JANUARY
OBSERVING HIGHLIGHTS
EARTH SATELLITES:
Moon --- New Moon occurs January 8 at11:37 UT (6:37 a.m. EST)
First Quarter Moon occurs January 15 at 19:46 UT (2:46 p.m. EST)
Full Moon occurs January 22 at 13:35 UT (8:35 a.m. EST)
Last Quarter Moon occurs January 30 at 5:03 UT (12:03 a.m. EST)
Artificial Satellites --- Reference the following web site for information on observing
artificial satellites: http:www.calsky.com/cs.cgi
PLANETS:
Mercury about
magnitude – 0.8 will be visible in the afterglow of sunset starting in the
second week of January (best from about January 19th to the 26th
about 30 minutes after sunset).
Venus at about -4.0 magnitude will be visible high in the east in the early morning hours and by month end will be very close to Jupiter (1.2 degrees apart at dawn on January 31).
Mars will be at -1.5 magnitude on January 1 and drop to magnitude -0.5 by month end but will remain visible nearly all night during the month.
Jupiter will be bright and grow higher in the early morning hours as the month progresses. It will probably be too low to the horizon early in the month to be seen before the sun rises.
Saturn in the constellation Leo will be at +0.6 magnitude rising around 9:00 p.m. in early January and will brighten to magnitude +0.4 by month end when it rises 2 hours earlier.
Uranus at magnitude +5.9 in the constellation Aquarius is visible in the southwest early in the month and shortly after nightfall.
Pluto will not be visible.
COMETS:
Comet 8/Tuttle may be a naked eye object at 6th magnitude high in the evening sky through mid-January. It comes closest to Earth on January 1 located just south of M33 (see M33 information below).
DEEP SKY:
The constellations Auriga, Orion, Taurus, Canis Major, Canis Minor, and Ursa Major emerging perpendicular to the horizon will dominate the night skies this month. Cassiopeia, Pegasus, Andromeda and Perseus will descend toward the northwest horizon. The stars of Aldebaren in Taurus, Capella in Auriga, the Twins Castor and Pollux in Gemini along with the Pleiades star cluster can be observed. The bright star Sirius can be seen in Canis Major.
Nebula
The Great Orion Nebula (M42) a.k.a. NGC 1976 is a diffuse nebula in the constellation Orion visible to the naked eye. Although you can see M42 moderately well in binoculars, it is more appreciated when viewed with a 6 to 8 inch (150 – 200 mm) telescope. It has a an apparent magnitude of 4 with a size of 28 light years and a distance of 1,600 light-years. The brightest stars in the nebula are the famous four Trapezium stars.
The Crab Nebula (M1)
in Taurus can be observed with binoculars while the Horsehead Nebula and the Great
Orion Nebula in Orion are great telescopic objects, also.
Clusters
M37 a.k.a. NGC 2099 is an open cluster in the constellation Auriga with nearby M36 and M38. To find M37, point you binoculars midway between the stars Theta and Beta Auriga, then scan a couple of degrees toward Gemini. They will reveal a misty patch, while a telescope will resolve the many stars. M37 has an apparent magnitude of 5.6 and a distance of 4,100 light years.
Pleiades (M45) a.k.a. the Seven Sisters can be seen with the naked eye. This open cluster is in the constellation Taurus. It has an apparent magnitude of 1.2 with a size of 13 light-years and a distance of 400 light-years.
Other open clusters in January for the naked eye include the
Hyades and the Beehive Cluster (M44)
Galaxies
Pinwheel Galaxy (M33) a.k.a. NGC 598 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum. This telescopic object is a spiral class Sc, having open spiral arms, and is seen almost face-on. It has an apparent magnitude of 5.7 with a size of 55,000 light years and a distance of 3 million light years.
Other galaxies in the night sky are M65 (seen with binoculars) and the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) (a telescopic object).
OTHER
The Quadrantids meteor shower will be best seen the nights of January 3-4. It is predicted to peak around 1:40 a.m. EST on the 4th.
Ref12/17/07
