Features: Calendar | Lunar Almanac | Monthly Topic
This Month's Night Sky - NOTE: The next paragraph describes the sky as it
appears at 10 pm EST (11 pm EDT) near mid- month. The sky also looks
this way at 11 pm EST (midnight EDT) during the beginning of the month and
at 9 pm EST (10 pm EDT) by month's end.
Angular Measurement Review: It is interesting to note that the relationship between the angle subtended by combinations of fingers on your fully outstretched arm are the same for all viewers. This is due to the fact that the hand's size is proportional to the arm's length. A shorter arm is attached to a smaller hand while a longer arm is attached to a larger hand, thus the angle measured remains the same. If you hold your arm fully outstretched, your little finger, when sighted down your arm, is one degree wide. Your three middle fingers is five degrees, your fist, 10 degrees, and the distance between your little finger and your pointer finger is 15 degrees no matter what your age or size.
This Month's Night Sky - Sirius (Canis Major), the brightest star in the night sky, shines brilliantly in the South. It forms the bottom leg of the Winter Triangle. The triangle's upper stars at 7 AM. are reddish Betelguese (Orion) to the right and whitish Procyon (Canis Minor) on the left. Capella (Auriga) appears directly overhead later in the evening and you might even glimpse Canopus (Carina) very low (below Sirius) in the South. Looking North you will find the "Big Dipper" (Ursa Major) with its handle still pointing towards the horizon. Cassiopeia's famous "W" asterism is high in the Northwest and Regulus (Leo) shines in the East. Don't forget to look for Castor and Pollux (Gemini "twins") above the Winter Triangle.
From about the 15th. to the end of the month, MERCURY will be about 10 degrees above the SE. horizon around a half hour before sunrise. VENUS will not be visible this month. Look for it again very low at sunset next month. Through out this month and next, MARS will appear bigger and brighter than since early in 2008 and not again until 2012. Early this month it will rise in the E at around 7 PM, reaching its peak height at 2 AM. By month's end, it rises at midnight and sets at sunrise. JUPITER shines high in the SW by nightfall at the beginning of the month. Unfortunately, by month's end, it will be much lower in the night sky and set soon after twilight. SATURN rises in the SW around 11:30 PM at the beginning of the month but at 9:30 PM by month's end. On the 8th., its rings will be tilted almost 5 degrees from our perspective. It will then begin to close down again until the tilt will be less than 2 degrees late next May. The longest annular eclipse of the Sun until 3043 occurs on the 15th. Unfortunately it will not be visible in the US! The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks around 2 AM on the 3rd.
Calendar of Events
NOTE: For those observers not in the ET zone, convert the calendar times to your zone's time by subtracting one hour for CT, two for MT and three for PT. Don't forget to adjust for Daylight Savings Time when necessary by subtracting one hour from your planisphere's time.; Dawn and dusk times must also be corrected. See your local newspaper, TV news, or cable TV's Weather Channel for sunrise and sunset times. Unfortunately some of these events may occur during daylight hours in your area.
| DATE | EVENT |
03 |
Look W at 7 AM to see a conjunction (7 degrees) of Mars and the nearly full Moon.
The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks around 2 AM. Its radiant is in the northern corner of the constellation Bootes and can produce some 120 events under good "seeing" conditions. Unfortunately the nearly full Moon will wash out all but the brightest. Still, this shower produces many bright events so it might be worth observing. (It gets its name from an ancient constellation that no longer exists, Quadrans Muralis.) |
08 |
Saturn's rings are tilted nearly 5 degrees before dawn. This will be the widest tilt since October, 2008, and will remain this wide again until August of this year. |
11 |
Look for a pseudo-conjunction of the crescent Moon and the bright star, Antares (constellation Scorpius). In the easternmost part of the US, the Moon may occult (cover) Antares. |
13 |
At dawn, look for a 6 degree conjunction of the crescent Moon and Mercury very low in the SE. Difficult! Bring your binoculars. |
17 |
Look WSW for a 5 degree conjunction of crescent Moon and Jupiter as twilight darkens. |
18 |
Look for a 5 degree conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter at 5 AM. |
27 |
Mars will be closest to Earth (about 62 million miles away) at 2 PM. |
29 |
Mars opposition occurs at 18:54 UT. The planet will rise at sunset and transit the entire sky until setting at dawn. Apparent brightness of Mars reaches -1.28 mag in constellation Cancer and will be located near the full moon which will also be in the sky all night. |
30 |
Look for a 7 degree conjunction of the full Moon and Mars at 3 AM. |
Lunar Almanac for January 2010
| Phases of the Moon | Phase and Date(s) | Best viewed before local midnight |
 |
New |
Deep Space Objects |
 |
1st. Qtr |
Planets & Moon |
 |
Full |
Moon |
 |
Last |
Deep Space & Planets |
Topic of the month:
The Constellation Aries
|
Aries is a rather obscure constellation that lies below Andromeda, above Cetus and to the west of Taurus. It is important because it is the first constellation of the Zodiac, the ancient ecliptic coordinate system. This system was developed during the period of classical methology between 1000 BC to about 420 AD. During that time, when the ecliptic crossed the celestial equator, that point was known as the First Point of Aries. Due to the Earth's "wobble" (precession), this point is now in western Pisces! It is also our Vernal Equinox, the coming of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, usually on March 21st.
--See you next month! |
This installment of "Whats Up?" is ©2010 Ronald A. Leeseberg, encoded by Dawn Jenkins for Astra's Stargate.
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