2012Calendar of Astronomical Events
2012Phases of the Moon
Alaska Standard Time
The following table gives the date and time of the Moon's phases for the year. The times listed are for Alaska Standard Time(Greenwich Mean Time - 9 hours).If Daylight Saving Time is in effect, add one hour to the times listed.
| 2012 Phases of the Moon | |||
| Alaska Standard Time | |||
| New Moon | First Quarter | Full Moon | Last Quarter |
| - | Dec 31 21:15 | Jan 8 22:30 | Jan 16 00:08 |
| Jan 22 22:39 | Jan 30 19:10 | Feb 7 12:54 | Feb 14 08:04 |
| Feb 21 13:35 | Feb 29 16:22 | Mar 8 00:40 | Mar 14 16:25 |
| Mar 22 05:37 | Mar 30 10:41 | Apr 6 10:19 | Apr 13 01:50 |
| Apr 20 22:18 | Apr 29 00:58 | May 5 18:35 | May 12 12:47 |
| May 20 14:47 A | May 28 11:16 | Jun 4 02:12 p | Jun 11 01:41 |
| Jun 19 06:02 | Jun 26 18:30 | Jul 3 09:52 | Jul 10 16:48 |
| Jul 18 19:24 | Jul 25 23:56 | Aug 1 18:27 | Aug 9 09:55 |
| Aug 17 06:54 | Aug 24 04:54 | Aug 31 04:58 | Sep 8 04:15 |
| Sep 15 17:11 | Sep 22 10:41 | Sep 29 18:19 | Oct 7 22:33 |
| Oct 15 03:02 | Oct 21 18:32 | Oct 29 10:50 | Nov 6 15:36 |
| Nov 13 13:08 T | Nov 20 05:31 | Nov 28 05:46 n | Dec 6 06:32 |
| Dec 12 23:42 | Dec 19 20:19 | Dec 28 01:21 | - |
An eclipse of the Sun can only occur at New Moon (see: Solar Eclipses for Beginners), while an eclipse of the Moon can only occur at Full Moon (see: Lunar Eclipses for Beginners). In any calendar year there are a minimum of two solar and two lunar eclipses.
If an eclipse of the Sun or Moon takes place on a given date, it is noted by a character next to the date in the table above. Solar eclipses are indicated as: T=Total, A=Annular, H=Hybrid and P=Partial.Lunar eclipses are indicated as: t=Total, p=Partial, and n=Penumbral.
Phases of the Moon Photo Gallery is an image collection showing the Moon's phases over a complete synodic month.
2012Calendar of Astronomical Events
Alaska Standard Time
The following table gives the date and time of the important astronomical events for the year. The times listed are for Alaska Standard Time(Greenwich Mean Time - 9 hours).If Daylight Saving Time is in effect, add one hour to the times listed. A key to astronomical terms appears below the calendar.
| 2012Calendar of Astronomical Events | ||||||||
| Alaska Standard Time | ||||||||
| January - June | July - December | |||||||
Date AKST Even (h:m)Jan 02 11:19 Moon at Apogee: 404580 km 02 17:46 Jupiter 5.0°S of Moon 03 22 Quadrantid Meteor Shower 04 16 Earth at Perihelion: 0.98328 AU 05 00:17 Pleiades 2.8°N of Moon 05 22:43 Aldebaran 5.8°S of Moon 06 05:30 Moon at Descending Node 08 22:30 FULL MOON 12 04:04 Regulus 5.9°N of Moon 15 22:21 Spica 2.0°N of Moon 16 00:08 LAST QUARTER MOON 16 10:07 Saturn 6.4°N of Moon 17 12:28 Moon at Perigee: 369883 km 17 21 Mercury at Aphelion 19 01:59 Antares 4.2°S of Moon 19 09:26 Moon at Ascending Node 22 22:39 NEW MOON 30 05:38 Jupiter 4.5°S of Moon 30 08:42 Moon at Apogee: 404325 km 30 19:10 FIRST QUARTER MOON Feb 01 08:42 Pleiades 3.0°N of Moon 02 07:22 Aldebaran 5.7°S of Moon 02 11:02 Moon at Descending Node 07 00 Mercury at Superior Conjunction 07 12:54 FULL MOON 08 11:43 Regulus 5.8°N of Moon 11 09:32 Moon at Perigee: 367920 km 12 03:47 Spica 1.8°N of Moon 12 16:08 Saturn 6.2°N of Moon 14 08:04 LAST QUARTER MOON 15 07:35 Antares 4.4°S of Moon 15 11:16 Moon at Ascending Node 15 12 Mars at Aphelion: 1.66598 AU 19 11 Neptune in Conjunction with Sun 21 13:35 NEW MOON 25 12:44 Venus 3.3°S of Moon 26 21:16 Jupiter 3.8°S of Moon 27 05:01 Moon at Apogee: 404864 km 28 16:46 Pleiades 3.3°N of Moon 29 13:37 Moon at Descending Node 29 15:45 Aldebaran 5.4°S of Moon 29 16:22 FIRST QUARTER MOON Mar 01 20 Mercury at Perihelion 03 10 Mars at Opposition 05 00 Mercury at Greatest Elong: 18.2°E 06 21:36 Regulus 5.8°N of Moon 08 00:40 FULL MOON 10 01:02 Moon at Perigee: 362401 km 10 11:20 Spica 1.5°N of Moon 10 22:00 Saturn 6.2°N of Moon 13 11:41 Moon at Ascending Node 13 13 Venus 3.0°N of Jupiter 13 13:10 Antares 4.7°S of Moon 14 16:25 LAST QUARTER MOON 19 20:15 Vernal Equinox 20 16 Venus at Perihelion 21 10 Mercury at Inferior Conjunction 22 05:37 NEW MOON 24 09 Uranus in Conjunction with Sun 25 14:57 Jupiter 3.1°S of Moon 25 21:04 Moon at Apogee: 405780 km 26 09:21 Venus 1.8°N of Moon 26 22 Venus at Greatest Elong: 46.0°E 26 23:56 Pleiades 3.5°N of Moon 27 15:19 Moon at Descending Node 27 23:07 Aldebaran 5.2°S of Moon 30 10:41 FIRST QUARTER MOON Apr 03 04:18 Venus 0.4°S of Pleiades 03 08:10 Regulus 5.9°N of Moon 06 10:19 FULL MOON 06 21:24 Spica 1.5°N of Moon 07 05:07 Saturn 6.3°N of Moon 07 07:59 Moon at Perigee: 358314 km 09 15:47 Moon at Ascending Node 09 20:54 Antares 4.9°S of Moon 13 01:50 LAST QUARTER MOON 15 09 Saturn at Opposition 15 17:18 Mars 0.7°N of Regulus 18 08 Mercury at Greatest Elong: 27.5°W 20 22:18 NEW MOON 21 20 Lyrid Meteor Shower 22 04:49 Moon at Apogee: 406422 km 23 06:15 Pleiades 3.6°N of Moon 23 18:43 Moon at Descending Node 24 05:27 Aldebaran 5.0°S of Moon 24 17:21 Venus 5.7°N of Moon 29 00:58 FIRST QUARTER MOON 30 17:31 Regulus 6.1°N of MoonMay 04 08:26 Spica 1.5°N of Moon 04 09 Eta-Aquarid Meteor Shower 04 13:04 Saturn 6.4°N of Moon 05 18:33 Moon at Perigee: 356954 km 05 18:35 FULL MOON 07 00:43 Moon at Ascending Node 07 06:57 Antares 5.0°S of Moon 12 12:47 LAST QUARTER MOON 13 04 Jupiter in Conjunction with Sun 19 07:13 Moon at Apogee: 406451 km 20 14:47 NEW MOON 20 14:53 Annular Solar Eclipse; mag=0.944 21 00:20 Moon at Descending Node 22 11:52 Venus 4.7°N of Moon 27 02 Mercury at Superior Conjunction 28 00:43 Regulus 6.2°N of Moon 28 11:16 FIRST QUARTER MOON 28 20 Mercury at Perihelion 31 18:24 Spica 1.5°N of Moon 31 20:45 Saturn 6.5°N of MoonJun 03 04:19 Moon at Perigee: 358483 km 03 11:38 Moon at Ascending Node 03 17:51 Antares 5.0°S of Moon 04 02:03 Partial Lunar Eclipse; mag=0.370 04 02:12 FULL MOON 05 16 Venus at Inferior Conjunction 11 00:30 Jupiter 4.7°S of Pleiades 11 01:41 LAST QUARTER MOON 15 16:24 Moon at Apogee: 405791 km 16 18:34 Pleiades 3.6°N of Moon 16 23:23 Jupiter 1.1°S of Moon: Occn. 17 06:43 Moon at Descending Node 17 15:47 Venus 2.1°S of Moon 19 06:02 NEW MOON 20 08:50 Mercury 4.9°S of Pollux 20 14:08 Summer Solstice 21 01:33 Venus 2.2°N of Aldebaran 24 06:18 Regulus 6.1°N of Moon 26 06:02 Mars 5.8°N of Moon 26 18:30 FIRST QUARTER MOON 28 02:04 Spica 1.4°N of Moon 28 03:40 Saturn 6.3°N of Moon 30 17 Mercury at Greatest Elong: 25.7°E 30 20:45 Moon at Ascending Node 30 23 Venus 4.8°S of Jupiter | Date AKST Even (h:m)Jul 01 03:42 Antares 5.0°S of Moon 01 09:01 Moon at Perigee: 362363 km 02 05:57 Mercury 1.6°S of Beehive 03 09:52 FULL MOON 04 19 Earth at Aphelion: 1.01668 AU 08 19:13 Venus 0.9°N of Aldebaran 10 16:48 LAST QUARTER MOON 11 01 Venus at Aphelion 11 19 Mercury at Aphelion 13 07:47 Moon at Apogee: 404783 km 14 01:34 Pleiades 3.7°N of Moon 14 11:55 Moon at Descending Node 14 18:02 Jupiter 0.5°S of Moon: Occn. 15 00:40 Aldebaran 4.9°S of Moon 15 06:29 Venus 3.8°S of Moon 18 19:24 NEW MOON 21 11:52 Regulus 5.9°N of Moon 24 13:07 Mars 4.2°N of Moon 25 07:43 Spica 1.2°N of Moon 25 10:29 Saturn 6.0°N of Moon 25 23:56 FIRST QUARTER MOON 27 11 Delta-Aquarid Meteor Shower 28 01:34 Moon at Ascending Node 28 11 Mercury at Inferior Conjunction 28 11:21 Antares 5.2°S of Moon 28 23:30 Moon at Perigee: 367318 km 29 02:45 Jupiter 4.6°N of AldebaranAug 01 18:27 FULL MOON 02 04:36 Saturn 4.0°N of Spica 09 09:55 LAST QUARTER MOON 10 01:52 Moon at Apogee: 404125 km 10 09:12 Pleiades 3.9°N of Moon 10 15:04 Moon at Descending Node 11 08:25 Aldebaran 4.8°S of Moon 11 11:25 Jupiter 0.1°N of Moon: Occn. 12 03 Perseid Meteor Shower 13 10:41 Venus 0.6°S of Moon: Occn. 13 13:45 Mars 1.6°N of Spica 15 01 Venus at Greatest Elong: 45.8°W 15 09 Mars 2.7°S of Saturn 15 20:06 Mercury 3.6°N of Moon 16 03 Mercury at Greatest Elong: 18.7°W 17 06:55 NEW MOON 18 06:33 Mercury 2.1°S of Beehive 21 13:04 Spica 1.0°N of Moon 21 18:43 Saturn 5.5°N of Moon 21 22:50 Mars 2.3°N of Moon 23 10:39 Moon at Perigee: 369731 km 24 02 Neptune at Opposition 24 02:38 Moon at Ascending Node 24 04:54 FIRST QUARTER MOON 24 17:02 Antares 5.4°S of Moon 24 19 Mercury at Perihelion 31 04:58 FULL MOON Sep 06 17:08 Moon at Descending Node 06 21:00 Moon at Apogee: 404296 km 07 16:23 Aldebaran 4.5°S of Moon 08 01:59 Jupiter 0.6°N of Moon: Occn. 08 04:15 LAST QUARTER MOON 10 04 Mercury at Superior Conjunction 12 08:09 Venus 3.7°N of Moon 12 23:52 Venus 2.6°S of Beehive 14 03:51 Regulus 5.9°N of Moon 15 17:11 NEW MOON 17 20:05 Spica 0.8°N of Moon 18 05:45 Saturn 5.0°N of Moon 18 17:52 Moon at Perigee: 365749 km 19 11:36 Mars 0.2°N of Moon: Occn. 20 03:54 Moon at Ascending Node 20 22:30 Antares 5.6°S of Moon 22 05:49 Autumnal Equinox 22 10:41 FIRST QUARTER MOON 28 22 Uranus at Opposition 29 18:19 FULL MOON Oct 01 01:56 Mercury 1.5°N of Spica 02 18:35 Venus 0.1°S of Regulus 03 20:15 Moon at Descending Node 04 15:43 Moon at Apogee: 405162 km 04 23 Mercury 3.2°S of Saturn 04 23:58 Aldebaran 4.3°S of Moon 05 11:50 Jupiter 0.9°N of Moon: Occn. 07 22:33 LAST QUARTER MOON 11 13:52 Regulus 6.0°N of Moon 12 10:10 Venus 6.3°N of Moon 15 03:02 NEW MOON 16 16:02 Moon at Perigee: 360673 km 16 16:43 Mercury 1.3°S of Moon 17 09:27 Moon at Ascending Node 18 04:06 Mars 2.0°S of Moon 18 05:50 Antares 5.8°S of Moon 20 11:07 Mars 3.5°N of Antares 20 19 Orionid Meteor Shower 21 18:32 FIRST QUARTER MOON 24 23 Saturn in Conjunction with Sun 26 13 Mercury at Greatest Elong: 24.1°E 29 10:50 FULL MOON 31 01:36 Moon at Descending Node 31 09 Venus at Perihelion Nov 01 06:30 Moon at Apogee: 406050 km 01 06:49 Aldebaran 4.2°S of Moon 01 15:58 Jupiter 0.9°N of Moon: Occn. 04 20 S Taurid Meteor Shower 06 05:32 Mercury 3.0°N of Antares 06 15:36 LAST QUARTER MOON 07 23:13 Regulus 6.1°N of Moon 11 08:52 Venus 5.3°N of Moon 11 16:42 Spica 0.8°N of Moon 11 19 N Taurid Meteor Shower 13 13:08 NEW MOON 13 13:12 Total Solar Eclipse; mag=1.050 13 19:37 Moon at Ascending Node 14 01:21 Moon at Perigee: 357361 km 16 00:40 Mars 4.0°S of Moon 16 16:22 Venus 3.6°N of Spica 17 01 Leonid Meteor Shower 17 07 Mercury at Inferior Conjunction 20 05:31 FIRST QUARTER MOON 20 18 Mercury at Perihelion 26 20 Venus 0.5°S of Saturn 27 08:05 Moon at Descending Node 28 05:33 Pen. Lunar Eclipse; mag=0.915 28 05:46 FULL MOON 28 10:35 Moon at Apogee: 406366 km 28 13:06 Aldebaran 4.2°S of Moon 28 15:46 Jupiter 0.6°N of Moon: Occn.Dec 02 16 Jupiter at Opposition 04 14 Mercury at Greatest Elong: 20.6°W 05 06:35 Regulus 6.1°N of Moon 06 06:32 LAST QUARTER MOON 09 00 Mercury 6.3°S of Venus 09 03:04 Spica 0.8°N of Moon 10 03:46 Saturn 4.0°N of Moon 11 04:48 Venus 1.6°N of Moon 11 06:57 Moon at Ascending Node 11 15:44 Mercury 1.1°N of Moon: Occn. 12 14:14 Moon at Perigee: 357074 km 12 20:18 Jupiter 4.7°N of Aldebaran 12 23:42 NEW MOON 13 14 Geminid Meteor Shower 18 00:57 Mercury 5.2°N of Antares 19 20:19 FIRST QUARTER MOON 21 02:12 Winter Solstice 21 23 Ursid Meteor Shower 23 18:19 Venus 5.5°N of Antares 24 13:27 Moon at Descending Node 25 12:19 Moon at Apogee: 406101 km 25 15:02 Jupiter 0.4°N of Moon: Occn. 25 19:23 Aldebaran 4.2°S of Moon 28 01:21 FULL MOON | |||||||
Terms Used in Astronomical Events Calendar
- Perihelion - instant when a planet is closest to the Sun
- Aphelion - instant when a planet is furthest from the Sun
- Perigee - instant when the Moon is closest to Earth
- Apogee - instant when the Moon is furthest from Earth
- Inferior Conjunction - instant when a planet (Mercury or Venus) passes between Earth and the Sun
- Superior Conjunction - instant when a planet (Mercury or Venus) passes on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth
- Greatest Elongation - the maximum angular separation between the Sun and the planet (Mercury or Venus) 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 - instant when a planet appears opposite the Sun as seen from Earth
- Conjunction - instant when a planet appears closest the Sun as seen from Earth
- Occultation - the Moon occults or eclipses a star or planet
- Ascending Node - point where the Moon crosses from the southern to northern portion of its orbit
- Descending Node - point where the Moon crosses from the northern to the southern portion of its orbit
- Aldebaran - bright star in the constellation Taurus
- Pollux - bright star in the constellation Gemini
- Regulus - bright star in the constellation Leo
- Spica - bright star in the constellation Virgo
- Antares - bright star in the constellation Scorpius
- Pleiades - bright star cluster in the constellation Taurus
- Beehive - bright star cluster in the constellation Cancer
Calendars of Astronomical Events: 2011 to 2020
The Americas
Below are links to calendars of astronomical events from 2011 to 2020 for seven time zones in the Americas.
Choose a time zone and click on a year to get a calendar of astronomical events for that year.
| Calendars of Astronomical Events - The Americas | |||||||||||||||
| AST | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |||||
| EST | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |||||
| CST | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |||||
| MST | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |||||
| PST | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |||||
| AKST | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |||||
| HST | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |||||
- AST = Atlantic Standard Time (= GMT - 4 hours)
- EST = Eastern Standard Time (= GMT - 5 hours)
- CST = Central Standard Time (= GMT - 6 hours)
- MST = Mountain Standard Time (= GMT - 7 hours)
- PST = Pacific Standard Time (= GMT - 8 hours)
- AKST = Alaskan Standard Time (= GMT - 9 hours)
- HST = Hawaiian Standard Time (= GMT - 10 hours)
(where GMT = Greenwich Mean Time)
- Time Zones Abbreviations
A time zone may have a different name in different countries. Note the difference in hours between a given time zone and Greenwich Mean Time to help in identification.
For other years and other time zones, visit: Calendars of Astronomical Events.