January skies

Posted on 2007 January 01 @ 00:01 - filed under Astronomy.

Mercury starts the month too near the Sun for observation. It emerges from the solar glare during the last week, setting soon after the Sun. Venus is visible in the western twilight all month, setting an hour after the Sun. Mars is in the pre-dawn sky, rising about two hours before the Sun. Jupiter is in the morning sky, rising after midnight. Both Jupiter and Mars start the year in Ophiuchus. Saturn is visible for the second part of the night, rising two hours after sunset at the start of the month, and shortly after sunset at month's end. From about the 21st, Venus and Saturn will be at opposite points in the sky, low on western and eastern horizons, respectively.

Early evening, in the south, Crux is low down, while Achernar and the Magellanic Clouds are high up. From Crux, the Milky Way stretches eastward towards Sirius (in Canis Major), Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades in the north.

Around midnight, in the south, Crux is half-way up in its circular route around the south pole. The Milky Way stretches overhead with Sirius (in Canis Major) very high up. Saturn and Regulus (in Leo) is in the north-east. Bright Capella (in Auriga) is low in the north.

Before sunrise, in the south, Crux and the Pointers are high up. Scorpius is in the south-east with Jupiter and Mars below. Low in the north-east is Arcturus (in Bootes) and high up is Spica (in Virgo). In the north is Saturn and Regulus in Leo. In the north-west is Gemini, and above it, Procyon (in Canis Minor). In the west, Orion is setting.

Jan 02, Tue: With the sky a deep rosy colour soon after sunset, look for Venus in the west-southwest. In the north-east, lurking on the horizon, is the almost-Full Moon.

Jan 03, Wed: Soon after nightfall, the Full Moon rises dramatically in the north-east.

Jan 04, Thu: An hour or so before midnight, look in the north-east for the bright Moon to the bottom-right of Castor and Pollux, the Gemini twins. Further down and to the right, bright Saturn lies in Leo, near Regulus.

Jan 05 – 07, Fri-Sun: looking north-east, before midnight  

Jan 06, Sat: Late night, the bright Moon rises, lying between Saturn and Regulus.

Jan 12, Fri: In the eastern morning sky, the Moon, just past Last Quarter, lies close to Spica, in Virgo.

Jan 15 – 17, Mon-Wed: looking south-east, before daybreak  

Jan 15, Mon: In the eastern morning sky, shortly before sunrise, the Moon lies amongst the stars of Scorpius. It forms a bright triangle with Antares and brilliant Jupiter lower down. Still lower down, near the galactic centre, lies Mars.

Jan 16, Tue: In the eastern morning sky, shortly before sunrise, the slender lunar crescent lies between Jupiter and Mars.

Jan 17, Wed: In the eastern morning sky, shortly before sunrise, red Mars lies just to the left of the ultra-thin lunar crescent. This morning, the Moon lies furtherst south for the month.

Jan 17 – 19, Wed-Fri: Venus passing by Neptune (finder chart)  

Jan 18, Thu: Soon after sunset, as Venus becomes visible, find it in binoculars or a low-power telescope. A short distance away, glowing at 8th magnitude, lies Neptune, the most distant planet in our solar system. While Venus is about 1.5 AU away, Neptune lies 31 AU distant. (1 AU is about 150 million km).

Jan 20, Sat: After sunset, start looking in the west-southwest using binoculars where Venus should be. The brilliant planet will be hidden, occulted by the very thin lunar crescent (1.6 days old). Shortly before the Moon sets, Venus suddenly pops into view at the bright edge of the Moon, near the top of the sickle. A telescope at medium magnification should show the planet's disk emerging from behind the Moon, although the low altitude might give a blurry image. Check on Thursday or Friday evening exactly where to expect Venus on Saturday, noting its position in the sky relative to some familiar landmark.

Jan 21, Sun: In the west soon after sunset, the thin lunar crescent lies to the top-right of the Evening Star.

Jan 22, Mon: Look west as darkness falls, around the time that Venus disappears behind the horizon. The lunar crescent in the west dominates the naked-eye view. Using binoculars, look 8.5 degrees in the direction of Venus (down and to the left) for the 4th magnitude star lambda Aquarii. Less than a degree above-right lies 6th magnitude Uranus. (finder chart)  

Jan 27 – 31, Sat-Wed: looking north, after sunset, Moon in Taurus and Gemini  .

Jan 27, Sat: As the sky starts loosing colour at sunset, face due north and look for the Moon, just past First Quarter. As the sky begins to darken, you'll notice the stars coming out. The first to appear will be Sirius, high up and to the top-left of the Moon. Not too long afterwards, Betelgeuse and Rigel, in Orion, will appear. Then, Aldebaran in Taurus, midway between the Moon and Orion, pops into view. Look very closely just-just above the Moon: the beautiful star cluster the Pleiades should be coming into view. In binoculars, the cluster is a brilliant collection of seven bright stars and a host of fainter members.

Jan 28, Sun: The Moon sits on the border between Taurus and Gemini, visible in the eastern evening sky. It makes a large triangle with the Pleiades star cluster and the orange star Aldebaran.

Jan 29, Mon: The Moon, in the eastern evening sky, spends today in the southern part of the constellation Auriga the Charioteer.

Jan 30 – 31, Tue-Wed: The last days of January finds the Moon in the evening sky, in Gemini. On the 31st, the twin warriors Castor and Pollux are aligned with the Moon. Pollux, nearest the Moon, is the brighter of the pair, even though it is labelled "beta Gem".

January events

Day	Event
01	Jupiter's moon Ganymede at maximum distance from the planet at 04h (4.0 arcmin east), and Callisto at maximum distance at 16h (7.1 arcmin west).
01	Minor planet (467) Laura occults star TYC 1918-01192-1 (mag= 9.3) at 04:07.
01	Moon in Auriga for about 9 hours.
02	Isaac Asimov's birthday (1920).
02	Moon in Auriga for about 19 hours.
03	Anniversary of the landing of the Spirit rover on Mars, in 2004.
03	Earth at perihelion (22h).
03	Full Moon (15: 57).
04	Jupiter's moon Ganymede at maximum distance from the planet (4.0 arcmin west at 18h).
04	Pollux near the Moon (2.6°).
06	Religious holiday: Epiphany.
06	Saturn near the Moon (0.9°); occultation seen from NE Russia, Arctic, N. Scandinavia, NW Canada and Alaska.
07	Mercury at superior conjunction.
07	Regulus near the Moon (1.1°); occultation seen from E. Europe, E. Scandinavia and W. Russia.
08	Jupiter's moon Ganymede at maximum distance from the planet (4.0 arcmin east at 08h).
08	Solar rotation number 2052 starts.
08	Stephen Hawking's birthday (1942).
09	Jupiter near Antares (5.3°).
10	Jupiter's moon Callisto at maximum distance from the planet (7.1 arcmin east at 04h).
10	Moon at apogee.
11	220th anniversary (1787) of Sir William Herschel's discovery of Titania and Oberon, moons of Uranus.
11	Jupiter's moon Ganymede at maximum distance from the planet (4.1 arcmin west at 22h).
11	Last Quarter Moon (14: 45).
11	Mars exits Ophiuchus into Sagittarius.
11	Spica near the Moon (0.9°); occultation seen from Antarctica & S.E. Indian Ocean.
13	Meteor shower on Mars, associated with comet 9P/Tempel 1.
14	Anniversary of the landing of the Huygens probe on Titan, Saturn's moon, in 2005.
14	New Year's Day of the year 2760 in the Roman (A.U.C.) era.
15	Anniversary of the arrival, in 1834, of (Sir) John Herschel in Cape Town, to observe the southern skies and produce the first thorough catalogue of deep-sky objects.
15	Anniversary of the return to Earth in 2006 of cometary material collected from Comet Wild 2 by the Stardust space craft.
15	Antares near the Moon (0.5°). Occultation seen from Cape Town in late afternoon, also from Antarctica and southern tip of S.America.
15	Jupiter near the Moon (5.7°).
15	Jupiter's moon Ganymede at maximum distance from the planet (4.1 arcmin east at 11h).
15	Moon in Ophiuchus for about 21 hours.
15	Periodic comet 99P/Kowal reaches perihelion (period 15.1 years).
17	Anniversary of the official opening in 1905, by Lord Milner, of the Transvaal Meteorological Department (later renamed the Union, then Republic Obs.).
17	delta Cancrids meteor shower reaches maximum, active Jan 01-Jan 24 (parent body is comet C/1931 P1 Ryves).
17	Mars near the Moon (4.5°).
17	Minor planet (18) Melpomene (mag=9.3) occults star TYC 0799-00143-1 (mag= 12.5) at 03:08.
17	Moon southernmost declination this month (-28.3°).
18	Jupiter's moon Callisto at maximum distance from the planet (7.3 arcmin west at 13h).
19	Jupiter's moon Ganymede at maximum distance from the planet (4.1 arcmin west at 02h).
19	Mercury near the Moon (1.2°).
19	New Moon (06: 01).
19	New Year's Day of the year 1428 in the Islamic (Hegira) era.
19	Venus and Neptune come within 1.4° (82 arcmin) of each other. (03h).
20	Neptune near the Moon (2.2°).
20	Religious holiday: Islamic New Year (tabular).
20	Venus occulted by the Moon (20h), seen from southern Africa, Antarctica and southern tip of S.America.
21	Minor planet (1796) Riga occults star HIP 22701 (mag= 4.4) at 19:52.
22	Jupiter's moon Ganymede at maximum distance from the planet (4.1 arcmin east at 16h).
22	Moon at perigee.
22	Uranus near the Moon (0.3°), occultation seen from Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, E. Indian Ocean, S. tip of India.
23	Minor planet (9618) Johncleese makes close approach to Earth (1.623 AU).
24	Anniversary of the landing of the Opportunity rover on Mars, in 2004.
26	First Quarter Moon (03: 01).
26	Jupiter's moon Ganymede at maximum distance from the planet (4.2 arcmin west at 06h).
26	Mercury and Neptune come within 1.7° (82 arcmin) of each other.
27	Jupiter's moon Callisto at maximum distance from the planet (7.3 arcmin east at 00h).
29	Jupiter's moon Ganymede at maximum distance from the planet (4.2 arcmin east at 20h).
29	Minor planet (20) Massalia reaches opposition (mag 8.4, declination +16°).
29	Moon in Auriga for about 25 hours.
29	Moon northernmost declination this month (+29.3°).
30	Minor planet (7359) Messier makes close approach to Earth (2.063 AU).
31	Pollux near the Moon (2.6°).
31	Richard Hugh Stoy's birthday (1910).

Constellations

Constellations visible from Southern Africa at 21:00 SAST (* = overhead):

Antlia, Apus, Auriga, Caelum*, Cancer, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Carina, Cetus, Chamaeleon, Columba, Crux, Dorado, Eridanus*, Fornax*, Gemini, Grus, Horologium*, Hydrus, Indus, Lepus, Lynx, Mensa, Microscopium, Monoceros, Musca, Octans, Orion, Pavo, Perseus, Phoenix*, Pictor, Piscis Austrinus, Puppis, Pyxis, Reticulum*, Sculptor*, Taurus, Triangulum Australe, Tucana, Vela, Volans.

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Keywords: Astronomy, Southern Sky Almanack, 2007, monthly sky review, Southern Sky Talk podcast

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