Asteroid Eros’ approach tonight is one of several, unusual news making celestial events this year. At twenty miles in width, and peanut shape, Eros will give stargazers an unusual treat tonight.

“Transit of Venus” reports to news this week that tonight’s approach is similar to that, however, of 1931. “The shortest distance to earth, the time of the year, the path through the stars and the maximum brightness are all nearly the same. The only difference will be the observers: instead of professionals, Eros will now be photographed chiefly by amateurs like you.”

Tonight’s approach has prompted exceptional analysis by the Eros Parallax Project. Analysts report to news that tonight’s historic event, along with the transit of Venue in June, are rare, phenomenal, and unprecedented opportunities to enjoy this generation.

And while the excitement starts tonight, moderate telescopes should be able to see the entire display of Eros through February 10, 2012, NASA tells news. Moreover, if you miss it this week, the next time Eros will get this close is the year 2056.

After tonight, there are several other exceptional moments that NASA tells news stargazers should not miss. On May 20, 2012 the first “ring of fire” annual solar eclipse will be seen in the U.S. in eighteen years. The sun will deliver a stellar ring of fire much like that seen in 1994. “I like to compare different types of eclipses on a scale of 1 to 10 as visual spectacles,” says NASA’s leading eclipse expert, Fred Espenak of the Goddard Space Flight Center, in a recent news statement. “If a partial eclipse is a 5 then an annular eclipse is a 9.”

Later this year, stargazers will get a partial lunar on June 4, NASA tells news, followed by a the total lunar on November 13, and penumbral lunar on November 28.