Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

New to KnowledgeOrb we have added a section which highlights astronomical events such as moon phases, meteor showers, near earth asteroids, planet conjunctions and more. Below you will see a snapshot of the page which we will updated with new events as they occur. We are expanding our Astronomy section and hope you enjoy this new feature!

You can view the new site by Clicking HERE.

2013 Dates and times of Astronomical events such as Moon Phase, Meteor Showers, Eclipses, Conjunctions and other events.

• Januart 3 – Earth at Perihelion  .  Earth reaches the closest point to the Sun.
• January 3, 4 – Quadrantids Meteor Shower.
• January 11 – New Moon 19:44 UTC.
• January 27 – Full Moon 04:38 UTC.
• February 10 – New Moon 07:20 UTC.
• Februart 15 – Asteroid 2012 DA14  will pass by Earth at an altitude of 27.000 km.
• Februruary 19 – The Moon at Apogee  at 08:30 Moon reaches apogee, the farthest point from Earth: 404,475 km from Earth.
• February 25 – Full Moon 20:26 UTC.
• March 11 – New Moon 19:51 UTC.
• March 20 – March Equinox occurs at 05:14 UT. The Sun will shine directly on the equator and the days and nights will be almost equal in the whole world. This is also the first day of spring (spring equinox) in the northern hemisphere and the first day of fall (autumnal equinox), in the southern hemisphere.
• March 27 – Full Moon 09:27 UTC.
• April 10 – New Moon 09:35 UTC.
• April 16 – Moon at the Apogee.  at 0:21 Moon reaches apogee, the farthest point from Earth: 404,865 km from Earth.
• April 21, 22 – Lyrids Meteor Shower. The Lyrids are an average shower, usually producing about 20 meteors per hour at their peak.
• April 25 – Full Moon 19:57 UTC.
• April 25 – Partial Lunar Eclipse. Earth is between the Moon and the Sun and Earth shadow will partially cover lunar disc at 11:09 p.m. (mag = 0.014). Eclipse will be visible mostly from Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia.
• April 28 –   Saturn in opposition.The planet will be closest to Earth and it’s face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. This is the best time to view and photograph Saturn and its moons.
• May 5, 6 – Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower. The Eta Aquarids are a light shower, usually producing about 10 meteors per hour at their peak.
• May 10 – New Moon 00:28 UTC.
• May 10 – Annular Solar Eclipse. The path of annularity will begin in western Australia and move east across the central Pacific Ocean.
• May 16 – Mercury at the perihelion. Mercury reaches its closest point to the Sun from 05:00.
• May 25 – Full Moon 04:25 UTC.
• May 28 – Conjunction of Venus with Jupiter. The two bright planets will be at 1 degree apart in the sky series. Mercury will also be visible nearby. Look lavest close to sunset.
• May 25 – Penumbral Lunar Eclipse. The eclipse will be visible throughout most of North America, South America, western Europe, and western Africa.
• June 8 – New Moon 15:56 UTC.
• June 21 – June Solstice 05:04 UTC.
• June 8 – New Moon 15:56 UTC.
• June 23 – Full Moon 11:32 UTC.
• July 5– Earth at Aphelion  . Earth reaches the furthest point to the Sun at 20:59.
• July 8 – New Moon 07:14 UTC.
• July 22 – Full Moon 18:15 UTC.
• July 28, 29 – Southern Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower. The Delta Aquarids can produce about 20 meteors per hour at their peak.
• August 6 – New Moon 21:51 UTC.
• August 12, 13 – Perseids Meteor Shower. Perseids are one of the best meteor showers that produce up to 60 meteors per hour at their peak hours. Radiant point is in the constellation Perseus, and the meteors originates from the tail of Swift-Tuttle Comet.Find a place away from city lights and look to the northeast after midnight.The Perseids is one of the best meteor showers to observe, producing up to 60 meteors per hour at their peak.
• August 21 – Full Moon 01:45 UTC.
• Autust 27 –  Neptune will be in oposition. The planet will be closest to Earth and it will be fully illuminated by the Sun. This is the best time to observe Neptune. Because of its distance, it will appear only as a tiny blue dot.
• September 5 – New Moon 11:36 UTC.
• Swptember 8 – Venus 0.4 ° N of the Moon, occultation at 11:04 p.m..
• September 19 – Full Moon 11:13 UTC.
• September 22 – September Equinox. The September equinox occurs at 20:44 UTC. The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. This is also the first day of fall (autumnal equinox) in the northern hemisphere and the first day of spring (vernal equinox) in the southern hemisphere.
• October 3 – Uranus at Opposition. The blue-green planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. This is the best time to view Uranus. Due to its distance, it will only appear as a tiny blue-green dot in all but the most powerful telescopes.
• October 5 – New Moon 00:34 UTC.
• October 18 – Full Moon 23:38 UTC.
• October 18 –  Penumbral Lunar Eclipse. The eclipse will be visible all over the world at 1:51 pm, except in Australia and extreme eastern Siberia.
• October 21, 22 – Orionids Meteor Shower. The Orionids is an average shower producing about 20 meteors per hour at their peak.
• November 3 – New Moon 12:50 UTC.
• November 3 – Hybrid Solar Eclipse. The eclipse path will begin in the Atlantic Ocean off the eastern coast of the United States and move east across the Atlantic and across central Africa.
• November 17 – Full Moon 15:16 UTC.
• November 17, 18 – Leonids Meteor Shower. Leonids meteor showers are one of the best for observation. You will see about 40 meteors per hour.Leonids have a cyclic peak year every 33 years when hundreds of meteors can be seen each hour. Last time this phenomenon occurred in 2001. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo after midnight and the meteors originates from the tail of the Comet.
• December 3 – New Moon 00:22 UTC.
• December 4  – Moon at the Perigee  at 12:15 Moon reaches perigee, the closest point to Earth: 360,065 km from Earth.
• December 13, 15 – Geminids Meteor Shower. is considered by many to be the best meteor shower on the the sky. Geminids are known to produce up to 60 multicolored meteors per hour at their peak. Most usually appear on, or around 13 by December and 14, although some meteors should be visible between 06 and 19 December. They radiate from the constellation Gemini and originates from the asteroid 3200 Phaeton. This year, New Moon will guarantee a dark sky, so it would be a wonderful show.
• December 17 – Full Moon 09:28 UTC.
• December 21 – December Solstice. The December solstice occurs at 17:11 UTC. The South Pole of the earth will be tilted toward the Sun, which will have reached its southernmost position in the sky and will be directly over the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.44 degrees south latitude. This is the first day of winter (winter solstice) in the northern hemisphere and the first day of summer (summer solstice) in the southern hemisphere.
• December 26 – Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON), In December 26, 2013 will be closest to Earth, 64 million miles. The comet will be at perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 28 November 2013, at a distance of 0.012 AU (1.8 million km) from the center of the Sun.

Definitions:

–Perihelion-When the orbit of a planet closest to the Sun.
–Aphelion – When the orbit of a planet farthest from the Sun.
–Greatest elongation – elongation is the angle between the Sun and a planet as seen from Earth, during eastern elongation (E), the planet appears as an evening star, during western elongation (W), the planet appears as a morning star.
–Opposition – position in the orbit of a planet when opposites the Sun as seen from Earth.
–Conjunction – position in the orbit of a planet when appears closer to the Sun as seen from Earth.
–Occultation – Moon occults or eclipses a star or a planet.
–Ascending Node – the point where a planet passes from the southern to the northern part of its orbit.
–Descending Node – the point where a planet passes from the northern to the southern side of its orbit.