A complete list of astronomy events for 2023 is available from AstroPixels. Also available here is the IMO 2023 meteor shower calendar.

Note that all times mentioned below are in EST or EDT (it should be specified).


Planet viewing December through February

Starting about Dec. 12, Mercury will be visible in the evening sky after sunset. It will reach maximum eastern elongation about Dec. 21. It will also appear in the morning sky about Jan. 15 and reach maximum elongation around the 30th. In February it will be in the morning sky.

Venus will be in the evening sky for December. Venus and Mercury will be in conjunction of 1.4° on Dec. 28-29. In January, Venus continues to climb and reaches 24° by the end of the month. In February there will be a conjunction of just 0.01° with Neptune on the 15th when both objects will be 27° from the sun. This will prove a real challenge with the nearly 12 magnitude difference in brightness.

Mars is visible in the sky all night for December and January. It moves to the evening sky for February.

Jupiter is visible most of the night in December. By January it is in the evening sky, and by the end of February it is setting almost at dusk. Although not visible from our location, there will be double shadow (moon) transits on Dec. 30 and on Jan. 6. For moon transits of Jupiter try this website.

Saturn is in the evening sky for December and January. In February, it moves behind the sun.

Uranus and Neptune are pretty much in the evening sky for December-February. By February, Neptune will be almost setting at dusk.

See also Sky & Telescope for weekly updates on planet viewing.


Credit for the content on this page goes to Eric Ingard, Stellarium for sky charts, the RASC Observers' Handbook, The Sky at Night and Dominic Ford for planetary positions.