Big Dipper

The Moon is at apogee, subtending 29 arc minutes from a distance of 404,472 kilometers (251,327 miles), at 6:00 UT.

Jupiter is 0.9 degree north of the Moon, with an occultation visible from Tasmania, southern Australia, and nearby islands, at 12:00; asteroid 4 Vesta is 0.3 degree north of the Moon, with an occultation visible from parts of Africa and central South America, at 21:00 UT.

First Quarter Moon occurs at 20:31 UT; the Lunar X (the Purbach or Werner Cross), an X-shaped clair-obscure illumination effect involving various rims and ridges between the craters La Caille, Blanchinus, and Purbach, is predicted to occur at 22:33 UT.

Mercury is at greatest eastern elongation (18 degrees) at 21:00 UT.

Uranus is 4 degrees south of the Moon at 16:00 UT.

Mars is 6 degrees south of the Moon at 14:00 UT; Mercury is 4 degrees south of the Moon at 18:00 UT.

The Sun King The Sun is the monarch of the Solar System, but where does its kingdom end? At the furthest outposts, the two Voyager spacecraft are having a surprisingly turbulent time as they leave the Sun's realm. The team are at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, to see how the Sun affects our planet. Solar physicist Dr Lucie Green joins them to enjoy the observatory's historic telescopes, which are still being used to gaze at the night sky. Upcoming broadcasts of this edition can be found by clicking here.

New Moon (lunation 1115) occurs at 7:20 UT.

Mercury is 0.3 degree north of Mars at 21:00 UT.

The Moon is at perigee, subtending 32 arc minutes from a distance of 365,318 kilometers (226,998 miles), at 12:00 UT.

The Curtiss Cross, an X-shaped clair-obscure illumination effect located between the craters Parry and Gambart, is predicted to occur at 9:17 UT; Mars is 0.4 degree south of Neptune at 16:00; asteroid 1 Ceres is stationary at 17:00 UT.

Saturn is 3 degrees north of the Moon at 10:00 UT; Last Quarter Moon occurs at 13:56 UT.

Full Moon (known as the Ice Moon, the Moon After Yule, the Old Moon, and the Wolf Moon) occurs at 4:38 UT.

Jupiter is 0.5 degree north of the Moon, with an occultation visible from central South America, the Galapagos and Pitcairn Islands, and French Polynesia, at 3:00 UT; the Moon is at apogee, subtending 29 arc minutes from a distance of 405,310 kilometers (253,218 miles), at 11:00 UT.

The Lunar X (the Purbach or Werner Cross), an X-shaped illumination effect involving various rims and ridges between the craters La Caille, Blanchinus, and Purbach, is predicted to occur at 8:01 UT.

Mercury is in superior conjunction at 9:00 UT; First Quarter Moon occurs at 23:45 UT.

Uranus is 5 degrees south of the Moon at 5:00 UT.

Neptune is 6 degrees south of the Moon at 17:00 UT.

Mars is 6 degrees south of the Moon at 12:00 UT.

New Moon (lunation 1114) occurs at 19:44 UT.

Venus is 3 degrees south of the Moon at 12:00 UT.

The latest onset of morning twilight of 2013 at latitude 40 degrees north occurs today; Saturn is 4 degrees north of the Moon at 1:00 UT.

Last Quarter Moon occurs at 3:58 UT; the Moon is 0.6 degree south of the first-magnitude star Spica (Alpha Virginis), with an occultation visible from most of New Zealand, Tasmania, southern Australia and Java, at 20:00 UT; the Curtiss Cross, an X-shaped illumination effect located between the craters Parry and Gambart, is predicted to occur at 18:46 UT.

The peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower (40 to 120 or more per hour) occurs at 13:00 UT; a double Galilean satellite shadow transit (Ganymede’s shadow follows Io’s) begins at 18:40 UT.

The Earth is at perihelion (147,098,161 kilometers or 91,402,560 miles distant from the Sun) at 5:00 UT.