Year of
the Solar System
In 2009, astronomers and educators created the International Year Of Astronomy to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the invention of the telescope by Galileo Galilei. It was a huge success and let more people look through more telescopes than ever before in history. It is said that "victory has a thousand fathers". It also leads to many children.
October 2010 to August 2012 will be the Year of the Solar System. This is equal to a Martian year, since Mars is further from the Sun and takes almost two years to orbit it. This works out well, as many interesting astronomy events will be happening in that period of time including one event that will not be seen again for over a century! The Year of the Solar System also ends before December, presumably to avoid any connection to 2012 "end-of-the-world" claims, which has been covered in greater detail elsewhere. Below is a list of events that will be visible from the Sacramento area. Check with the SCC Observatory (http://www.scc.losrios.edu/observatory) for special events on (or near) these dates. Only early evening events are listed below because that is when the SCC Observatory may be open to the public to view them.
Planet Visibility during YSS
(Images in this section show the relative sizes of the planets as viewed from Earth and reflect what they would really look like through a telescope.)
Mercury - Visible
shortly after sunset from July 12 - 20, 2011, February 22 - March 15, 2012 and from June 20
- July 1 2012. Mercury is very low in the sky after
sunset and hard to see. Rumor is that Copernicus never saw it because he
lived in a place with bad viewing conditions.
Venus - Visible in the evening from late December 2011 -mid May 2012.
Mars - Visible in the evening from May 2012 until the end of the YSS.
Jupiter - Visible in the evening from late October 2011 until late April 2012.
Saturn - Visible in the evening from May 2011 until
late September 2011. It will be visible again from middle of May 2012
until the end of the YSS.
Uranus - Visible
in the evening from Mid-October 2011 to Early February 2012. Although it
will be visible to the naked eye, you need a dark sky to see it.
Neptune - Visible
in the evening from Mid-September 2011 to Late December 2011. Not visible
without a telescope.
YSS Eclipses
May 20,
2012 - Annular eclipse of the Sun.
December 10, 2011 - Total eclipse of the Moon.
YSS Conjunctions
Conjunctions are close approaches of two or more objects in the sky. They are usually common, but especially close conjunctions (closer together than the diameter of the full Moon) are less common. Below are the close conjunctions that will happen during the YSS:
November 14, 2011 - Venus is near Mercury.
February 25, 2012 - Venus is near the Moon.
YSS Occultation
Occultations are events where one object, usually the Moon, covers up a more distant object. Planets can sometimes occult distant stars, which is how the rings of Uranus were found. Below is the occultation that will happen during the YSS:
August 13, 2012 - Lunar occultation of Venus.
This will be in the early afternoon (a bit after 1:15 pm) and it will
be visible.
YSS Transit
A transit is where a planet crosses in front of a star. KEPLER is a probe that examine stars for evidence of planets around them by looking for transits. In our own Solar System, only two planets can transit (if viewed from Earth), Venus and Mercury. Mercury transits are uncommon, but Venus transits are extremely rare. In fact there was no Venus transit in all of the 20th century! Venus is also big enough and close enough to the Earth that its transit can be seen without a telescope or even binoculars. However: always use proper protection when looking at the Sun!!
NOTICE! The SCC Observatory will be viewing the Transit on June 5, starting at 2:45pm with solar telescopes and other special equipment. Find out more here.
June 5, 2012 - Transit of Venus.
Questions? Contact me (Liam McDaid, SCC Astronomy Coordinator)
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Thanks for visiting!