Joe Orman's Sky Events Almanac
2007
Mark your calendar for these interesting alignments, conjunctions, occultations & meteor showers in the year 2007. Times are calculated for Phoenix, Arizona; other locations may differ. Most will be easy to see with the unaided eye, some very challenging -- take a look!
January 2-3 (night): Major lunar standstill: full Moon passes nearly overhead, only 6 degrees away from zenith at about 12:15 a.m.
January 15 (morning): Bright star Antares 1 degree to upper left of crescent Moon as they rise in SE about 4:30 a.m. (occultation for southern South America), Jupiter 5 degrees to upper left.
January 20 (evening): Venus 3 degrees to lower right of crescent Moon, low in WSW after sunset (occultation for southern Africa).
February 7 (evening): Mercury at Greatest Elongation, visible for about a week around this date above twilight, low in WSW after sunset. Venus 7 degrees to upper left.
February 19 (evening): Venus 5 degrees below crescent Moon, in W after sunset.
February 23 (evening): First-quarter Moon 2 degrees from Pleiades star cluster, near zenith after sunset (occultation for northeast North America, northwest Europe).
March 15 (morning): Mars 7 degrees to left of crescent Moon, low in SE before sunrise. Mercury 15 degrees to lower left of Mars. Moon between Mars and Mercury on March 16.
March 20: Spring equinox (5:07 p.m. MST). Sunrise straight east (6:32 a.m., azimuth 89.6 degrees), sunset straight west (6:40 p.m., azimuth 270.6 degrees). Always use proper eye protection when viewing the sun.
March 20 (evening): Venus 7 degrees to upper left of crescent Moon, in W after sunset.
March 22 (evening): Pleiades star cluster 3 degrees below crescent Moon high in W after sunset, within 0.5 degrees as they set in WNW about 11:30 p.m. (occultation for northeast North America, northwest Europe).
March 28 (evening): Saturn 0.5 degree from gibbous Moon, very high in ESE after sunset (occultation for Greenland & Iceland).
April 14 (morning): Mars 7 degrees to upper right of crescent Moon, low in ESE before sunrise.
April 19 (evening): Crescent Moon between Venus and Pleiades star cluster, 5 degrees from each, in W after sunset (Moon occults Pleiades for northeast Europe).
April 25 (morning): Saturn 1 degree to upper left of first-quarter Moon, as they set in WNW about 2:30 a.m. (occultation for northwestern Canada and Alaska).
April 26 (morning): Gibbous Moon occults bright star Regulus (disappears behind dark edge just minutes before they set in W about 3:00 a.m. MST) (occultation more easily seen in northwestern North America).
May 19 (evening): Venus 1 degree to lower left of crescent Moon, in W after sunset.
May 22 (evening): First-quarter Moon between Saturn and bright star Regulus, 5 degrees from each, high in WSW after sunset (Moon occults Saturn for parts of Europe, Africa, Asia).
May 31 (evening): Jupiter 7 degrees straight to left of full Moon, as they rise in SE about 7:45 p.m.
June 1 (evening): Mercury at Greatest Elongation, visible for about a week around this date above twilight, low in WNW after sunset. Also follow line through Venus and Saturn higher in W, across to Jupiter low in ESE.
June 13 (morning): Very thin crescent Moon occults Pleiades star cluster, low in ENE before sunrise, Moon entering cluster as they rise about 3:30 a.m.
June 17 (evening): Crescent Moon, Venus, Saturn, and bright star Regulus in line, about 10 degrees between each, in W after sunset. Moon between Venus and Saturn on June 18.
June 19 (daytime, evening): Thick crescent Moon occults bright star Regulus, high in SW in late afternoon (disappears behind dark edge about 5:00 p.m. MST, reappears from behind bright edge about 6:25 p.m.). After sunset, Regulus 1 degree to right of Moon, high in W.
June 30 (evening): Saturn 1 degree above Venus, in W after sunset.
July 11-12 (evenings): Bright star Regulus 2 degrees above Venus, low in W after sunset. Saturn 5 degrees to lower right.
July 16 (evening): Venus and bright star Regulus 5 degrees to upper left of crescent Moon, Saturn 2 degrees to lower right of Moon, low in W after sunset.
August 6-7 (night): Pleiades, Mars and thick crescent Moon in triangle 6 degrees apart, rising in ENE around midnight (Moon occults Pleiades for western Europe).
August 12-13 (night): Perseids meteor shower. New Moon will not interfere. Shower radiates from constellation Perseus, which rises in NE about 10 p.m. Best time to look between midnight and morning twilight. Typical rate 50 meteors per hour.
August 28 (morning): Total lunar eclipse, in SW before sunrise (partial phase starts 1:51 a.m. MST, totality from 2:52 a.m. to 4:22 a.m., partial phase ends 5:23 a.m., Moonset 6:10 a.m.).
September 1-3 (mornings): Saturn 1 degree from bright star Regulus, very low in ENE before sunrise.
September 2 (evening): Moon occults Pleiades star cluster, low in ENE after sunset, Moon entering cluster as they rise about 10 p.m.
September 9 (morning): Venus 10 degrees to upper right of crescent Moon, Saturn and bright star Regulus 7 degrees below Moon, low in E before sunrise.
September 21 (evening): Bright star Spica 0.5 degree to left of Mercury, extremely low in W after sunset.
September 23: Fall equinox (2:51 a.m. MST). Sunrise straight east (6:17 a.m., azimuth 89.5 degrees), sunset straight west (6:24 p.m., azimuth 270.3 degrees. Always use proper eye protection when viewing the sun.
September 30 (morning): Pleiades star cluster 1 degree from gibbous Moon, near zenith before sunrise (occultation for parts of Asia).
October 7 (morning): Saturn 1 degree to left of crescent Moon, Venus and bright star Regulus 5 degrees to upper right, in E before sunrise.
October 14-15 (mornings): Saturn 3 degrees to upper left of Venus, bright star Regulus 5 degrees above, in E before sunrise.
November 3 (morning): Thick crescent Moon occults bright star Regulus, in E before sunrise (disappears behind bright edge about 3:38 a.m. MST, reappears from behind dark edge about 4:44 a.m.).
November 5 (morning): Venus 3 degrees to left of crescent Moon, in ESE before sunrise.
November 7 (morning): Mercury 10 degrees to lower left of thin crescent Moon, bright star Spica between them, low in ESE before sunrise.
November 17-18 (night): Leonids meteor shower. First-quarter Moon setting around midnight will not interfere. Shower radiates from constellation Leo, which rises in E about midnight. Best time to look between midnight and dawn. Typical rate 20 meteors per hour, some years much higher.
November 24 (morning): Full Moon grazes Pleiades star cluster, low in WNW before sunrise (occultation for northern North America, northern Asia).
November 26 (evening): Mars 1 degree to lower right of gibbous Moon, rising in ENE about 7:30 p.m.
December 5 (morning): Venus, crescent Moon and bright star Spica make triangle 7 degrees apart, in SE before sunrise.
December 13-14 (night): Geminids meteor shower. Crescent Moon setting about 9 p.m. will not interfere. Shower radiates from Castor in constellation Gemini, which rises in NE around 7 p.m. and is near zenith in early morning hours. Best time to look between 9 p.m. and dawn. Typical rate 60 meteors per hour.
December 21 (evening): Pleiades star cluster 2 degrees to upper right of gibbous Moon, high in E after sunset (occultation for northeast North America, northern Europe).
December 23 (evening): Mars 1 degree below full Moon as they rise in NE about 5:00 p.m. (occultation for northwestern Canada). Mars is only 1 day before opposition, so should be bright enough to see close to full Moon.
Revised: August 14, 2007
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