January 

Earth At Perihelion  (0.983 AU From Sun)
05-06 Moon near Saturn
16 Moon near Mars (Dawn)
20 Moon near Venus
27 Moon near Pleiades star cluster
28 Mars near M22 star cluster
21 Stereo B  spacecraft Moon Flyby

February 

01-07 Mercury near Venus
02 Moon near Saturn
07 Mercury at greatest elongation 
10 Saturn at opposition
12 Moon near Jupiter
18 Chinese New Year
19 Moon near Venus
23-24 Moon near Pleiades
28 Flyby of Jupiter by New Horizonsspacecraft

March 

03 Lunar Eclipse (visible in NJ)
09 Jupiter at quadrature(morning sky)
11 Daylight Saving Time Begins (Set Clocks Ahead 1 Hour)
11 Jupiter near Moon (morning sky)
16 Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis 
16 Moon near Mars & Mercury (Dawn)
18 Partial Solar Eclipse (not visible from NJ)
20 Vernal Equinox, 8:07 p.m.
21 Mercury at greatest elongation(Dawn)
28 Moon near Saturn

April 

02 Smallest Full Moon of the year
08 Moon near Jupiter (morning sky)
10-12 Venus near Pleiades star cluster
13 Mars near Moon (morning sky)
19 Moon near Pleiades & Venus
16-22 National Astronomy Week 
17-24 National Dark Sky Week 
22/23 Lyrids Meteor Shower Peak
24 Saturn near Moon

May 

04 National Space Day 
04-05 Moon near Jupiter and Antares
05/06 Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak
08 Venus near M35 star cluster
09 Saturn at quadrature 
12 Neptune at quadrature(morning sky)
13 Moon near Mars
17 Comet Encke Closest To Earth (0.507 AU)
17-19 Moon near Venus & Mercury
28 Comet Machholz 1 Closest To Earth (0.618 AU)

June 

02 Mercury - Best Evening Appearance
05 Juptier at opposition 
05 Messenger spacecraft flyby of Venus
08 Venus at greatest elongation 
09 Uranus at quadrature(morning sky)
10 Mars near Moon (morning sky)
12 Venus near Beehive Star Cluster
17-18 Moon near Venus & Saturn
18 Pluto at opposition
21 Launch of Dawn spacecraft (Asteroid Belt Mission)
21 Summer Solstice, 2:06 p.m.
28 Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour 
30 Saturn & Venus in conjunction

July

01 Saturn & Venus in conjunction
06 Earth At Aphelion(1.017 AU From Sun)
08 Venus near Regulus
09 Moon near Mars (morning sky)
10-11 Moon near Pleiades Star Cluster
16-17 Moon near Saturn, Venus & Regulus
20 Mercury at greatest elongation(Dawn)
22 Launch of Selenespacecraft
24-25 Moon near Jupiter & Antares
25 Launch of ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle(aka "Jules Verne")

August 

03 PhoenixLaunch (Mars Lander)
07 Moon near Mars & the Pleiades (Dawn)
13 Perseids Meteor Shower (morning sky)
13 Neptune at opposition 
19 Mars near Aldebaran (morning sky)
28 Lunar Eclipse (Dawn; only partly visible from NJ)

September 

02 Moon near Pleiades
04 Jupiter at quadrature 
04 Moon near Mars (morning sky)
06 Saturn near Regulus
07 Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis 
09 Uranus at opposition 
11 Partial Solar Eclipse (not visible from NJ)
15 National Astronomy Day(alternate date)
17 Mars at quadrature(morning sky)
23 Autumnal Equinox, 5:51 a.m.
26 Harvest Moon 

October 

02 Moon near Mars (morning sky)
03 Mars near M35 star cluster (morning sky)
04-10 World Space Week
07 Moon near Venus & Saturn (morning sky)
09 Draconids Meteor Shower Peak
13-15 Venus near Saturn
17 Launch, Space Shuttle Discovery(with ESA's Columbus Laboratory)
21 Orionid Meteor Shower
26 Largest Full Moon of the year
27 Moon near Pleiades
28 Venus at greatest elongation(Dawn)
30 Moon near Mars

November 

04 Moon near Saturn (morning sky)
04 Standard Time Begins(Set Clocks Back 1 Hour)
05 Taurids Meteor Shower (morning sky)
05 Moon near Venus (dawn)
08 Mercury - Best morning appearance
09 Ceresat opposition 
11 Neptune at quadrature 
12 Moon near Jupiter
18 Leonids Meteor Shower Peak (morning sky)
26 Moon near Mars
30 Saturn at quadrature(morning sky)

December 

01 Moon near Saturn (morning sky)
05 Moon near Venus (Dawn)
06 Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour 
06 NOAA-N Weather Satellite Launch
07 Uranus at quadrature 
14 Geminids Meteor Shower Peak
18 Mars closest to Earth
22 Winter Solstice, 1:08 a.m.
23 Mars near Moon
24 Mars at opposition 
28 Moon near Saturn

The next lunar eclipse visible from N.J. is  March 3, 2007 and the next solar eclipse is November 3, 2013 .

For more detailed information on these events and moon phases,
visit our SkyWatch page. 

See CosmoLinks for more online astronomy resources.