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Planet Predictions in 2012 for Tanzania
The picture above shows one such very interesting event that awaits us on March 26th when a beautiful crescent Moon will be just below Venus while Jupiter will be below the crescent. Above this triplet wile be the Pleiades cluster a scintillating group of stars also known as seven little sisters. Above the cluster is the V forming the head of the Taurus the bull constellation in which you will see a red giant star Aldebaran.
It sounds like a crystal ball reading of your horoscope, but it is not! Movements of stars and planets are known with mathematical accuracies correct to thousands of years ahead. What is provided here are interesting events that can be viewed in the night sky during the coming year. They have been determined using the Stellarium software and calculations by well-established astronomers; for example, NASA astronomer Fred Espanak.
You might ask, “Why are star predictions not given?” Then it would certainly sound like a horoscope reading, which is not scientific. Seriously though, star predictions are not as difficult to make because their positions relative to each other do not change.
Stars are trillions of kilometres away from us so their relative positions remain the same for tens of thousands of year. This is why particular arrangements of nearby stars are given specific names of constellations. Of course in one night, whole constellations move from east to west due to the rotation of the earth, in the same manner as the Sun moves daily from east to west. They also have a yearly cycle which slowly shifts the positions of constellations from east to west due to revolution of the earth around the Sun. Constellation shapes have hardly changed since astronomy observations were made thousands of years ago.
Planets, on the other hand are only millions of kilometres away from us hence their movement around the Sun makes their positions shift rapidly in our night sky. Their movement is complicated by their own movement around the Sun, sometimes causing retrograde or backward movement. The name “planet” is originally derived from its meaning of “wanderers” or “travellers” in the Greek language.
The most important event to look forward to this year is the Transit of Venus in the early morning on 6th June. This is a life time event since another one will not take place for more than a century until December 2117. Prepare yourself to view the event by securing eclipse glasses through which you can see the Sun. On the morning of 6th June from sunrise at 6:33 am, we will be able to see the tiny dark dot of Venus moving across the Sun’s face close to its edge towards the end of the transit. In the final stage, it will take about twenty minutes from 7:36 am to 7:54 am for the Venus’ dark dot to cross outside the edge of the Sun’s disk.
In terms of eclipses, we are in for a very disappointing year. Of the four eclipses that will take place, three occur well away from our side of the Earth, while the one that does take place over Tanzania is too weak to be seen with our eyes.
An Annular Solar Eclipse will occur on May 20th over the northern Pacific Ocean, and a Partial Lunar Eclipse will occur on 4th June and will be seen over the entire Pacific Ocean and Australia and lands bordering the Pacific; that is Eastern Asia and Western Americas. On November 15th, a Total Solar Eclipse will occur over the Southern Pacific Ocean. The last eclipse on November 28th will take place over Tanzania but it is a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse so though the Earth will cast a shadow on the Moon, it will be a light shadow that will not cause any darkening of the face of the Moon. You can find more information on these eclipses from this website: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2012.html
Though we will not be able to directly experience any of the eclipses ourselves, there are many websites on the Internet that you can follow and they show eclipses live as they occur.
The dates of the eclipses are interesting to compare with the new and full moon phases. Solar eclipses occur only when the moon is new, while lunar eclipses can only occur when the moon is full. Compare the dates of the eclipses above with the new and full moon dates below.
New moon dates for Tanzania for the entire year are: January 23, February 22, March 22, April 21, May 21, June 19, July 19, August 17, September 16, October 15, November 14, and December 13.
Full moons will be on January 09, February 08, March 08, April 06, May 06, June 04, July 03, August 02, August 31, September 30, October 29, November 28, and December 28.
Moon is best viewed through binoculars or telescope between New Moon and Full Moon dates when the Sun casts shadows in craters which can be seen clearly along the line separating the sunlit site and the dark part of the Moon.
The most spectacular sights this year will be courtesy of the planets Venus and Jupiter that are already shining like spotlights on opposite sides of the sky.
Venus is rapidly rising in the sky, appearing slightly higher each day. It will rise to nearly halfway up the western sky at sunset. The planet is slowly approaching our Earth in its orbit, and rises in the sky reaching 35 degrees on 1st February and will stay high until mid-April. After that, when it comes even closer to us, it will drop down in the sky reaching the horizon at the end of May. During these movements, it becomes exceedingly bright, so much so as to cast shadows on darkest nights.
While Venus comes closer to us in its inner orbit and changes its position in the night skies, its shape as seen through a telescope changes and its apparent size also increases. From its beginning in early October last year when it was a tiny circular spot, by beginning of January it has reached gibbous phase with an almost oval shape and is almost at its highest elevation. By beginning March, it will be in half phase and double in diameter. From mid-April it will take a crescent shape that will change from a thick crescent to a slim beautiful crescent and five times larger in diameter by the end of May. You might even confuse the crescent of Venus with that of the Moon when looking through a telescope.
Jupiter is a brilliant star in the eastern sky and has been rising day by day. It is currently at zenith almost right above your head. It will next move into the western sky and come lower until it meets Venus in early March. Through a telescope, you can easily see Jupiter’s equatorial cloud belts that appear as parallel bands along its diameter. Through any small telescope, you will be excited to see its four Galilean moons which change positions almost by the hour as they orbit the huge gaseous planet. Jupiter will disappear below the western horizon by the beginning of April.
Mars is another planet that will make its presence known during the year. By the end of January it will be rising in the east at 9:30 pm and by beginning of March it will be very bright and noticeably red while it rises when the full blast of the setting sun shines it full face. After that, it will rise in the eastern sky to the zenith overhead by mid-May and gradually come down in the west by the end of the year.
Mars has a noticeable retrograde (opposite) movement across the stationary star-background. Planets (and the moon) move in the sky from west to east, but from the end of January up to mid-April Mars moves in the opposite direction coming from Virgo the Virgin constellation to Leo the Lion constellation. It comes closest to the front foot star of Leo, Regulus by mid-April after which it again moves away from Leo as it resumes its normal movement towards the east.
Saturn, the planet circled by a beautiful set of flat ring system rises by 9:30 pm from beginning March. Mid-April sees Saturn rise in east in opposition to the setting Sun and hence is the brightest at this time. After that, it rises gradually, reaching the overhead sky by mid-July and thereafter goes down in the western sky, disappearing below the western horizon by the end of September. Make some time between March and September to view Saturn through a telescope and enjoy its remarkable rings.
Mercury is an elusive planet to observe from most parts of the world since it is always close to the Sun and hence always near the horizon at sunrise or sunset where the sky is bright due to scattered sunlight. However, we in Tanzania are fortunate that we can see it more easily since it rises sufficiently high.
At the beginning of January, Mercury is high and bright enough to be seen in the eastern sky just before dawn. If you are an early riser, on 10th and 11th January, you will see a line-up of planets in the sky along the east-west line - an almost full moon will be in the west, followed by Mars mid way up the sky and Jupiter will be overhead and finally Mercury which is in the east. This line-up is the ecliptic line along which you see all planets and the Sun and the Moon because of our flat solar system.
Mercury is again highest on February 29th but this time it is seen in the west just after sunset, and forms an attractive close line in the western sky with Venus, Jupiter and an almost half moon. March 7th shows another line up across the sky soon after sunset, starting with Mercury in the west, followed by Jupiter close by, then an almost full moon in the east and Mars close by. This elusive planet can again be caught on 1st July and 27th October when it is highest in the sky hugging the western horizon.
Meetings (conjunctions) of the moon and the planets at various times during the year produce remarkable views that are worth looking out for in the night skies. Mark your calendars to plan for watching the event. More details with specific information will be available through monthly write ups or from my website: https://sites.google.com/site/astronomyintanzania/
The following list gives some of these events:
Attractive views to watch in Tanzanian night skies in 2012
JANUARY
1 Jan 09 morning 6 am - Moon Mars Saturn Mercury in line.
1 Jan 26 evening 7 pm - Venus Moon together
1 Jan 30 evening 9.30 pm - Jupiter Moon together.
1 Jan 30 evening 9.30 pm - Mars rising.
FEBRUARY
2 Feb 25, 26, 27 evening 7 pm - Venus Moon Jupiter close arrangement.
2 Feb 29 Leap Day evening 7 pm - Mercury Highest and on Ecliptic with Venus Jupiter Moon.
MARCH
3 Mar 05 evening 8 pm - Mars Brightest.
3 Mar 07 evening 7 pm - Moon Mars close, Venus Jupiter close and in ecliptic line.
3 Mar 07 to 17 evening 7 pm - close movements Venus passes above Jupiter.
3 Mar 10 evening 9 pm - Saturn rising close to Moon.
3 Mar 12 evening 7 pm - Venus Jupiter closest.
3 Mar 15 evening 7 pm - Venus Jupiter together.
3 Mar 16 evening 7 pm - Venus Jupiter at same level.
3 Mar 25, 26, 27 evening 7 pm - Venus Moon arrangements.
3 Mar 26 evening 7 pm - Jupiter, Crescent Moon, Venus, Pleiades, Taurus, Aldebaran.
APRIL
4 Apr 03 evening 7 pm - Mars Close to Moon.
4 Apr 07 evening 7.30 pm - Moon Saturn close.
4 Apr 09 to 14 evening 7 pm - Jupiter Venus Mars Saturn on ecliptic line.
4 Apr 18 evening 6.45 pm - Jupiter last views and with Venus Mars Saturn on ecliptic line.
4 Apr 24 evening 7 pm - Moon Venus close.
4 Apr 25 = evening 7 pm - Venus and Moon as crescents.
4 Apr 30 May 1 evening 7 pm - Moon Saturn close.
MAY
5 May 04 evening 7.30 pm - Moon Saturn close movement on ecliptic line from Venus to Mars to Saturn.
5 May 22 evening 7 pm - Venus Moon close, last views of Venus.
5 May 28 evening 7 pm - Mars Moon close.
5 May 31 evening 7 pm - Saturn Moon close.
JUNE
6 Jun 17 evening 7 pm - Mercury very high and visible.
6 Jun 22 evening 7 pm - Mercury Moon close.
6 Jun 26 evening 7 pm - Mars Moon close.
6 Jun 27 and 28 7 pm - Saturn Moon close.
JULY
7 Jul 01 evening 7 pm - Mercury highest best chance to see it.
7 Jul 01 evening 7 pm - Mercury Mars Saturn Moon on ecliptic line.
7 Jul 02 evening 7 pm - Mercury Mars Saturn Moon still on ecliptic line.
7 Jul 15 morning 5 am - Jupiter very close to Moon and Venus close by.
7 Jul 24 to 27 evening 7 am - Mars Saturn Moon arrangements.
AUGUST
8 Aug 14 evening 7 pm - Mars Saturn close and movement in line with Spica.
8 Aug 14 morning 5 am - Venus close to Moon and Jupiter close.
8 Aug 16 evening 7 pm – Mars Saturn closest and at same level.
8 Aug 21, 22 evening 7 pm - Moon Mars Saturn Spica closest arrangement.
SEPTEMBER
9 Sep 18 evening 7 pm - Moon Saturn close.
9 Sep 19 evening 7 pm - Moon Mars close.
9 Sep 30 evening 7 pm - Saturn last view.
OCTOBER
10 Oct 16 evening 7 pm - Moon Mercury close.
10 Oct 17 evening 7 pm - Moon between Mercury and Mars.
10 Oct 18 evening 7 pm - Moon Mars very close.
10 Oct 19 to 29 evening 7 pm - Moon moves along straight ecliptic line.
10 Oct 27 evening 7 pm - Mercury hightest Merc Mars Moon i.
10 Oct 29 evening 9 pm - Jupiter rises by 9pm.
NOVEMBER
11 Nov 01 evening 10 pm - Moon Jupiter very close.
11 Nov 02 evening 7 pm - last view Mercury.
11 Nov 02 morning 5 am - Jupiter very close to Moon.
11 Nov 16 evening 7 pm - Moon close to Mars.
11 Nov 27 morning 5 am - Saturn Venus very close.
11 Nov 28 evening 7 pm - Jupiter Moon close.
11 Nov 28 evening 10 pm - Moon Jupiter very close.
DECEMBER
12 Dec 03 evening 7 pm - Jupiter rising at sunset.
12 Dec 09 morning 6 am - Mercury Venus Saturn Moon arrangement.
12 Dec 11 morning 5 am - Saturn Moon Venus Mercury in line.
12 Dec 15 evening 7 pm - Moon Mars close.
12 Dec 25 eveing 7 pm - Moon Jupiter close.
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