Month by month solar system highlights for 2003:

January: Earth was at perihelion — closest to the sun — Saturday, a mere 91.2 million miles. Yellowish Saturn is just past opposition this month, meaning it rises in the east as the sun sets in the west. Still near its closest approach to Earth (750 million miles), its light is steady and bright. Saturn’s rings are steeply tilted this year, a thrill for anyone getting a first peek through a small telescope.

February: The Chinese Year of the Ram (4701) begins with the new moon Feb. 1.

Brilliant Jupiter is at opposition Feb. 2, rising in the east at sunset, the brightest “star” in the sky at that hour. Steady binoculars will reveal a string of four tiny lights stretched along a line through the planet. They are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto — the moons first seen by Galileo in January 1610.

March: Islamic year 1424 begins at sunset March 2. Spring arrives with the vernal equinox at 7:03 p.m. CDT March 20.

April: The largest full moon of the year occurs when the moon is at “perigee” — nearest the Earth — on April 16. Watch for unusually high tides.

May: The first of the year’s lunar eclipses.

June-July: The Earth is at “aphelion” — its farthest from the sun (about 94.5 million miles) — on July 4.

About 4 a.m. July 17, look for Mars hanging just above the waning moon, a remarkable conjunction. For people watching from the extreme southern tip of Florida and points south, the moon will pass in front of Mars, an even rarer “occultation.”

August: Mars is a “scant” 34,646,418 miles from Earth on Aug. 27. Astronomers say it is the closest approach in 50,000 to 100,000 years, depending on who does the calculation. Credit the coincidence of Mars being at both opposition (its closest to the Earth) on Aug. 27, and at perihelion (its closest to the sun) on Aug. 30.

September and October: Slim pickings.

November: The second lunar eclipse of the year.

The annual Leonid meteor shower returns Nov. 17 under a last-quarter moon. But the spectacular displays of recent years are likely over, according to forecasters. Look for 15 meteors per hour or better, peaking between midnight and dawn.

December: A spectacle is due after sunset Christmas Day, as bright Venus gleams in the western sky beside a slender crescent moon.