The most spectacular planetary sighting this year will be Mars. Mars reaches its closest point to Earth on October 30th, and opposition (opposite the sun as seen in our sky) on November 7th. It won’t be quite as bright as it appeared in 2003 but it will look like a red beacon in the sky. Venus will appear in the west as the “Evening Star” beginning in Early May until the end of the year. Jupiter will be in the evening sky for spring and summer until the end of September. Saturn will be in the evening sky this spring, disappear this summer, and return early this fall in the morning sky.

Another spring comet appears in February. Comet C/2003 T4 first appears in the eastern sky before dawn, near the head of Cygnus (the Swan). It moves southeast through Vulpecula (the Little Fox) and Sagitta (the Arrow) in February. The first half of March, the comet will pass through Delphinus (the Dolphin) and Equuleus (the Little Horse). The comet disappears from view in mid-March as it orbits the sun and returns to our view in mid-April passing through Aquarius (the Water-Bearer).

August is the month to watch for the best meteor shower of the year. The Perseid meteor shower peaks on August 12th, but meteors can be seen for several weeks. The radiant (the point from which the meteors appear to emanate) is Perseus (the Hero). Perseus rises in the northeast just as the moon sets in the west, around 11:30 p.m. creating ideal viewing conditions for the rest of the night. The best time to watch is when Perseus is overhead and Earth is directly in the stream. Fainter meteors are easier to see, along with the brighter ones that appear about once per minute. The Perseids hit Earth’s atmosphere at 37 miles per second, so fast that even very tiny particles blaze a trail across the sky. Brilliant fireballs occur sometimes with the larger particles. There are only 2 other meteor showers that may be visible. The Quadrantids on January 3rd occur under fair conditions with a third quarter moon, and the Eta Aquarids on May 5th occur under good conditions with a waning crescent moon. All other meteor showers occur under poor conditions with the moon at full or waxing gibbous phases. The bright light washes out the fainter meteors.

An annular eclipse hasn’t occurred for 18 years and accounts for only 32% of all eclipses. The moon’s disk can’t quite cover the complete face of the sun, so an outer ring is still visible. Annular eclipses occur when the moon lies far from Earth and appears smaller or the sun is closer to Earth and appears bigger. This rarest type of solar eclipse will occur on April 8th, but isn’t visible from northwest Indiana. A path starting east of New Zealand, crossing the South Pacific, and the northern part of South America will see an annular eclipse. A partial eclipse can be seen from Texas through the southeastern states. On April 24th, a partial lunar eclipse will occur about 3:00 a.m. Another annular solar eclipse occurs on October 3rd, and is visible from the Atlantic Ocean, Spain, northern Africa, and the Indian Ocean. Another partial lunar eclipse occurs on October 17th and is visible just before dawn.

NASA plans for the return of its fleet of space shuttles this year. Space Shuttle Discovery will be the first shuttle launched since the Columbia tragedy on February 1, 2003. Discovery has been scheduled for a mission to be launched in May or June this year. NASA has found the development of patches for the shuttle wings and devising a way for astronauts to inspect their spaceship in orbit is very difficult. In a 268-page status report, NASA officials announced they still have not found a way of repairing the kind of holes that could doom another shuttle.