Mars is the planet to view early this year as it slowly moves away from Earth after passing close in December. Jupiter and Venus have 2 conjunctions this year. The first is on February 1st in the predawn eastern sky, the second one is on December 1st after sunset in the western sky when they are joined by the crescent moon. Saturn reaches opposition in February and rules the evening spring sky. Saturn disappears in September as it reaches conjunction. Jupiter rules the summer sky when it reaches opposition in July. Venus disappears in June and returns as the “Evening Star” in October.

Only one comet is likely to be seen with the naked eye this year, and that is Comet 8P/Tuttle at the beginning of the year in the constellation Pisces (the Fishes). Four comets can be seen using binoculars. Comet 6P/d’Arrest can be seen in June and July in the constellation Aquila (the Eagle). Comet 19P/Borrelly can be seen starting in July in the early morning sky. Comet 46P/Wirtanen appears in the evening sky in early February as it crosses north of the ecliptic (path of the sun through the sky) and will remain visible until May. Comet 85/Boethin can be seen later in the year, beginning in October. It gets brighter and should be visible with binoculars in the evening sky in December in the constellation Pisces (the Fishes). Other comets may suddenly appear too.

Only four meteor showers have favorable viewing conditions with little or no moon this year. The Quadrantids peak on January 3/4 and have 30 to 110 meteors visible per hour appearing to emanate from Bootes (the Herdsman). The Eta Aquarids peak on May 5/6 and have 10 to 20 meteors visible per hour. The two showers at the end of July are good too. The Delta Aquarids peak on July 28/29 and have from 15 to 35 meteors per hour. The Capricornids peak on July 29/30 and have about 15 meteors per hour with frequent fireballs. The rest of the meteor showers occur during full or nearly full moons, flooding the sky with light. Only the brightest of meteors are visible at those times.

There are four eclipses in 2008; two solar and two lunar. From northwest Indiana, we will only be able to see one lunar eclipse. An annular solar eclipse occurs on February 7th. Its path is far north and can be seen from northern areas in Canada, Greenland, Europe and Asia. On August 1st a total solar eclipse occurs. Its path is far south and can be seen from Antarctica and New Zealand. The first lunar eclipse occurs on February 20th and can be seen from North America and Europe. It’s a total lunar eclipse that reaches totality at 9:01 p.m. (CST). The moon will be located in Leo (the Lion) between its bright star Regulus at the tip of the questionmark and Saturn to its left, or east. It will be great to view. The last eclipse occurs August 16th. It’s a partial lunar eclipse that can be seen from parts of South America.

Many of the scheduled launches are going to the International Space Station. The Russian’s Soyuz spacecraft are scheduled for several cargo missions. NASA’s Space Shuttles Endeavour and Discovery are scheduled on ISS missions including delivery of the Kibo Science Lab for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to attach to the Space Station. On May 29th, GLAST (Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope Observatory) will be launched into orbit. Several geostationary satellites will be launched into orbit to study Earth’s environment. Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to service and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope on August 7th.