All the bright planets (apart from Mercury) are in the evening sky during January and February 2025. They make a great sight to observe – but is there any significance to it? Is there any particular date when we should go out and look? Are they triggering off the northern lights? Here’s the answer according to astronomers.

You might think that the Moon would pass in front of planets quite often, but in fact this is quite a rare event, and one which amateur astronomers are keen to watch and photograph. The disappearance of one astronomical body behind another is known as an occultation. Such an event occurs on Wednesday 18 December 2024, as seen from the UK and western Europe.

However, the occultation will take place during daylight in mid-morning, and will be quite low in the north-north west, so this will be a challenging observation. Normally, finding Mars in the daytime sky is extremely difficult. But to make things a bit easier, the nearby Moon will be just three days after full, so it will be quite bright and easier to spot.

Being daytime, Mars will be even harder to see against the bright sky, and it’s unlikely that just ordinary binoculars will show it. But at the moment Mars is close to Earth so it is brighter than usual, and if the sky is very clear it should be visible and photographable using a telescope with a magnification of 50 or more.

The exact timing of the event depends on where you are, but from the UK it begins between 09:15 and 09:30 GMT with Mars disappearing behind the bright limb of the Moon, taking about 15 seconds to do so. It emerges from the dark limb of the Moon some 50 minutes or so later.

Locating the Moon will itself be a challenge. Even typical GoTo telescopes will not be able to find it, as they need to be set up using stars. The easiest means will be to use a sky app on a device with accurate accelerometers that will indicate the correct part of the sky. As a guide, from central England the Moon will be at an azimuth of 290° (west-north-west) and an elevation of 12° at the start of the occultation.

Simulations of the location of Mars around the Moon as seen from the UK are shown below.

The reappearance as seen from the UK will be at the dark limb near Mare Crisium. Simulation from Stellarium software.

The brightest comet for several years is still shining in UK skies during October and November 2024 – bit it’s getting harder to see as it moves away from the Sun and becomes fainter. Here’s how to find it.

Comet 2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is becoming visible in the evening sky in the UK during October 2024. Following its closest approach to the Sun on 27 September the comet will fade as it climbs into the evening sky but should be visible with binoculars or photography if you know where to look. But where exactly should you look?

After months of speculation, comet C/2023 A3, Tsuchinshan/ATLAS, is about to pop up over the horizon as seen from the UK. Views from the southern hemisphere show that it is already sporting a short tail and is being seen in twilight. So what are the prospects for UK observers?

On Wednesday 21 August, a rare event happens – the Moon passes in front of Saturn as seen from the UK, offering a unique chance to see two of the most spectacular objects in the Solar System in the same view. But observers will need to be particularly keen, because the event begins at about 4:30 am BST.

This year will be very favourable for the annual Perseid meteors, with virtually no moonlight to spoil the view – weather permitting, of course! The best nights to observe for the UK are likely to be either this coming Sunday night, 11–12 August, or on Monday night, August 12–13, with the actual peak being predicted at about on the Monday afternoon when it is daylight.

May is a great time of year for finding galaxies – and all you need is ordinary binoculars! As long as your skies are reasonably dark – which means waiting up until around midnight – you can even find some galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, about 50 million light years away!

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Ever seen Uranus? No, be serious, have you ever seen the planet Uranus? April 2024 is a good time to look for it, because it’s right next to Jupiter, the brightest planet in the sky at the moment. And on 10 April there’s a spectacular line-up of Jupiter, Uranus, a thin crescent Moon and even a comet, all close together in the sky. Read more