April 15 – Saturn at Opposition. The ringed 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 and photograph Saturn and its moons.

March 14 – Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. The two bright planets will be within 3 degrees of each other in the evening sky.

March 3 – Mars at Opposition. The red 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 and photograph Mars.

New Moon. The Moon will be directly between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth.

February 21 – New Moon. The Moon will be directly between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth. This phase occurs at 22:35 UTC.

The Moon will be directly opposite the Earth from the Sun and will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth.

Solar Observing Sessions Sun, through hydrogen-alpha filter Solar Observing Sessions are a great opportunity to view the sun with the assistance of RASC members. Special filters and telescopes are used to ensure safe viewing. There may even be opportunities to view other objects like the moon and bright planets, when conditions permit. The sessions will usually take place as long as the sky is clear. GO/NO GO announcements are made on the top page of this web site and in the member’s Yahoo!Group. Sessions will normally be held the first Saturday of the month, except for long weekends, when the session will be held on the following weekend. We observe from 10am to noon. See the mini-calendar on the top page of this web site (www.toronto.rasc.ca) to confirm dates. We set up outside the main entrance of the Ontario Science Centre, on the TELUSCAPE pad. Please see our OSC location page.

The Winter Solstice takes place on 2011-12-21.