2024 HIGHLIGHTS

K E E P  S A F E!   It is never NEVER safe to
look directly at the real Sun with the naked
eye!  Moreover, looking at it—even for an instant—
through a telescope, binoculars, camera or similar
instrument without adequate safeguards can cause
permanent blindness!  NEVER DO IT!  To learn how
you can safely "observe" the Sun, consult the pro-
fessionals at your local planetarium or observatory.

BEST PLANET CONJUNCTIONS:
      Jan 27  Mercury-Mars  (0.23° apart)
      Mar 22  Venus-Saturn  (0.33° apart)
      Apr 3  Venus-Neptune  (0.28° apart)
      Apr 29  Mars-Neptune  (0.04° apart)
      Jun 4  Venus-Uranus  (0.12° apart)
      Aug 14  Jupiter-Mars  (0.30° apart)

  MERCURY'S GREATEST ELONGATIONS:
      Morning:  Jan 12   23.5° W   Mag: -0.0
      Evening:  Mar 24   18.7° E   Mag: 0.1
      Morning:  May 9   26.4° W   Mag: 0.7
      Evening:  Jul 22   26.9° E   Mag: 0.7
      Morning:  Sep 5   18.1° W   Mag: -0.0
      Evening:  Nov 16   22.5° E   Mag: -0.1
      Morning:  Dec 25   22.0° W   Mag: -0.1

2024 ECLIPSES:
      Calendar
      Penumbral Lunar:  Mar 25   Total Solar:  Apr 8   
      Partial Lunar:  Sep 18   Annular Solar:  Oct 2

METEOR SHOWERS: Next 12 Months

SKY EVENTS 2024

You may want to begin with  What's Up In Tonight's Sky, HubbleSite's Tonight's Sky, What's Up: Skywatching Tips from NASA  and  USNO's The Sky This Week.  Then visit  Tonight's Sky Maps, the  Current Global Weather  and your local  Sunrise, Sunset, Moonrise & Moonset  times.

2024:  Perihelion & Aphelion   Equinoxes & Solstices

MOON:    
      Current:
            Orbital Position, Phase & Distance
            Viewed from Earth: Appar. Size, Phase & Distance
            Earth & Moon Viewed from Sun   Interactive
            Location in the Constellations
      2024 Phase List      with more Astronomical Events
      2024 Best Moon-Planet Conjunctions

      Moon Phase Interactives:    #1   #2
      Lunar Phase Simulator

MOON PHASES 2024
video credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

1.     New MoonsNew Moons essentially rise and set with the Sun and reflect no sunlight toward Earth.  So they do not impede Deep Sky Observing all night.

2.     Waxing Crescent MoonsWaxing Crescent Moons generally
rise between sunrise and "local
noon".  Setting between sunset
and "local midnight", they are up
and impede Deep Sky Observing
early in the evening.

3.     1st Qtr Moons1st Qtr Moons generally rise near "local noon".  Setting near "local midnight", they are up and impede Deep Sky Observing for the first
half of the night.

4.     Waxing Gibbous MoonsWaxing Gibbous Moons generally
rise between "local noon" and sun-
set.  Setting between "local midnight"
and sunrise, they are up and
impede Deep Sky Observing from
sunset through the early morning.

5.     Full MoonsFull Moons generally rise near
sunset, then set near sunrise.  So
they are up and impede Deep Sky Observing all night long.

6.     Waning Gibbous MoonsWaning Gibbous Moons generally
rise between sunset and "local
midnight".  Setting between sunrise and "local noon", they are up and impede Deep Sky Observing in the
late evening through sunrise.

7.     Last Qtr MoonsLast Qtr Moons generally rise near "local midnight" and set near "local noon", allowing Deep Sky Observing only during the first half of the night.

8.     Waning Crescent MoonsWaning Crescent Moons generally
rise between "local midnight" and
sunrise.  Setting between "local
noon" and sunset, they are up and
impede Deep Sky Observing only during the early morning.

      Make a 2024 Moon Phases Calendar & Calculator
      2024 Lunar Perigees & Apogees
      2020-2022 Supermoons & Extreme Perigean Tides

  ECLIPSE "SEASONS" 2019 - 2030

AWESOME TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE:
2024 April 8      Maps      Videos

SOLAR ECLIPSE QUICK REFERENCE MAPS
2001-2020      2021-2040      2041-2060

KEEP SAFE!     It is never safe to look directly at
the Sun with the naked eye!  Moreover, looking at it—even for an instant—through either a telescope or binoculars without adequate safeguards can cause permanent blindness!  NEVER DO IT!  To learn how to safely "observe" the Sun and a Solar Eclipse, consult your local planetarium or observatory.

     NASA's 5 Millenia of Eclipses:  Solar  Lunar

MAJOR LUNAR FEATURES

View the Moon's Features  that are visible from Earth with binoculars or a low-power telescope.

Download NASA's Moon Observation Journal

View and download Moon maps to aid your viewing:
      USAF Lunar Earthside Map (high-res)
      NASA Apollo-Era Lunar Charts:  Polar & Equatorial
      Moon Landing Sites

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EQUINOXES, SOLSTICES & THE
SUN'S APPARENT MOTION

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EARTH FROM ABOVE ITS NORTH POLE
(at its Equinoxes)

CURRENT AURORA FORECASTS

                    Northern Lights: Aurora Borealis
                    Southern Lights: Aurora Australis

Image credit: NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center

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LATEST MAJOR SOLAR ACTIVITY
VISIBLE FROM EARTH

Sunspots  (may not see any at 2019-20 Solar Min  )
      Prominences, Flares, etc.

KEEP SAFE!   It is never safe to look directly
at the real Sun with the naked eye!  Moreover, looking at it through a telescope or binoculars without adequate safeguards—even for an instant—can cause permanent blindness!  NEVER DO IT!  To learn how to safely "observe" the real Sun, consult the professionals at your local planetarium or observatory.

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GET THE LATEST AWESOME SATELLITE
VIEWS OF THE SUN WITH "HELIOVIEWER"

HelioViewer  might just be the best free solar astronomy tool on the web, giving you access to countless actual photos of the Sun from multiple satellites!  "Time-step" through photos, and save and even make movies of what you find!  This free web-tool is not to be missed.

And to help get you started, here's the direct link to the HelioViewer User Guide.

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CELESTIAL EQUATOR AND ECLIPTIC

Courtesy: Fourmilab Switzerland

Above, scroll the sky map to the right and left to view the current circumstances along the Celestial Equator (aqua line) and the Ecliptic (red line).  You will notice that the Ecliptic is plotted in line segments, as the sky map is a composite, built up right to left of several segments, each accurate.  Remember: east and west appear reversed because you are looking up, not down.

Note that you may click on the name or symbol of any object in the above legend, which opens a separate page for that object.  This will show the object centered and zoomed-in on a map of a smaller, more detailed portion of the sky.

You will quickly find the locations of the Sun, the Moon, the major planets and dwarf-planet Pluto in the constel- lations of the zodiac, i.e. the constellations in which the Ecliptic lies.  The plane of Earth's orbit, the Ecliptic is generally regarded as the plane of the Solar System, and it is usually the most active part of the sky.  With this map and a  Larger More Detailed Version, which both open centered on the Vernal (March) Equinox (), you will be able to keep track of the long-term motions of the Sun, the Moon, the major planets and Pluto, in- cluding when they move past each other or past major stars.  For a slightly different perspective on this part of the sky, also see our  Sun's Apparent Motion along the Ecliptic  and  Sun's Location on the Ecliptic  pages.

And don't forget to also check out the  Current Sky  for a more complete look at the overall sky.

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CURRENT PLANET LOCATIONS IN ORBIT

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SOLAR SYSTEM IN INTERACTIVE 3-D

The following all open showing current Solar System conditions—with views that you can rotate and zoom in 3-D!

These open with the Vernal (March) Equinox () in the "3 o'clock" direction":

NASA/JPL Orrery      The Sky-Live      jsOrrery

This one opens with the Vernal (March) Equinox
() in the "9 o'clock" direction":

Solar System Scope

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CURRENT SUN, MOON AND MAJOR PLANET
VIEWS AND CONDITIONS FROM EARTH

Distances, Apparent Sizes, Phases, Moon Locations
Sun      Moon      Mercury      Venus      Mars
Jupiter      Saturn      Uranus      Neptune

Current Relative "Apparent" Sizes
of the Major Planets from Earth

Current Locations of Jupiter's Galilean Moons

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CURRENT YEAR'S ELONGATIONS
Major Sky Objects 2021-2030
Greatest:  Mercury      Venus 

NEXT TRANSITS: MERCURY & VENUS
Mercury:  2032 Nov 13        Venus:  2117 Dec 11

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MERCURY'S & VENUS'S SKY PATHS 2013–2014

MERCURY MESSENGER status (completed mission with impact on Mercury as expected 2015 Apr 30)

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MARS'S SKY PATH 2013-2014

View NASA's awesome  Mars Exploration  site.

MARS CURIOSITY Location

MARS SPIRIT and OPPORTUNITY Locations

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JUPITER'S SKY PATH 2013–2014

JUPITER JUNO Location

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SATURN'S SKY PATH 2013–2014

SATURN CASSINI Location

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CLIMATIC VS. ASTRONOMICAL SEASONS

Most school children know that the climatic seasons of the two hemispheres are the reverse of each other's.  For example, when it is Summer in the Northern Hemisphere, climatically-speaking it is Winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

Nonetheless the "astronomical" seasons, as well as their respective equinoxes and solstices, have always traditionally been named for the "climatic" seasons of the Northern Hemisphere—no doubt because roughly 90% of the human population lives north of Earth's equator!  So the Summer Solstice, for instance, is the solstice in June at the beginning of the Northern Hemisphere's summer, etc.

Unfortunately, this traditional naming convention does create a potential ambiguity.  For example, for Southern Hemisphere astronomers the "traditional" Summer Solstice occurs at the start of their climatic Winter!

This is why we often now see the less traditional (though slightly less recognizable) terms: March Equinox, June Solstice, September Equinox and December Solstice.  Because these terms are more precise, they are increasingly becoming accepted as the best ways to refer to the equinoxes and solstices.

This shows Earth's snow and ice cover through the seasons  Earth's 12-Month Heartbeat

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HOW LONG IS EACH SEASON?

Since their beginnings and ends are explicitly defined by the Sun's arrival at the equinoxes and the solstices in our sky, Earth's astronomical seasons have precise durations.  Moreover, though the equinoxes and solstices are equally spaced at 90-degree intervals around the Celestial Sphere, the astronomical seasons are not of equal length!  This is because Earth's changing velocity in its elliptical orbit makes the Sun appear to arrive a little early at parts of the Celestial Sphere, and a little late at others.  For the Northern Hemisphere the lengths of the astronomical seasons are very close to the following:

Spring: 92 3/4 days
Summer: 93 2/3 days
Autumn: 89 5/6 days
Winter: 89 days.

Of course, in the Southern Hemisphere the lengths of the "Astronomical" Seasons are the reverse of the ones listed above.

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HALF OF EARTH IN SUNLIGHT & DARKNESS

During your voyages in CELESTIA, would you like to be able to position yourself directly over the center of the half of Earth in sunlight or the half in darkness at any time this month?  On our  Tips  page, you'll find that it's quite easy to do so!  If you're any kind of sky watcher at all, you probably know just how helpful this can be!