Is there an easy way to find a list of all the oppositions of all the planets for the next coming years? Like an easy reference that will say "Jupiter's opposition this year will be on this date and it will be this big. Next year it will be closer on this date, it will be this big." Thanks for the info.

The RASC Observer's Handbook lists these annually. Their calendar also shows each planet's opposition date (in the calendar square for the date when it occurs).

You can probably find this online somewhere. Cal-Sky has it, but you have to look it up for each planet individually ... I'm not aware of a consolidated table.

And Astronomy Magazine puts out a yearly Observing Guide (I think subscribers get it free in the December issue, might be January ... can't remember offhand).

Let me look around online for it ... BRB

Gemini87:

Is there an easy way to find a list of all the oppositions of all the planets for the next coming years? Like an easy reference that will say "Jupiter's opposition this year will be on this date and it will be this big. Next year it will be closer on this date, it will be this big." Thanks for the info.

A good really great source for that and many other astronomical events is the book Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets by Jean Meeus:  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/094339645X/crastro-20

Thanks, Curt!

Also, Ken Graun's What's Out Tonight lists superior planet oppositions through 2051 on pp. 167 to 169.

For 2009 to 2010 they are:

Mars: Jan. 29th, 2010

Jupiter: Aug. 14th, 2009 and Sept. 21, 2010

Saturn: Mar. 21, 2010

Uranus: Sept. 27, 2009 and Sept. 21, 2010

Neptune: Aug. 17, 2009 and Aug. 20, 2010

chipdatajeffB:

And Astronomy Magazine puts out a yearly Observing Guide (I think subscribers get it free in the December issue, might be January ... can't remember offhand).

Astronomy Magazine's Sky Guide appears in the December issue.

Dave Mitsky

So, you're saying that once my subscription expires, just buy the December issue?

That's your choice, not our recommendation. The guide contains four pages of information you can use for the coming year. It might be enough to suit you, and it might not ...