Earth didn't physically cross the plane of our Milky Way galaxy in 2012. But Earth did cross the galactic equator in 2012. That's something we do every year - twice.
The Venus transit appeared as a small dark dot crossing sun's face for last time this century on June 5-6, 2012. Last transit of Venus in our lifetimes!
The moon will rise late at night on May 8, 2012 in front of the constellation Sagittarius, whose pattern marks the direction toward our Milky Way's center.
Bruce McClure served as lead writer for EarthSky's popular Tonight pages from 2004 to 2021, when he opted for a much-deserved retirement. He's a sundial aficionado, whose love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and sailing in the North Atlantic, where he earned his celestial navigation certificate through the School of Ocean Sailing and Navigation. He also wrote and hosted public astronomy programs and planetarium programs in and around his home in upstate New York.