The document summarizes notable astronomical events for January through June 2018, including lunar phases, meteor showers, planetary conjunctions and oppositions. It provides images showing astronomical phenomena photographed by the author. Key events highlighted are the total lunar eclipse on January 31, the Lyrid meteor shower peaking on April 22, and Saturn's opposition on June 27 when it will be closest to Earth for the year.

1. The Amazing Sky 2018
Photography by Alan Dyer / © 2018 AmazingSky.com

2. On January 31 western North America sees a total eclipse of the Moon in the west in the cold, pre-dawn sky, when the Moon will appear coppery red.
COVER IMAGE: A time-lapse sequence of the Full Moon of June, popularly called the “Strawberry Moon,” rising over a prairie pond.

3. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1
🌕 Perigee Full Moon -
Largest of 2018
Mercury at greatest
elongation (dawn)…
3
🌠 Quadrantid meteor
shower peaks tonight
🌞 Earth at perihelion -
Closest to the Sun
4
🎉 Isaac Newton's 375
Birthday
6
⬅ Mars & Jupiter in very
close conjunction (dawn
today & tomorrow)
7 8
🌗 Last Quarter Moon
9 11
⬅ Waning Moon near
Mars & Jupiter (dawn)
13
⬅ Mercury & Saturn in
conjunction (very low at
dawn)
15
⬅ Waning Moon near
Mercury & Saturn (low at
dawn)
16 17
🌑 New Moon
18 19 20
21 22 23 24
🌓 First Quarter Moon
25 26 27
Gibbous Moon occults
Aldebaran (dawn, NW
North America)
28 29 31
🌕 Full "Blue Moon”
🌕 Total Lunar Eclipse (at
dawn in west)
1 2 3
December 2017
S M T W T F S
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
February 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28
January 2018
December 2017
S M T W T F S
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
February 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28

4. The winter Milky Way arches from north (right) to south over the badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park in a panorama from February 2017 that includes the
glow of Zodiacal Light, caused by sunlight reflecting off dust particles in the inner solar system. It can be seen in the evening early this month and next.

5. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
28 29 30 31 1
15th Anniversary of loss of
Shuttle Columbia & Crew
2 3
Zodiacal Light visible in
western evening sky next 2
weeks
4 5 7
⬅ Waning Moon near
Jupiter (dawn)
🌗 Last Quarter Moon
8
Waning Moon between
Jupiter & Mars (dawn)
9
Waning Moon near Mars
and Antares (dawn) ➡
11
Waning Crescent Moon
near Saturn (dawn) ➡
13 14 15
🌞 Partial solar eclipse
(Antarctica and South
America)
🌑 New Moon
16
🎆 Chinese New Year
17
18 19 20 21 22 23
🌓 First Quarter Moon
24
25 26 27 28
Nearly Full Moon very
close to Regulus (evening)
➡
2 3
January 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
March 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
February 2018
January 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
March 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31

6. Orion and the summer stars of the southern hemisphere set in the moonlight over Loch Ard Gorge on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. I shot
this star trail composite in April 2017. This was the site of a famous shipwreck, of the Loch Ard, on June 1, 1878 that only two survived.

7. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
25 26 27 28 1
🌕 Full Moon
2
🚀 Dragon unmanned
capsule launches this
month to ISS?
3
Mercury & Venus in close
conjunction (low in west at
dusk) ➡
5
Zodiacal Light visible in
western evening sky next 2
weeks
7
⬅ Waning Moon near
Jupiter (dawn)
8 9
🌗 Last Quarter Moon
10
Waning Moon between
Mars & Saturn (dawn) ⬇
11
🌞 Daylight Saving Time
begins for North America
(set clocks ahead 1 hour)
12 13 14
🎉 Pi Day
15
Mercury at greatest
elongation (best 2018
evening sky appearance)
➡
18
Thin crescent Moon near
Venus & Mercury (low in
west at dusk) ➡
20
🚀 Transiting Exoplanet
Survey Satellite launches
🌅 Vernal Equinox at 10:15
am MDT/12:15 pm EDT
21 22
Waxing crescent Moon
near Hyades (evening)
Daylight occultation of
Aldebaran by Moon ➡
24
🌓 First Quarter Moon
25 26 27 28 29 30
Good Friday
31
🌕 Full Moon (Second
"Blue Moon" of 2018)
February 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28
April 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30
March 2018
February 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28
April 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30

8. The Dark Emu rises over the Southern Ocean from the Gippsland Coast of Victoria, Australia. The Southern Cross is at top, while the Magellanic Clouds,
satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, shine at right. The red glow may be airglow or a faint display of Aurora Australis.

9. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1
Easter
2
Mars & Saturn in close
conjunction (dawn) ⬇
3
Waning gibbous Moon
near Jupiter (dawn) ➡
5 7
🚀 35th Anniversary of 1st
Space Shuttle spacewalk
⬅ Waning quarter Moon
near Mars & Saturn (dawn)
8
🌗 Last Quarter Moon
11 12
🎉 Yuri's Night World
Space Party
13 14
15 16
🌑 New Moon
17
⬆ Thin crescent Moon
near Venus (evening)
18
Crescent Moon in Hyades
star cluster (evening) ➡
20 21
22
🌓 First Quarter Moon
🌠 Lyrid meteor shower
peaks
24
⬅ Waxing gibbous Moon
near Regulus (evening)
25 26 27 28
30
🚀 Falcon Heavy launch
🌕 Full Moon
⬅ Moon rising with Jupiter
1 2 3 4 5
March 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
May 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
April 2018
March 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
May 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31

10. Back home in Alberta, the northern summer Milky Way arches over the Red Deer River and badlands in a scene from spring 2017. A pale display of Aurora
Borealis lights the northern horizon at left. Bands of red airglow colour the sky at right. The rising summer stars are reflected in the river waters.

11. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
29 30 1 2 4
🌠 Eta Aquarid meteor
shower peaks
⬅ Waning Moon near
Saturn (dawn)
5
🚀 Insight Mars Lander
launches
6
Waning Moon near Mars
(dawn ➡ )
8
🌗 Last Quarter Moon
Jupiter at opposition
(closest and brightest for
2018) ➡
10 11
🎉 Richard Feynman's
100th Birthday
12
13 14
🚀 45th Anniversary of
SkyLab launch
15
🌑 New Moon
16 17
Waxing crescent Moon
near Venus (evening) ➡
19
21
⬅ Waxing crescent Moon
near Regulus (evening)
/ Victoria Day (Canada)
22
🔴 Northern Autumnal
Equinox on Mars
🌓 First Quarter Moon
23 24 25 26
27 28
1 Memorial Day (U.S.)
29
🌕 Full Moon
30 31 1 2
April 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30
June 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
May 2018
April 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30
June 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30

12. This composite from June 2017 depicts the Full Moon arcing low across the southern sky, as it does every June. The summer Full Moon traces a path at
night similar to the Sun on a December day, low in the sky. Here, the background sky blends exposures from evening (left), midnight, and dawn (right).

13. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
27 28 29 30 31 1
🚀 Atlas 5 CST100
Unmanned Crew Capsule
launches this month
2
3 4 5 6
🌗 Last Quarter Moon
8 9
10 11 13
🌑 New Moon
14
⬆ Thin crescent Moon
near Mercury (low in west)
15
Thin crescent Moon below
Venus (evening) ➡
🚀 55th Anniversary of 1st
woman in space (Valenti…
18
🚀 35th Anniversary of 1st
U.S. woman in space
(Sally Ride)
19
☄ Comet Giacobini-Zinner
near N. America Neb. ⬆
Venus in Beehive cluster
20
🌓 First Quarter Moon
21
🌅 Summer solstice at
4:07 am MDT/6:07 am
EDT
23
⬅ Waxing gibbous Moon
near Jupiter (evening)
25 27
⬅ Saturn at opposition
(closest for 2018)
Full Moon rising very close
to Saturn…
28
🔴 Mars starts retrograde
motion
☄ Comet Giacobini-Zinner
(21P) 1.5° from M39
30
⬅ Waning gibbous Moon
near Mars (midnight)
🎉 Asteroid Day
May 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
July 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31
June 2018
May 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
July 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31

14. The centre of the Milky Way shines low in the south on July evenings from northern latitudes. I shot this scene in July 2017 from Writing-on-Stone
Provincial Park, Alberta. The Milk River winds through the Park’s sandstone formations, with the Sweetgrass Hills of Montana on the horizon.

15. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1
/ Canada Day
2 3 4
1 Independence Day
(U.S.)
5 6
🌞 Earth at aphelion -
Farthest from the Sun
🌗 Last Quarter Moon
7
9
⬅ Venus near Regulus
(low in dusk sky)
10
Thin waning Moon near
Adebaran (low at dawn)
⬇
11
Mercury at greatest
elongation (low in dusk
sky) ⬇
12
🌑 New Moon
🌙 Partial solar eclipse
(Antarctica and southern
Australia)
14
⬅ Thin crescent Moon
close to Mercury (low in
west)
15
Thin crescent Moon close
to Venus (evening) ⬇
16 19
🌓 First Quarter Moon
20
Waxing gibbous Moon
near Jupiter (evening) ➡
24
⬅ Waxing gibbous Moon
close to Saturn (evening)
25
☄ Comet Giacobini-Zinner
(21P) 2.5° from M52
cluster ⬇
26 27
Total Lunar Eclipse
(eastern hemisphere)
Full Moon rising with Mars
🔴 Opposition of Mars ➡
29 31
🔴 Mars at closest
approach since 2003
🚀 Parker Solar Probe
launches
2 3 4
June 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
August 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31
July 2018
June 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
August 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31

16. One year ago, on August 21, 2017, the shadow of the Moon raced across the United States, bringing a total eclipse of the Sun to millions of sky gazers. I was
in eastern Idaho, in the Teton Valley where I shot many images of the eclipse which I composited here into a sequence that runs from left to right in time.

17. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
29 30 31 1 2 3 4
🌗 Last Quarter Moon
6
⬅ Waning Crescent
Moon near Hyades
(western N America, dawn)
7 8 9 11
🌙 Partial solar eclipse (at
dawn from Nunavut & N.
Newfoundland; also N.
Europe, Asia)…
12
🌠 Perseid meteor shower
peaks under ideal
conditions !!
14
⬅ Waxing crescent Moon
above Venus (evening)
16
⬅ Waxing crescent Moon
above Jupiter (evening)
17
Venus at greatest
elongation (evening) ⬇
18
🌓 First Quarter Moon
20
⬅ Waxing gibbous Moon
near Saturn (evening)
21 22
Waxing gibbous Moon
near Mars (evening) ➡
25
26
Mercury at greatest
elongation (good 2018
dawn sky appearance) ➡
🌕 Full Moon
28
🔴 Mars stops retrograde
motion ➡
30 31 1
July 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31
September 2018
S M T W T F S
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30
August 2018
July 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31
September 2018
S M T W T F S
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30

18. During the last two years the Moon has been approaching close to and sometimes covering up, or “occulting” the bright star Aldebaran. It did so on the
morning of September 12, 2017 when I shot this image. On September 29 this year the Moon appears close to Aldebaran in the dawn sky.

19. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
August 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31
October 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
28 29 30 31
2
☄ Comet Giacobini-Zinner
(21P) 2° from Capella
today and tomorrow
(dawn) ➡
4
🚀 Russian Spektr X-Ray
satellite launches this
month?
6
⬅ Mercury close to
Regulus (low in dawn sky)
7
Zodiacal Light in pre-dawn
sky next 2 weeks
Neptune at opposition
8
⬆ Thin waxing crescent
Moon near Regulus and
Mercury (low in dawn sky)
9
🌑 New Moon
☄ Comet Giacobini-Zinner
(21P) near M36, 37 & 38
clusters (dawn)
11 13
⬅ Waxing crescent Moon
above Jupiter (evening)
15
☄ Comet Giacobini-Zinner
(21P) very close to M35
cluster (dawn)
16
🌓 First Quarter Moon
🔴 Mars at perihelion (dust
storms possible?)
17
Waxing quarter Moon
above Saturn (evening) ➡
19
Waxing gibbous Moon
near Mars (evening) ➡
Yom Kippur
21
Venus at greatest brilliancy
(evening)
22
🌅 Autumnal Equinox at
7:54 pm MDT/9:54 pm
EDT
23 24
🌝 Full Harvest Moon
tonight (rises as Sun sets)
25 26 27 29
⬅ Waning gibbous Moon
near Aldebaran (rising late
tonight)
30 1 2 September 2018
August 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31
October 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31

20. Even in these years of declining solar activity we have been treated to many superb displays of auroras. This was the view on September 27, 2017 from
home in southern Alberta looking straight up at pulsing rays of aurora converging to the zenith, one of the finest sights the sky has to offer.

21. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
30 1
🚀 ESA BepiColumbo
mission to Mercury
launches this month
2
🌗 Last Quarter Moon
4
⬅ Waning crescent Moon
near Beehive cluster (pre-
dawn)
5 6
7
Zodiacal Light visible in
east at dawn (next 2
weeks)
8
🌑 New Moon
/ Thanksgiving Day
(Canada)
9 11
⬅ Waxing crescent Moon
above Jupiter (evening)
12 13
14
Waxing crescent Moon
very close to Saturn
(evening) ➡
16
🌓 First Quarter Moon
🔴 Northern winter solstice
on Mars
17
Waxing gibbous Moon
near Mars (evening) ➡
19 20
21
🌠 Orionid meteor shower
peaks
22 23
Uranus at opposition
(brightest for 2018)
24
🌕 Full Hunter's Moon
25
🔴 10th Anniversary of
Mars Phoenix landing
26
Venus at inferior
conjunction near Sun (day
sky)
27
28
Mercury below Jupiter
(very low in dusk sky) ➡
30 31
🌗 Last Quarter Moon
1 2 3
September 2018
S M T W T F S
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30
November 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30
October 2018
September 2018
S M T W T F S
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30
November 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30

22. On a night in late December 2016 the planet Venus shines in a clear winter sky over the historic grain elevators at Mossleigh, Alberta. These are among the
few remaining of the original wooden structures that were – and still are – icons of the Canadian Prairies.

23. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
28 29 30 31 1 2 3
4
🌞 Daylight Saving Time
ends (set clocks back 1
hour)
5 6 7
🌑 New Moon
8 9 10
11
Waxing crescent Moon
near Saturn (evening) ➡
/ Remembrance Day
(Canada)
13 14 15
🌓 First Quarter Moon
Moon below Mars
(evening) ➡
17
🌠 Leonid meteor shower
peaks
18 19 20 21 22
1 Thanksgiving Day
(U.S.)
23
Moon near Aldebaran
(rising at sunset) ➡
🌕 Full Moon
25 26
Jupiter in conjunction
behind the Sun
27 28
Waning gibbous Moon
near Regulus (rising at
midnight tonight) ➡
30
🌗 Last Quarter Moon
1
October 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
December 2018
S M T W T F S
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31
November 2018
October 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
December 2018
S M T W T F S
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31

24. Might we get a good comet this month? Predictions suggest Comet 46P/Wirtanen might become as bright as magnitude 3 (naked eye) as it moves north
through Taurus beside the Pleiades, as Comet Lovejoy did here in January 2015 when it became a fine photogenic target.

25. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
November 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30
January 2019
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
27 28 29 30 1
Venus at greatest brilliancy
(dawn)
3
⬅ Waning crescent Moon
near Venus (dawn)
Hanukkah
4
☄ Comet Wirtanen (46/P)
begins to enter northern
sky (might be naked eye
this month?)
6
⬅ Mars just 20 arc
minutes from Neptune
tonight and tomorrow
7
🌑 New Moon
8
Very thin crescent Moon
near Saturn (low in dusk
sky) ➡
10 11 12 13
🌠 Geminid meteor shower
peaks tonight and
tomorrow
14
↙ Waxing Moon below
Mars (evening)
15
☄ Comet Wirtanen (46/P)
4° below Pleiades ↙
🌓 First Quarter Moon
17 18 19 21
Winter solstice at 3:23 pm
MST/5:23 pm EST
22
🌕 Full Moon at solstice
23 24 25
🎉 Christmas Day
26
/ Boxing Day (Canada)
27 28 29
30 31
🎉 New Year’s Eve
1 December 2018
November 2018
S M T W T F S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30
January 2019
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31