Mercury is in the evening sky up to 6 February, between April 16 and July 7 and again between July 29 and October 6 and lastly from 25 November on into 2009. It is a morning object from February 6 to April 16, also from July 7 to July 29 and from October 6 to November 25.

The best evening apparition for southern hemisphere observers is, as usual, in the August and September period. In 2008 Mercury will set about two and a half hours after the Sun in the middle of September. At the same time there will be a triple conjunction involving Mercury, Venus and Mars.

The best morning apparition will be in March when Mercury will rise nearly two and a half hours before the Sun. And again there will be a triple planetary conjunction, this time involving Mercury, Venus and Neptune.

For northern hemisphere observers the best evening apparition is in May and the best morning apparition is in late October.

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Venus is a morning object until early June when its is at superior conjunction with the Sun on June 9. After that it moves into the evening sky for the rest of the year. The planet will be too close to the Sun to observe for about a month either side of conjunction.

This year's superior conjunction is half way in time between the pair of transits of Venus in June 2004 and June 2012, when the planet is at inferior conjunction and passes across the face of the Sun. As might be expected, Venus passes behind the Sun as "seen" from the Earth at this year's conjunction. The planet will be behind the Sun for about 45 hours, much longer than the transit takes because Sun and Venus will both be moving to the east as seen from the Earth. At a transit, Venus appears to be moving to the west.

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Mars is an evening object in 2008 until Dec 5 when it is at conjunction with the Sun. For the first two months the planet will be visible all evening, after that it will gradually set earlier in the evening. Thus, in New Zealand, it will set about midnight (NZDT) by the end of March, mid evening by the beginning of July and less than an hour after sunset from the end of October. By then Mars will be too close to the Sun to observe.

During the first part of 2008 Mars will fade quite rapidly, its magnitude changing from -1.5 on January 1 to 1.5 by the beginning of June. After that its magnitude will not vary much for the rest of the year.

Mars start 2008 a long way north of the celestial equator so will be low in southern skies. From April it will be moving steadily south, crossing the equator on August 24 and so getting higher in southern skies.

On July 1, Mars will be 40 arc minutes from the star Regulus. With a magnitude 1.4, the star will be slightly brighter than Mars.

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Jupiter is in the constellation Sagittarius throughout 2008. It starts the year as a morning object too close to the Sun to observe. By the end of January it will becoming visible in the dawn sky. On the morning of February 2 in New Zealand, Jupiter and Venus will be just over half a degree apart.

By May Jupiter will be rising about 2 hours before midnight and so be visible in the late evening sky. It will rise progressively earlier and become visible throughout the evening after opposition on July 9. Towards the end of the year, Jupiter will set before midnight so become an early evening object.

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Saturn is in Leo throughout 2008 and is at opposition on February 24. The planet rises about midnight, NZDT, on January 1 and becomes visible as a late evening object by the beginning of February. It will be visible throughout the evening from mid March.

Saturn remains an evening object until it is at conjunction with the Sun on September 4. It will be too close to the Sun for observing from about the beginning of August. After conjunction Saturn will become visible in the morning sky from early October.

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Uranus, in Aquarius, is at conjunction with the Sun on March 8, so apart from being briefly visible in the early evening sky in January, will be too close to the Sun to observe until April, when it will emerge form the Sun into the morning sky. It reaches opposition on September 13.

Neptune is in Capricornus and at conjunction on February 11. As a result it will be too close to the Sun to observe until mid or late March when it is in the morning sky. Opposition is on August 15, so it will be observable throughout the evening from about the beginning of September.

Both Uranus and Neptune are in conjunction with Venus during 2008 when the bright planet will act as a guide to their locations. Further notes and charts with more information on Uranus and Neptune are on site.