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).
| 5th March 2012, pm | Mercury at eastern elongation (16deg above horizon at sunset) |
| 6th March 2012, night | Mars at opposition (astronomical opposition is on 4th - see footnote) |
| 27th March 2012, pm | Venus at eastern elongation (40deg above horizon at sunset) |
| 15th April 2012, night | Saturn at opposition |
| 19th April 2012, am | Mercury at western elongation (but only 4deg above horizon at sunrise) |
| 6th May 2012, 3:36am | Full Moon exactly at lunar perigee - full moon will be considerably larger than usual |
| 6th June 2012, dawn | Transit of Venus (only final stages visible in UK) |
| 5th July 2012, 4am | Earth at aphelion (farthest from the sun) - sun is at its smallest size for the year |
| 15th July 2012, 3am | Occultation of Jupiter by Moon |
| 15th August 2012, am | Venus at western elongation (32deg above horizon at sunrise) |
| 27th November 2012, am | Very close conjunction, Venus-Saturn (1/2deg) |
| 28th November 2012, pm | Full Moon close to lunar apogee - full moon will be smaller than usual |
| 2nd December 2012, night | Jupiter at opposition |
| 2nd January 2013, 5am | Earth at perihelion (nearest to the sun) - sun is at its largest size for the year |
| 26th May 2013, pm | Close triple conjunction, Mercury-Venus-Jupiter (max 21/2deg) |
| 28th May 2013, pm | Conjunction, Venus-Jupiter (1deg) |
| 19th June 2013, pm | Conjunction, Mercury-Venus (2deg) |
| 22nd July 2013, am | Close conjunction, Mars-Jupiter (3/4deg) |
| 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) |
| 22nd February 2015, pm | Very close conjunction, Venus-Mars (1/2deg) |
| 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 |
| 28th September 2015, am | Total Lunar Eclipse (totality from 2:11am to 3:23am GMT) |
| 16/17th September 2017, am | Very close conjunction, Mercury-Mars ( 2/5deg) |
| 2nd April 2018, am | Conjunction, Mars-Saturn (11/4deg) |
| 21st December 2018, am | Conjunction, Mercury-Jupiter (1 deg) |
| 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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