January
January 4: Earth at perihelion, closest point to the sun, 91.4 million miles
January 7: Latest sunrise
January 8: Venus at inferior conjunction between sun and Earth, moving to morning sky
January 16: Pluto at solar conjunction behind sun
February
February 1: Chinese New Year—Year of the Tiger; second new moon after Winter Solstice
February 4: Saturn at solar conjunction behind sun, moving to morning sky
February 20: 60th anniversary of first American to orbit the Earth, John Glenn on Friendship 7
February 23: 35th anniversary of Supernova 1987A
February 25: Parker Solar Probe: Perihelion #11
March
March: Launch of NASA’s CAPSTONE lunar halo orbiter
March 2: Mercury and Saturn close in morning sky
March 5: Jupiter at solar conjunction behind sun, moving to morning sky
March 12-15: Venus and Mars close in morning sky
March 13: Spring ahead! Daylight Savings Time begins
March 14: Pi Day and Einstein’s Birthday
March 20: Spring begins at 10:32 a.m. CDT
March 28-29: Venus and Saturn close in morning sky
April
April 1: 25th anniversary of Comet Hale-Bopp (No comet since then has been brighter!)
April 5: Mars and Saturn close in morning sky
April 30: Venus and Jupiter close in morning sky
April 30: Partial Solar Eclipse—Chile and Argentina
May
May 15-16: Total Lunar Eclipse! (Milwaukee: Partial starts 9:27 p.m., total 10:29-11:53pm, partial ends 12:55 a.m. CDT, May 16)
May 26: Venus and Moon very close in morning sky
May 28-29: Mars and Jupiter close in morning sky
June
June 1: Parker Solar Probe: Perihelion #12
June 14: Earliest sunrise
June 14: Super Strawberry Moon
June 21: Summer Solstice starts at 4:13 a.m. CDT
June 22: Mars and moon very close in morning sky
June 27: Latest sunset
July
July: Launch of Russian Luna 25—a lunar lander
July 4: 25th anniversary of Mars Pathfinder, first rover on red planet
July 4: Earth at aphelion, the farthest point from the sun
July 13: Biggest full (super) moon of 2022
August
August: Launch of Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO)
August 1: Launch of NASA’s Psyche and Janus asteroid missions
August 11-13: Perseids meteor shower peaks
August 13: Saturn at opposition, opposite the sun, up all night
September
September 6: Parker Solar Probe: Perihelion #13
September 16: Neptune at opposition
September 20: Launch of ESA’s ExoMars 2022 Rover
September 22: Fall arrives with the autumnal equinox at 8:03 p.m. CDT
September 26: Jupiter at opposition, opposite the Sun, up all night
October
October 22: Venus at superior conjunction behind sun
October 25: Partial Solar Eclipse—Europe, Asia, NE Africa
November
November 6: Fall back! Daylight Savings Time ends
November 8: Total Lunar Eclipse! (Milwaukee: Partial starts 3:19 a.m., total 4:16-5:41 a.m., partial ends at moon-set, 6:44 a.m. CST)
November 8: Uranus at opposition
December
December: Launch of NASA’s Prime 1 & Peregrine 1 lunar lander
December: Launch of China’s Chang’e 5, Lunar Sample Return Mission
December: Launch of JAXA’s (Japan) Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM)
December 7: Earliest sunset
December 7: Mars at opposition, opposite the sun, up all night
December 11: Parker Solar Probe: Perihelion #14
December 12-14: Geminid meteor shower peaks
December 14: 50th anniversary of Apollo 17—astronaut Eugene Cernan’s last footprint on the Moon
December 14: 60th anniversary of NASA’s Mariner 2 visiting Venus
December 21: Winter Solstice starts at 3:47 p.m. CST
December 29: Mercury and Venus close in evening sky, but extremely low in SW