Observational astronomy in 2012.

[Natasha]

• 3, 4 January — Quadrantids meteor shower, up to 40 meteors per hour at peak. The moon will be in first quarter, allowing good visibility of the shower. Look for them coming out of the constellation Bootes.
• 9 January — Full moon will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth at 07:30 UTC.
• 23 January — New moon will not be visible from Earth at 07:39 UTC.
• 7 February — Full moon at 21:54 UTC.
• 20 February - 12 March — best chance to see Mercury shortly after sunset with the planet becoming the most bright on 5 March.
• 21 February — New moon at 22:35 UTC.
• 3 March — Mars at opposition is closest to Earth and fully illuminated by the sun.
• 8 March — Full moon at 09:39 UTC.
• 14 March — Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter are the two brightest planets in the sky will be with 3 degress of each other in the evening sky. Furthermore, on 25 March the crescent moon will be near the two planets.
• 20 March — Equinox at 05:14 UTC. For the northern hemisphere this is the vernal while in the southern the autumnal. The sun will shine directly upon the equator and nearly equal amounts of day and night around the world.
• 22 March — New moon at 14:37 UTC.
• 6 April — Full moon at 19:19 UTC.
• 15 April — Saturn at opposition is closest to the Earth and fully illuminated by the sun.
• 21 April — New moon at 07:18 UTC.
• 21, 22 April — Lyrids meteor shower with about 20 meteors per hour at peak. These meteors can product bright dust trails that last for several seconds. Look for them from the constellation Lyra.
• 28 April — Astronomy Day, Part 1 is an annual event. This year astronomy clubs around the world will plan special events.
• 5, 6 May — Eta Aquarids meteor shower product about 10 meteors per hour at peak. The full moon will almost certainly ruin observation of the shower. Look for the meteors from the constellation Aquarius.
• 6 May — Full moon at 03:35 UTC. Note that the moon will also be at its closest point to the Earth.
• 20 May — New moon at 23:47 UTC.
• 20 May — Annular solar eclipse will begin in southern China and move east through Japan, the northern Pacific, and into western United States. A partial eclipse will be visible in parts of east Asia and most of North America.
• 4 June — Partial lunar eclipse visible in most of Asia, Australia, the Pacific, and the Americas.
• 5, 6 June — Venus transits the sun. This event is rare and can be seen throughout most of east Asia, east Australia, and Alaska. A partial transit can be observed from other parts of the world. This event will not occur again until 2117.
• 19 June — New moon at 15:02 UTC.
• 20 June — Solstice at 23:09 UTC. The north pole tilts toward the sun, marking the first day of summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in the southern hemisphere.
• 3 July — Full moon at 18:52 UTC.
• 19 July — New moon at 04:24 UTC.
• 28, 29 July — Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower can produce 20 meteors per hour at its peak. First quarter moon means it should be a good show. The meteors should be looked for in the constellation Aquarius.
• 2 August — Full moon at 03:27 UTC.
• 6 August — Curiosity Rover arrives at Mars or as late as 20 August. Curiosity carries more instruments and experiements than those rovers before it. Most of these are designed to find organic compounds in the Martian soil and air.
• 12, 13 August — Perseids meteor shower is one of the best of the year. There can be up to 60 meteors per hour at peak. The meteors appear to come out of the constellation Perseus. The last quarter moon will make it difficult but not impossible to observe.
• 17 August — New moon at 15:54 UTC.
• 24 August — Neptune at opposition, the blue planet is at its closest to the Earth, but it will still appear as a tiny blue dot in all but the most powerful telescopes due to its distance from Earth.
• 31 August — Full (and blue) moon at 13:58 UTC. A blue moon, the second full moon in the same month, is a rare calendar event which occurs once every few years.
• 16 September — New moon at 02:11 UTC.
• 22 September — Equinox at 14:49 UTC at which time the sun will shine directly on the equator with nearly equal amounts of day and night around the world. This the first day of autumn (autumnal) in the northern hemisphere and spring (vernal) in the southern.
• 29 September — Uranus at opposition, the blue-green planet is at its closest point to the Earth but still too far to be anything but a tiny blue-green dot in all the most powerful telescopes.
• 30 September — Full moon at 03:19 UTC.
• 15 October — New moon at 12:02 UTC.
• 20 October — Astronomy Day, Part 2 is part two of this annual event.
• 21, 22 October — Orionids meteor shower produce about 20 meteors per hour at their peak. The sky will be dark as the first quarter moon will be set by midnight, so look east after midnight.
• 29 October — Full moon at 19:49 UTC.
• 13 November — New moon at 22:08 UTC.
• 13 November — Total solar eclipse will be totally visible in parts of extreme northern Australia and the southern Pacific. A partial eclipse will be visible in most parts of eastern Australia and New Zealand.
• 17, 18 November — Leonids meteor shower is not the most productive but still one of the best at about 40 meteors per hour at peak and every 33 years hundreds can be seen each hour (the last occurred in 2001). The crescent moon will have already set and look for them coming out of Leo after midnight.
• 27 November — Conjunction of Venus and Saturn will be within 1 degree of each other in the morning sky. Look east around sunrise.
• 28 November — Full moon at 14:46 UTC.
• 28 November — Penumbral lunar eclipse is visible thoroughout most of Europe, eastern Africa, Asia, Australia, the Pacific, and North America.
• 3 December — Jupiter at opposition.
• 13 December — New moon at 08:42 UTC.
• 13, 14 December — Geminids meteor shower produce up to 60 multi-coloured meteors per hour at peak. Look for them from the constellation Gemini and the new moon guarantees a dark sky.
• 21 December — Solstice at 11:12 UTC. The south pole is tilted toward the sun. This is the first day of winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern.
• 28 December — Full moon at 10:21 UTC.

[Hannah]

Natty's back!!!!!

Woo hoo!!! I missed you soo much. I have so much to tell you about everything that's been going on!.

Hannah

PS: Wold might be about to end, need your help . . . you know the deal by now.

[Natasha]

Well Hannah, call me and we will talk.

[Eilonwy Solstice]

It’ so good to read you, again, Natasha. What happened? Or are you under security silence?

[Natasha]

It’ so good to read you, again, Natasha. What happened? Or are you under security silence?

No secrets, but also nothing to write about at this moment. I've been busy with local as well as Society tasks. Updates will be posted when they are ready.