The list below details upcoming conjunctions, occultations, eclipses, oppositions and elongations. It doesn't give every event, just the next one to happen involving the planet(s) concerned: it will be updated each time a date passes. In addition, events that are too close to the sun or the horizon to be sensibly viewed are also excluded. Note that "a.m." implies that the event is best seen around dawn, "p.m." around sunset, and "night" throughout the hours of darkness.
"Opposition" is the time when a planet further from the sun than the Earth is (physically) at its nearest point to the earth, and so best placed for observation (but see footnote). "Elongation" is the time when a planet nearer to the sun than the Earth is at its greatest distance (i.e. angle) from the sun in the sky, either to its east (in the evening) or its west (in the morning).
| 18th December 2009, pm | Mercury at eastern elongation (8deg above horizon at sunset) |
| 31st December 2009, pm | Small partial eclipse of the moon, max at 7:20pm. This is also a Blue Moon, being the second Full Moon in December. |
| 3rd January 2010 | Earth at perihelion (nearest to the sun) - sun is at its largest size for the year |
| 15th January 2010 | Longest Annular Solar Eclipse of the 3rd Millennium (11mins 8sec) No eclipse visible in UK |
| 27th January 2010, am | Mercury at western elongation (8deg above horizon at sunrise) |
| 27th January 2010, night | Mars at opposition (astronomical opposition is on 29th - see footnote) |
| 30th January 2010, pm | Full Moon very near to lunar perigee - full moon will be larger than usual |
| 22nd March 2010, night | Saturn at opposition |
| 6th July 2010 | Earth at aphelion (farthest from the sun) - sun is at its smallest size for the year |
| 30th July 2010, pm | Conjunction, Mars-Saturn (1 3/4deg) |
| 18th August 2010, pm | Conjunction, Venus-Mars (2deg) |
| 20th August 2010, pm | Venus at eastern elongation (9deg above horizon at sunset) |
| 25th August 2010, pm | Full Moon near to lunar apogee - full moon will be smaller than usual |
| 21st September 2010, night | Jupiter at opposition |
| 20th November 2010, pm | Conjunction, Mercury-Mars (1 2/3deg) but only 4deg above horizon at sunset |
| 21st December 2010, am | Total Lunar Eclipse (totality from 7:40am to 8:54am GMT, but moon sets at 7:45am) |
| 4th January 2011 | Large partial solar eclipse (~75% in UK: visible at sunrise, max at about 8:15am) |
| 8th January 2011, am | Venus at western elongation (20deg above horizon at sunrise) |
| 15th March 2011, pm | Conjunction, Mercury-Jupiter (2 deg) |
| 1st May 2011, am | Very close conjunction, Mars-Jupiter ( 1/3deg) but very low down (just 3deg above horizon at sunrise) |
| 8th May 2011, am | Conjunction, Mercury-Venus (1 1/2deg) but quite low down (4deg above horizon at sunrise) |
| 11th May 2011, am | Conjunction, Venus-Jupiter ( 2/3deg) |
| 12th May 2011, am | (Wide) quadruple conjunction, Mercury-Venus-Mars-Jupiter (6deg max) |
| 29th September 2011, pm | Conjunction, Venus-Saturn (1 1/3deg) but only 4deg above horizon at sunset |
| 6th June 2012, dawn | Transit of Venus (only final stages visible in UK) |
| 15th July 2012, 3am | Occultation of Jupiter by Moon |
| 27th November 2012, am | Very close conjunction, Venus-Saturn ( 1/2deg) |
| 26th November 2013, am | Very close conjunction, Mercury-Saturn ( 1/2deg) |
| 25th October 2014, 4:05pm | Occultation of Saturn by Moon (could be difficult to see as the sky will not be dark and the moon is low down & near the sun) |
| 20th March 2015 | Nearest Total Solar Eclipse to the UK since 1999. Visible as a very large (~85%) partial eclipse in UK: max at about 9:35am |
| Footnote: | Note that the astronomical definition of opposition is when the planet is directly opposite the sun in the sky [hence "opposition"], which will usually not be quite the same time as the point of closest approach due to the eccentricity and relative orientations of the orbits. The difference is only significant for Mars and the asteroids, however. Return |
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