaximumisquotedasOctober21–22,infactthereisaverybroadmaximum,lastingaboutaweekfromOctober20to27,withhourlyratesaround25.Occasionallyratesarehigher(50–70perhour).In2019,thebroadmaximumextendsfromthedaybefore Last Quarter to a waning crescent, so moonlight should not cause toomuchinterference.

ThefaintshoweroftheSouthernTaurids(oftenwithbrightfireballs)peaksonOctober28–29.TheSouthernTauridmaximumoccursaroundNewMoon,soconditions are generally favourable. Towards the end of the month (aroundOctober 19), another shower (theNorthern Taurids) begins to show activity,whichpeaks early inNovember.Theparent comet for bothTaurid showers isComet2P/Encke.

TheSmallMagellanicCloud, one of the satellite galaxies to theMilkyWay.Near the right edge of thisimageis47Tucanae(NGC104),whichisthesecondbrightestglobularcluster,afterOmegaCentauri(seehere).Northisup.

October – Looking North

October–LookingNorth

October01 11p.m.(12p.m.NZDT)October15 10p.m.(11p.m.DST)November01 9p.m.(10p.m.DST)

TheGreatSquareofPegasusnowdominatestheskytothenorthandthewholeofAndromedawiththeAndromedaGalaxy(M31)isnowclearofthehorizon.ThetwochainsofstarsformingPiscesframetheGreatSquareand,fartheralongthe ecliptic, the constellations ofAquarius andCapricornus are fully visible.Farthereast,allofCetusisvisibleand,lowdownonthehorizon,AldebaraninTaurusisbeginningtorise.DueeastOrionisbecomingvisible,withblue-whiteRigel and the beginning of the long, winding constellation of Eridanus thatwendsitswaytoAchernar (αEridani), far to thesouth.Westof themeridian,

Lyra, withVega has disappeared; much ofCygnus is invisible andDeneb isbrushingthehorizon.OnlyAquilaandAltair(αAquilae)remainclearlyvisible.Vulpecula,withtheplanetarynebulaM27isstillvisibleasisSagittaand,abovethem, the distinctive constellation of Delphinus and the very faint,inconspicuousconstellationofEquuleus.

ThepathofUranusin2019.UranuscomestooppositiononOctober28.Allstarsbrighterthanmagnitude7.5areshown(southisup).

The Moon’s phases for October

October–MoonandPlanets

TheMoonTheMoon is nearAntares onOctober 3, but is visible only early just beforesetting.LaterthatdayitisclosetoJupiterandbothbodiesmaybeglimpsedjustbeforetheysetinthewest.OnOctober5,theMoonpassesveryclosetoSaturn.(ThereisanoccultationvisiblefromsouthernAfrica.)FullMoonisonOctober13.OnOctober17,thewaninggibbousMoonisclosetoAldebaraninTaurusandonOctober23itisnearRegulusinLeo,buttheconstellationrisesonlylaterthenextmorning.NewMoonoccursonOctober28.

TheplanetsMercurycomestogreatesteasternelongationonOctober20,butisinvisibleindaylightinLibra.VenusremainsclosetotheSun,alsoinLibraandnotvisible.Mars(inVirgo)issimilarlytooclosetotheSuntobeseen.Jupiter(mag.-2.0to-1.9) is moving slowly eastwards in Ophiuchus and is visible in the earlyeveningbeforeitsets,asisSaturninSagittariusatmag.0.5.UranusremainsinAries,andcomestooppositiononOctober28atmag.5.7(herethereisafinderchartshowingthepathofUranusin2019).NeptuneisinAquariusatmag.7.9.Bothconstellationsarevisibleforalargepartofthenight.

ThepathoftheSunandtheplanetsalongtheeclipticinOctober.

CalendarforOctober03 01:00* Venus3.1°NofSpica03 03:18 Antares7.5°SofMoon03 20:23 Jupiter1.9°SofMoon05 16:47 FirstQuarter05 20:36 Saturn0.3°NofMoon(OccultationfromS.Africa)06 DaylightSavingTimebegins(Australia)10 18:29 Moonatapogee(405,898km)13 21:08 FullMoon17 22:22 Aldebaran2.9°SofMoon19–Dec.10 NorthernTauridmeteorshower20 04:02 Mercuryatgreatestelongation(24.6°E,mag.-0.1)21 06:49 Pollux5.6°NofMoon21 12:39 LastQuarter21–22 Orionidshowermaximum23 17:37 Regulus3.5°SofMoon

26 10:39 Moonatperigee(363,101km)26 16:52 Mars4.5°SofMoon27 06:30 Spica7.6°SofMoon28 03:38 NewMoon28 08:15 Uranusatopposition(mag.5.7)28–29 SouthernTauridshowermaximum29 14:55 Mercury6.7°SofMoon29 13:32 Venus3.9°SofMoon30 13:14 Antares7.3°SofMoon31 14:22 Jupiter1.3°SofMoon

*Theseobjectsareclosetogetherforanextendedperiodaroundthistime.

October2–4•ThewaxingcrescentMoonpassesAntares,SabikandJupiterintheeveningsky.

October5•TheoccultationofSaturn,asseenfromthreelocationsinSouthAfrica.TimeisgiveninUT.

October6•TheMoonwithSaturnandNunki.

October17•TheMoonisbetweenAldebaranandthePleiades.

October29–30•TheMoonwithMercuryandVenusaftersunset.

November–LookingSouth

November–LookingSouth

November01 11p.m.(12p.m.DST)November15 10p.m.(11p.m.DST)December01 9p.m.(10p.m.DST)

CruxandthetwobrighteststarsofCentaurus,RigilKentaurus(αCentauri)andHadar(βCentauri),areextremelylowonthesouthernhorizon.TheFalseCrossontheCarina/Velaborderisnowhigher,andtheconstellationofPuppisaswellasCanopus (αCarinae)andboth theLargeMagellenicCloud (LMC)and theSmall Magellenic Cloud (SMC) are clearly visible. Achernar (α Eridani) ishalf-way between the South Celestial Pole and the zenith. The whole ofEridanus,whichstartsnearRigel inOrion, isnowclearlyseenas itwinds its

waytoAchernar.Pavoisbecominglowerinthesouthwest,andinthewestmostof Sagittarius is below the horizon, with Capricornus descending behind it.CoronaAustralis is still just visible. In thewest,CanisMajor is now clearlyseen,togetherwiththesmallconstellationsofColumbaandLepusaboveit.

MeteorsTwo meteor showers begin in October but continue into November. TheOrionids (see here), one of the streams associated with Comet 1/P Halley,continueuntilatleastNovember27.Becauseofthelocationoftheradiant,theLeonid shower is best seen from the northern hemisphere, but southernobservers may see some rising from the horizon. There is a short period ofactivity(November5–30),withmaximumonNovember17–18.ThisshowerisassociatedwithComet55P/Tempel-Tuttleandhasshownextraordinaryactivityonvariousoccasionswithmanythousandsofmeteorsperhour.Theratein2019islikelytobeabout15perhour.Thesemeteorsarethefastestshowermeteorsrecorded(about70kmpersecond)andoftenleavepersistenttrains.Theshowerisveryrichinfaintmeteors.

There is a minor southern meteor shower that begins activity in lateNovember(nominallyNovember28).ThisisthePhoenicids,butlittleisknownoftheshower,partlybecausetheparentcometisbelievedtobethedisintegratedcometD/1819W1(Blanpain).Withnoaccurateknowledgeofthelocationoftheremnants of the comet, predicting the possible rate becomes little more thanguesswork, but the rate is variable and may rapidly increase (as might beexpected),iftheorbitisnearby.Brightmeteorstendtobequitefrequentandthemeteorsarefairlyslow.TheradiantislocatedwithinPhoenix,notfarfromtheborderwithEridanusandAchernar(αEridani).

AfinderchartforminorplanetVesta(4)whichisatopposition(mag.6.5)onNovember12.Backgroundstarsareshowndowntomagnitude7.5(southisup).

November – Looking North

November–LookingNorth

November01 11p.m.(12p.m.DST)November15 10p.m.(11p.m.DST)December01 9p.m.(10p.m.DST)

Andromeda is now due north, and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) has risensufficiently to be clearly seen. The constellation ofTriangulum lies betweenAndromedaandthezodiacalconstellationofAries.MuchofPerseus(includingthevariablestar,Algol)isnowabovethehorizon.ThewholeofPegasus,withtheGreat Square, is clearly seen and, above it the two lines of stars formingPisces.Higher still is the constellationofCetuswith the famousvariable star,Mira. The whole of Taurus withAldebaran (α Tauri), the Pleiades and theHyades is visible in the southeast.Orion has fully risen in the east, and the

wholeofEridanus isvisibleas itwinds its longwaytoAchernar (αEridani),south of the zenith. In the west, the zodiacal constellations ofAquarius andCapricornus are clearly seen,withPiscisAustrinus and brightFomalhaut (αPiscisAustrini)higherinthesky,withthefaintconstellationofSculptor lyingbetweenitandthezenith.

Finder and comparison charts for Mira (ο Ceti). The chart on the left shows all stars brighter thanmagnitude 6.5. The chart on the right shows stars down to magnitude 10.0. The comparison starmagnitudesareshownwithoutthedecimalpoint(southisup).

The Moon’s phases for November

November–MoonandPlanetsTheMoonOnNovember2theMoon(awaxingcrescent,twodaysbeforeFirstQuarter)isveryclosetoSaturn inSagittarius. (Thereisanoccultation,visiblefromNewZealandandthesoutherntipofTasmania.)FullMoonisonNovember12,whentheMoonisontheborderofArieswithTaurus.Twodayslater,onNovember14,theMoonisnorthofAldebaran.OnNovember19,atLastQuarter,itisnearRegulus inLeo.OnNovember23,awaningcrescent, itpassesSpica inVirgoand, a day later, is close toMars. The three bodies are visible in the early-morningsky.NewMoonisonNovember26,whenitisinthesmallsectionofScorpiusbetweenLibraandOphiuchus.TwodayslateritisclosetoJupiterinthemorningsky,andonNovember29itisagainclosetoSaturn.

TheplanetsMercuryisinitiallyclosetotheSun,passinginferiorconjunctiononNovember11,butrapidlymoves togreatestwesternelongationonNovember28,whenitmaybeglimpsedinthemorningsky.Venus(mag.-3.8to-3.9)isverylowintheevening sky.Mars (mag. 1.8–1.7) is in Libra, visible in the early morning.Jupiter(mag.-1.9to-1.8),initiallyinOphiuchus,movesintoSagittariusandisvisible in the southwest just before it sets. Saturn (mag. 0.5–0.6) is also inSagittarius.Uranusismag.5.7inAriesandNeptune(mag.7.9)isinAquarius.The minor planet (4) Vesta comes to opposition in Cetus on November 12.Thereisafindercharthere.

ThepathoftheSunandtheplanetsalongtheeclipticinNovember.

CalendarforNovember02 07:21 Saturn 0.6°N of Moon Occultation from New Zealand and

Tasmania04 10:23 FirstQuarter07 08:36 Moonatapogee(405,058km)08 15:00

*Mars3.0°NofSpica

09 11:00*

Venus4.0°NofAntares

10–11 NorthernTauridsshowermaximum11 15:22 Mercuryatinferiorconjunction12 08:56 Vestaatopposition(mag.6.5)12 13:34 FullMoon14 04:23 Aldebaran3.0°SofMoon17 12:10 Pollux5.4°NofMoon

17–18 Leonidsshowermaximum19 21:11 LastQuarter19 23:51 Regulus3.7°SofMoon23 07:41 Moonatperigee(366,716km)23 15:32 Spica7.7°SofMoon24 09:02 Mars4.3°SofMoon24 14:00

*Venus1.4°SofJupiter

25 02:50 Mercury1.9°SofMoon26 15:06 NewMoon26 23:29 Antares7.2°SofMoon28 10:29 Mercuryatgreatestelongation(20.1°W,mag.-0.6)28 10:49 Jupiter0.7°SofMoon28 18:49 Venus1.9°SofMoon28–Dec.09

Phoenicidmeteorshower

29 21:03 Saturn0.9°NofMoon

*Theseobjectsareclosetogetherforanextendedperiodaroundthistime.

October31–November2•ThewaxingcrescentMoonpassesJupiter,NunkiandSaturninthewest.

November 9 • Spica (mag. 1.0) andMars (mag 1.8) close together before sunrise. Porrima (γ Vir) isnearby.

November24–25•ThewaningcrescentMoonwithSpica,MarsandMercuryshortlybeforesunrise.

November28–30•AftersunsetthenarrowcrescentMoonpassesJupiter,Venus,NunkiandSaturn.

December–LookingSouth

December–LookingSouth

December01 11p.m.(12p.m.DST)December15 10p.m.(11p.m.DST)January01 9p.m.(10p.m.DST)

CruxandthetwobrighteststarsinCentaurus,HadarandRigilKentaurus,arenow higher above the horizon. The Eta Carina Nebula and the SouthernPleiadesarenowconvenientlyplacedforobsservation.Above them, theFalseCross is clearly seen,with thewhole ofVela and below it the inconspicuousconstelationofAntlia.CarinawithCanopus(αCarinae)andPuppisareroughlyhalfwaybetweenthehorizonandthezenith.SiriusandCanisMajorarehighinthe east. In the west,Achernar (α Eridani) and Phoenix are about the samealtitudeasCanopus.ThefaintconstellationsofPictor,Dorado,Reticulum,and

Horlogiumliebetweenthem.PavowithPeacock(αPavonis)isbecominglow,asaretheconstellationsofIndus,GrusandPiscisAustrinus.Higherstillaretheinconspicuous constellations of Sculptor and, near the zenith, Fornax.Capricornusislargelyinvisible,butmostofAquariusmaystillbeseen.

MeteorsThePhoenicidshowercontinuesintoDecember,reachingitsweakmaximumonDecember 2.ThePuppidVelid shower’s radiant is on the border between thetwoconstellations.The showerbeginsonDecember1, lastinguntilDecember15,withmaximumonDecember7.Itisaweakshowerwithamaximumhourlyrate of about 10meteors, but brightmeteors are often seen. One of themostdependableshowersoftheyearistheGeminids,activefromDecember4to16,withmaximumin2019onDecember13–14.Therateisoftermorethan60-70perhourandmayriseevenhigher.

TheLargeMagellanicCloudseenovertheEuropeanSouthernObservatoryatParanalinChile.BrilliantCanopus(αCarinae),thebrighteststarinthesouthernhemisphere,isvisiblethroughthelowcloudtotheright.

December – Looking North

December–LookingNorth

December01 11p.m.(12p.m.DST)December15 10p.m.(11p.m.DST)January01 9p.m.(10p.m.DST)

Most ofPerseus may be seen due north with, above it, thePleiades cluster.Fartherwest,Andromeda is very low and the southern stars ofPegasus havebeen lost below the horizon.Above Pegasus lies the zodiacal constellation ofPisces and, still higher, Cetus and the faint constellatons of Sculptor andFornax.ThefamousvariableofMirainCetus(seechartshere)isideallyplacedforobservation.TowardstheeastthewholeoftheconstellationsofbothAurigaandGemini isvisible,althoughCapella (αAurigae)andCastorandPollux (αand β Gemini) are low on the horizon.Taurus,Orion andCanisMinor are

readily visible, together with the faint constellation ofMonoceros. Eridanuswanders from its start near Rigel (β Orionis) towards Achernar (α Eridani),beyondthezenith.

TheconstellationofTauruscontainstwocontrastingopenclusters:thecompactPleiades,withitsstrikingblue-white stars, and the more scattered, ‘V’-shaped Hyades, which are much closer to us. OrangeAldebaran(αTauri)isnotrelatedtotheHyades,butliesbetweenitandtheEarth(southisup).

The Moon’s phases for December

December–MoonandPlanetsTheMoonTheMoon is close toAldebaran inTaurus onDecember 11, but FullMoonoccursnextday,sothestarisoverpoweredbymoonlight.OnDecember17,aswaninggibbous,twodaysbeforeLastQuarter,itisnearRegulusinLeo,andonDecember20,onedayafterLastQuarter,itisfairlyclosetoSpicainVirgo.OnDecember23,asawaningcrescent,itisclosetoMarsinLibra.AtNewMoononDecember26thereisanannulareclipseoftheSun,visiblefromArabia,theIndianOceanandIndonesia.

TheplanetsMercury is rapidly approaching the Sun and is not visible.Venus begins themonthlowinthesouthwesterneveningskyatmag.-3.9,andrapidlymoveseastintoCapricornus, becoming more easily seen and brightening slightly.Mars(mag.1.7)beginsthemonthjustinsideVirgoandmoveseastintoLibra.Jupiteris close to the Sun in Sagittarius, and Saturn is also in that constellation.Uranus is still just inside Aries near the border with Pisces, and NeptuneremainsinAquariuswhereithasbeenthroughouttheyear.

ThepathoftheSunandtheplanetsalongtheeclipticinDecember.

CalendarforDecember01–15 PuppidVelidmeteorshower02 Phoenicidshowermaximum04 06:58 FirstQuarter04–16 Geminidmeteorshower05 04:08 Moonatapogee(404,446km)07 PuppidVelidshowermaximum11 12:10 Aldebaran3.0°SofMoon12 05:12 FullMoon13–14 Geminidshowermaximum14 18:19 Pollux5.3°NofMoon17 05:08 Regulus3.8°SofMoon18 20:25 Moonatpergigee(370,265km)19 04:57 LastQuarter20 22:03 Spica7.8°SofMoon22 04:19 Southernsummersolstice23 01:49 Mars3.5°SofMoon

24 08:12 Antares7.7°SofMoon25 11:08 Mercury1.9°SofMoon26 05:13 NewMoon26 07:30 Jupiter0.2°SofMoon26 05:17 Annularsolareclipse(Arabia,IndianOcean,Indonesia)27 11:47 Saturn1.2°NofMoon27 18:26 JupiterinconjunctionwithSun29 01:31 Venus1.0°NofMoon

December10–11•TheMoonpassesthePleiadesandAldebaran.BetelgeuseandRigelarefarthereast.

December17–18•TheMoonpassesbetweenRegulusandAlgieba.

December23–24•TheMoonwithMars(mag.1.6)andAntares(mag.1.1).

December28–29•ShortlyaftersunsetthenarrowcrescentMoonisinthewest,inthecompanyofVenus.

GlossaryandTables

aphelion ThepointonanorbitthatisfarthestfromtheSun.apogee ThepointonitsorbitatwhichtheMoonisfarthestfromtheEarth.appulse Theapparentlycloseapproachoftwocelestialobjects;twoplanets,or

aplanetandstar.astronomicalunit

(AU)ThemeandistanceoftheEarthfromtheSun,149,597,870km.

celestialequator

ThegreatcircleonthecelestialspherethatisinthesameplaneastheEarth’sequator.

celestialsphere

The apparent sphere surrounding the Earth on which all celestialbodies(stars,planets,etc.)seemtobelocated.

conjunction The point in timewhen two celestial objects have the same celestiallongitude. In the case of the Sun and a planet, superior conjunctionoccurswhen the planet lies on the far side of the Sun (as seen fromEarth).ForMercuryandVenus, inferiorconjuctionoccurswhentheypassbetweentheSunandtheEarth.

directmotion

Motionfromwesttoeastonthesky.

ecliptic TheapparentpathoftheSunacrosstheskythroughouttheyear.Also:theplaneoftheEarth’sorbitinspace.

elongation ThepointatwhichaninferiorplanethasthegreatestangulardistancefromtheSun,asseenfromEarth.

equinox The two points during the year when night and day have equalduration.Also:thepointsontheskyatwhichtheeclipticintersectsthecelestial equator. The vernal (spring) equinox is of particularimportanceinastronomy.

gibbous Thestageinthesequenceofphasesatwhichtheilluminationofabodyliesbetweenhalfandfull.InthecaseoftheMoon,thetermisappliedtophases betweenFirstQuarter andFull, andbetweenFull andLastQuarter.

inferiorplanet

Eitherof theplanetsMercuryorVenus,whichhaveorbits insidethatoftheEarth.

magnitude The brightness of a star, planet or other celestial body. It is alogarithmicscale,wherelargernumbersindicatefainterbrightness.Adifference of 5 in magnitude indicates a difference of 100 in actual

brightness,thusafirst-magnitudestaris100timesasbrightasoneofsixthmagnitude.

meridian ThegreatcirclepassingthroughtheNorthandSouthPolesofabodyand the observer’s position; or the corresponding great circle on thecelestialspherethatpassesthroughtheNorthandSouthCelestialPolesandalsothroughtheobserver’szenith.

nadir Thepointon thecelestial spheredirectlybeneath theobserver’s feet,oppositethezenith.

occultation Thedisappearanceofonecelestialbodybehindanother,suchaswhenstarsorplanetsarehiddenbehindtheMoon.

opposition Thepointon a superiorplanet’sorbit atwhich it is directlyoppositetheSuninthesky.

perigee ThepointonitsorbitatwhichtheMoonisclosesttotheEarth.perihelion ThepointonanorbitthatisclosesttotheSun.retrogrademotion

Motionfromeasttowestonthesky.

superiorplanet

AplanetthathasanorbitoutsidethatoftheEarth.

vernalequinox

Thepointatwhich theSun, in itsapparentmotionalong theecliptic,crosses the celestial equator from south to north.Also known as theFirstPointofAries.

zenith Thepointdirectlyabovetheobserver’shead.zodiac A band, streching 8° on either side of the ecliptic, withinwhich the

Moon and planets appear tomove. It consists of twelve equal areas,originallynamedaftertheconstellationthatoncelaywithinit.

TheConstellationsThereare88constellationscovering thewholeof thecelestialsphere,but4ofthese in the northern hemisphere (Camelopardalis, Cassiopeia, Cepheus andUrsaMinor) can never be seen (even in part) from a latitude of 35°S, so areomitted from this table.Thenames themselvesareexpressed inLatin, and thenamesofstarsarefrequentlygivenbyGreekletters(seehere)followedbythegenitive of the constellation name. The genitives and English names of thevariousconstellationsareincluded.

Name Genitive Abbr. Englishname

Andromeda Andromedae And AndromedaAntlia Antliae Ant AirPump

Apus Apodis Aps BirdofParadise

Aquarius Aquarii Aqr WaterBearerAquila Aquilae Aql EagleAra Arae Ara AltarAries Arietis Ari RamAuriga Aurigae Aur CharioteerBoötes Boötis Boo HerdsmanCaelum Caeli Cae BurinCancer Cancri Cnc CrabCanesVenatici CanumVenaticorum CVn HuntingDogsCanisMajor CanisMajoris CMa BigDogCanisMinor CanisMinoris CMi LittleDog

Capricornus Capricorni Cap SeaGoatCarina Carinae Car KeelCentaurus Centauri Cen CentaurCetus Ceti Cet WhaleChamaeleon Chamaeleontis Cha ChameleonCircinus Circini Cir CompassesColumba Columbae Col DoveComaBerenices ComaeBerenices Com Berenice’sHairCoronaAustralis CoronaeAustralis CrA SouthernCrownCoronaBorealis CoronaeBorealis CrB NorthernCrown

Corvus Corvi Crv CrowCrater Crateris Crt CupCrux Crucis Cru SouthernCrossCygnus Cygni Cyg SwanDelphinus Delphini Del DolphinDorado Doradus Dor DoradoDraco Draconis Dra DragonEquuleus Equulei Equ LittleHorseEridanus Eridani Eri RiverEridanusFornax Fornacis For Furnace

Gemini Geminorum Gem Twins

Grus Gruis Gru CraneHercules Herculis Her HerculesHorologium Horologii Hor ClockHydra Hydrae Hya WaterSnakeHydrus Hydri Hyi LesserWaterSnakeIndus Indi Ind IndianLacerta Lacertae Lac LizardLeo Leonis Leo LionLeoMinor LeonisMinoris LMi LittleLionLepus Leporis Lep HareLibra Librae Lib Scales

Lupus Lupi Lup WolfLynx Lyncis Lyn LynxLyra Lyrae Lyr LyreMensa Mensae Men TableMountainMicroscopium Microscopii Mic MicroscopeMonoceros Monocerotis Mon UnicornMusca Muscae Mus FlyNorma Normae Nor SetSquareOctans Octantis Oct OctantOphiuchus Ophiuchi Oph SerpentBearer

Orion Orionis Ori OrionPavo Pavonis Pav PeacockPegasus Pegasi Peg PegasusPerseus Persei Per PerseusPhoenix Phoenicis Phe PhoenixPictor Pictoris Pic Painter’sEaselPisces Piscium Psc FishesPiscisAustrinus PiscisAustrini PsA SouthernFishPuppis Puppis Pup SternPyxis Pyxidis Pyx Compass

Reticulum Reticuli Ret Net

Sagitta Sagittae Sge ArrowSagittarius Sagittarii Sgr ArcherScorpius Scorpii Sco ScorpionSculptor Sulptoris Scu SculptorScutum Scuti Sct ShieldSerpens Serpentis Ser SerpentSextans Sextantis Sex SextantTaurus Tauri Tau BullTelescopium Telescopii Tel TelescopeTriangulum Trianguli Tri TriangleTriangulumAustrale TrianguliAustralis TrA SouthernTriangle

Tucana Tucanae Tuc ToucanUrsaMajor UrsaeMajoris UMa GreatBearVela Velorum Vel SailsVirgo Virginis Vir VirginVolans Volantis Vol FlyingFishVulpecula Vulpeculae Vul Fox

TheGreekAlphabet

α Alphaβ Betaγ Gammaδ Deltaε Epsilonζ Zetaη Etaθ(ϑ) Thetaι Iotaκ Kappaλ Lambdaμ Muν Nuξ Xi

ο Omicronπ Piρ Rhoσ(ς) Sigmaτ Tauυ Upsilonφ(ϕ) Phiχ Chiψ Psiω Omega

SomecommonasterismsBeltofOrion δ,εandζOrionisCat’sEyes λandνScorpiiCirclet γ,θ,ι,λandκPisciumFalseCross εandιCarinaeandδandκVelorumFishHook α,β,δandπScorpiiHeadofCetus α,γ,ξ2,μandλScorpii

HeadofHydra δ,ε,ζ,η,ρandσHydrae

Job’sCoffin α,β,γandδDelphiniKeystone ε,ζ,ηandπHerculisKids ε,ζandηAurigaeMilkDipper ζ,γ,σ,ϕandλSagittariiPot =SaucepanSaucepan ι,θ,ζ,ε,δandηOrionisSickle α,η,γ,ζ,μandεLeonisSouthernPointers αandβCentauriSquareofPegasus α,βandγPegasiwithαAndromedaeSwordofOrion θandιOrionisTeapot γ,ε,δ,λ,ϕ,σ,τandζSagittariiWaterJar γ,η,κandζAquariiYofAquarius =WaterJar

AcknowledgementsSjbmgrtl,p.12(CometMcNaught)[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sat_comet_WEB.jpg]

Basilicofresco,p.12(MurchisonMeteorite)[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Murchison_crop.jpg]

DamianPeach,Hamble,Hants;p.13(CometLovejoy)

peresanz/Shutterstock;p.21(Orion)

ArthurPage,p.27(FalseCross);p.33(Crux&Coalsack);p.59(MilkyWay);p.63(Grus);p.69(CoronaAustralis)

EuropeanSouthernObservatory,p.51(OmegaCentauri)[https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1119b/]

EuropeanSouthenObservatory,p.75(SMC&47Tucanae)[https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1714a/]

EuropeanSouthernObservatory,p.87(LMCoverParanal)[https://www.eso.org/public/images/2016-04-04-paranal-magellan-cc/]

SteveEdberg,LaCañada,California:allotherconstellationphotographs

FurtherInformation

BooksBone,Neil(1993),Observer’sHandbook:Meteors,GeorgePhilip,London&

SkyPubl.Corp.,Cambridge,Mass.Cook,J.,ed.(1999),TheHatfieldPhotographicLunarAtlas,Springer-Verlag,

NewYorkDunlop,Storm(1999),WildGuidetotheNightSky,HarperCollins,London

Dunlop,Storm(2012),PracticalAstronomy,3rdedn,Philip’s,LondonDunlop,Storm,Rükl,Antonin&Tirion,Wil(2005),CollinsAtlasoftheNight

Sky,HarperCollins,LondonEllyard,David&Tirion,Wil(2008)SouthernSkyGuide,3rdedition,CambridgeUniversityPress,CambridgeHeifetz,Milton&Tirion,Wil(2012),AWalkthroughtheSouthernSky:AGuidetoStars,ConsellationsandTheir

Legends,3rdedn,CambridgeUniversityPress,CambridgeO’Meara,StephenJ.(2008),ObservingtheNightSkywithBinoculars,

CambridgeUniversityPress,CambridgeRidpath,Ian,ed.(2004),Norton’sStarAtlas,20thedn,PiPress,NewYork

Ridpath,Ian,ed.(2003),OxfordDictionaryofAstronomy,2ndedn,OxfordUniversityPress,OxfordRidpath,Ian&Tirion,Wil(2004),CollinsGem-Stars,HarperCollins,London

Ridpath,Ian&Tirion,Wil(2011),CollinsPocketGuideStarsandPlanets,4thedn,HarperCollins,LondonRidpath,Ian&Tirion,Wil(2012),MonthlySkyGuide,9thedn,CambridgeUniversityPressRükl,Antonín(1990),HamlynAtlasoftheMoon,Hamlyn,London&AstroMediaInc.,MilwaukeeRükl,Antonín(2004),AtlasoftheMoon,SkyPublishingCorp.,Cambridge,Mass.

Scagell,Robin(2000),Philip’sStargazingwithaTelescope,GeorgePhilip,London

Sky&Telescope(2017),Astronomy2018,AustralianSky&Telescope,QuasarPublishing,GeorgesHall,NSW

Tirion,Wil(2011),CambridgeStarAtlas,4thedn,CambridgeUniversityPress,CambridgeTirion,Wil&Sinnott,Roger(1999),SkyAtlas2000.0,2ndedn,SkyPublishingCorp.,Cambridge,Mass.&CambridgeUniversityPress,CambridgeJournals

Astronomy,AstroMediaCorp.,21027CrossroadsCircle,P.O.Box1612,Waukesha,WI53187-1612USA.http://www.astronomy.com

AstronomyNow,PoleStarPublications,POBox175,Tonbridge,KentTN104QXUK.http://www.astronomynow.com

SkyatNightMagazine,BBCpublications,London.http://skyatnightmagazine.com

Sky&Telescope,SkyPublishingCorp.,Cambridge,MA02138-1200USA.http://www.skyandtelescope.com/

SocietiesBritishAstronomicalAssociation,BurlingtonHouse,Piccadilly,LondonW1J

0DU.http://www.britastro.org/TheprincipalBritishorganizationforamateurastronomers(withsomeprofessionalmembers),particularlyforthoseinterestedincarryingoutobservationalprogrammes.Itsmembershipis,however,worldwide.Itpublishesfullyrefereed,scientificpapersandothermaterialinitswell-regardedjournal.

FederationofAstronomicalSocieties,Secretary:KenSheldon,Whitehaven,MaytreeRoad,LowerMoor,Pershore,Worcs.WR102NY.http://www.fedastro.org.uk/fas/AnorganizationthatisabletoprovidecontactinformationforlocalastronomicalsocietiesintheUnitedKingdom.

RoyalAstronomicalSociety,BurlingtonHouse,Piccadilly,LondonW1J0BQ.http://www.ras.org.uk/Thepremierastronomicalsociety,withmembershipprimarilydrawnfromprofessionalsandexperiencedamateurs.Ithasanexceptionallibraryandisadesignatedcentrefortheretentionofcertainclassesofastronomicaldata.Itspublicationsarethestandardmediumfordisseminationofastronomicalresearch.

SocietyforPopularAstronomy,36Fairway,Keyworth,NottinghamNG125DU.http://www.popastro.com/Asocietyforastronomicalbeginnersofallages,whichconcentratesonincreasingmembers’understandingandenjoyment,butwhichdoeshavesomeobservationalprogrammes.ItsjournalisentitledPopularAstronomy.

SoftwarePlanetary,StellarandLunarVisibility,(Planetaryandeclipsefreeware):

AlcyoneSoftware,Germany.http://www.alcyone.deRedshift,Redshift-Live.http://www.redshift-live.com/en/StarryNight&StarryNightPro,SiennaSoftwareInc.,Toronto,Canada.

http://www.starrynight.com

InternetsourcesTherearenumeroussiteswith informationaboutallaspectsofastronomy,andall of those have numerous links. Althoughmany amateur sites are excellent,treatanystatementsanddatawithcaution.Thesiteslistedbelowofferaccurateinformation. Please note that theURLsmay change. If so, use a good searchengine,suchasGoogle,tolocatetheinformationsource.

InformationAstronomicaldata(inc.eclipses)HMNauticalAlmanacOffice:

http://astro.ukho.gov.ukAuroralinformationMichiganTech:http://www.geo.mtu.edu/weather/aurora/CometsJPLSolarSystemDynamics:http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/AmericanMeteorSociety:http://amsmeteors.org/Deep-skyobjectsSaguaroAstronomyClubDatabase:

http://www.virtualcolony.com/sac/Eclipses:NASAEclipsePage:http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.htmlIceinSpace(SouthernHemisphereOnlineAstronomyForum)

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?homeMoon(inc.Atlas)InconstantMoon:http://www.inconstantmoon.com/PlanetsPlanetaryFactSheets:

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetfact.htmlSatellites(inc.InternationalSpaceStation)

HeavensAbove:http://www.heavens-above.com/VisualSatelliteObserver:http://www.satobs.org/

StarCharthttp://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/interactive-sky-watching-tools/interactive-sky-chart/

What’sVisibleSkyhound:http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.htmlSkyviewCafe:http://www.skyviewcafe.com

InstitutesandOrganizationsEuropeanSpaceAgency:http://www.esa.int/InternationalDarkSkyAssociation:http://www.darksky.org/JetPropulsionLaboratory:http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/LunarandPlanetaryInstitute:http://www.lpi.usra.edu/NationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministration:http://www.hq.nasa.gov/SolarDataAnalysisCenter:http://umbra.gsfc.nasa.gov/SpaceTelescopeScienceInstitute:http://www.stsci.edu/