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January Sky
1-Jan	First Quarter Moon at 1:15am, EST
2-Jan	Moon near Jupiter tonight
4-Jan	Quadrantid Meteors Peak ~60-100 meteors/hour this morning
4-Jan	Earth at Perihelion (91.4 million miles from the sun)
9-Jan	Full Moon (Wolf Moon) at 2:30am, EST
Jan 13 and14	Moon near Mars these mornings
16-Jan	Last Quarter Moon at 4:08am, EST
	Moon near Saturn and Spica this morning
22-Jan	Eclipsing binary Algol at minimum 9:05pm, EST
23-Jan	New Moon at 2:39am, EST
Jan 25 and 26	Crescent moon pairs up with Venus after sunset
Jan 29 and 30	Moon near Jupiter these evenings
30-Jan	First Quarter Moon at 11:10pm, EST
31-Jan	Asteroid Eros passes nearest earth (16.6 million miles) For details on observing this asteroid, consult the ?Object of the Month? column in the February, 2012, Star Fields.
January Planets
Mercury	Barely visible above ESE horizon at sunrise on the 1st. Fades from view by midmonth
Venus	Dominates the SW sky after sunset all month
Mars	Rises at 10pm, EST on Jan 1st, 8:30pm, EST by month?s end. As it drifts from Leo into Virgo, Mars brightens to magnitude -0.5.
Jupiter	Well up in the SE sky at sunset
Saturn	In SE morning sky near Spica
February Sky
7-Feb	Mercury at superior conjunction at 4am, EST
	Full Moon (Snow Moon) at 4:54pm, EST
9-Feb	Mars rises with a waning gibbous moon a few hours after sunset
	Venus just 0.3o from Uranus at sunset
Feb 12 and 13	Moon near Saturn and Spica these mornings
14-Feb	Last Quarter Moon at 12:04pm, EST
21-Feb	New Moon at 5:35pm, EST
25-Feb	Crescent Moon in spectacular pair-up with Venus after sunset
26-Feb	Moon near Jupiter tonight
29-Feb	First Quarter Moon at 8:21pm, EST
February Planets
Mercury	Superior conjunction on 7th; late in month, appears low in the western sky after sunset
Venus	Shines brilliantly in W sky after sunset; within a binocular field of Uranus during first two weeks of February
Mars	Approaching a March opposition; rises shortly after sunset and brightens to magnitude -1.2 by month?s end
Jupiter	In SW sky at sunset; sets around midnight
Saturn	Rises near midnight; near Spica all month
Mars	Rises at 10pm, EST on Jan 1st, 8:30pm, EST by month?s end. As it drifts from Leo into Virgo, Mars brightens to magnitude -0.5.
Jupiter	Well up in the SE sky at sunset
Saturn	In SE morning sky near Spica
Year At a Glance
Mar-12	Mars at opposition
Mar-12	Messier Marathon (best weekend date)
Apr-12	Saturn at opposition
Apr 15-22	Texas Star Party, Ft. Davis, TX (texasstarparty.org)
Apr 21-22	Lyrid Meteor Shower
Apr-12	Astronomy Day (spring)
Apr 28-29	Northeast Astronomy Forum and Telescope Show (NEAF), Suffern, NY (www.rocklandastronomy.com)
May 23-28	Riverside Telescope Makers Conference, Riverside, (www.rtmcastronomyexpo.org)
Jun 5-6	VENUS TRANSIT!!! (Last one until 2117)
Aug 12-13	Perseid Meteor Shower
Aug 16-19	Stellafane Convention, Springfield VT (stellafane.org)
Oct 5-6	AstroAssembly, Seagrave Observatory, North Scituate, Rhode Island (www.theskyscrapers.org/astroassembly)
Oct-12	Astronomy Day (autumn)
Oct 21-22	Orionid Meteor Shower
Nov-12	Total Solar Eclipse, visible from n. Australia and s. Pacific Ocean
Nov 17-18	Leonid Meteor Shower
Dec-12	Jupiter at opposition
Dec 13-14	Geminid Meteor Shower