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tonight'ssky

links

ez tips ...
Explore The Night Sky: learn about what's up there.
Explore our Space Calendar.
Telescopes: explore how they work and what to look for.

web resources ...
Sky this week: night viewing guide by Sky & Telescope
SkyWatch: Dreyfuss Planetarium (combines star chart with explanatory text)
Monthly Sky Report: Fels Planetarium at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute
Nine Planets: technical but thorough overview of the Solar System
StarDate: non-technical overview
Windows to the World: pick your level; slow downloads but gorgeous
Beginner's star chart for U.S., mid-latitude, by Bruce Dale
American Association of Amateur Astronomers

By Bruce Dale for explorezone.com

Boldface links go to the glossary at the bottom of this page.

January 2 - At 11:59 p.m. EST, the Earth will reach Perihelion @ 91.4 million miles from the sun. Shortly before that, the Moon will pass about 3° north of Venus. This will not be visible since Venus and the Moon will be setting at about 2:00 p.m.

January 4 - At 7:23 a.m. EST the Moon will reach apogee at a distance of 404950.9 km (251625.4 miles) from the Earth. There will also be the peak of the Quadrantid Meteor Shower. This is not considered a major shower but it can produce up to 150 meteors per hour on a good year. The shower will peak on the evening of the 3rd into the early morning of the 4th.

January 6 - NEW MOON @ 1:144 p.m. EST. This would be a great night to get out and do some observing. Orion is now high in the sky and the Milky Way is directly overhead. Check out the star charts for some observing ideas.

January 8 - Today the Moon will be visiting two of the outer gas giants. At 1:00 a.m., the Moon will be about 0.2° south of Neptune. This will be a big help to you if you're still trying to find Neptune. And around midnight, the Moon will pass about 0.4° south of Uranus. This again could help you find another gas giant. Good luck!

January 14 - FIRST QUARTER MOON @ 8:34 a.m. EST - At about 10:00 a.m. EST, the Moon will pass 4° south of Jupiter. If you can see the Moon during the day, then you might be able to see Jupiter on this day using the Moon to help you find it.

January 15 - The Moon will pass about 3° south of Saturn at about noon. Mercury will also be at superior conjunction.

January 19 - At 5:49 p.m. EST the Moon will reach perigee at a distance of 359375.8 km (223306.3 miles) from the Earth.

January 20 - FULL MOON @ 11:40 p.m. EST. There will also be a TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE starting at 8:00 p.m. EST and lasting a little better than an hour. This eclipse will be visible for most of the United States, though it will be better on the East Coast. Since this will be a total eclipse, you might notice the Moon will turn a little bit red. The reason is the light from the sun is bending around the Moon and also is being reflected from the Earth. Red has the shortest wavelength so it "scatters" the least and bounces off the Earth and makes it back to the Moon. Try taking some pictures of the eclipse using 400 speed film or better. You can get some GREAT shots! All about eclipses.

January 24 - Neptune is in conjunction with the sun and won't be visible for a while since its lost in the glare of the sun.

January 28 - LAST QUARTER MOON @ 2:57 a.m. EST. This is another good night for observing since the Moon won't be rising until 3:00 a.m.

January 31 - At 8:21 p.m. EST the Moon will reach apogee at a distance of 405595.1 km (252025.8 miles)

Glossary

APOGEE - The Moon is at its furthest point to the Earth in its current orbit around the Earth.

GREATEST EASTERN ELONGATION - When a planet is at its furthest point east of the sun. In other words it will set after the sun.

GREATEST WESTERN ELONGATION - When a planet is at its furthest point west of the sun. In other words it will rise before the sun.

OCCULT - This is when a celestial body (Moon or planet) passes in front of another celestial object (planet or star) and covers it temporarily.

OPPOSITION - This is when an outer planet is in-line with the Earth on the same side of the sun.

PERIGEE - The Moon is at its closest point to the Earth in its current orbit around the Earth.

PERIHELION - When a planets reaches its closest point to the sun in its current orbit around the sun.

SUPERIOR CONJUNCTION - This is when an inferior (inner) planet is on the opposite side of the sun from the Earth.

TERMINATOR - This is the point where the sunshine ends and darkness begins on the surface of any celestial body. On Earth it would be considered dusk at this point.

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Find books about skywatching at amazon.com

Bruce Dale (abdale@home.com) is an avid a.m.ateur astronomer known for helping both kids and adults explore the night sky. To explore more, visit Bruce's home page, where you'll find an extremely useful collection of star charts and other information designed for anyone who wants to see what's Out at Night.

Out at Night appears on or before
the first day of each month.

Photographs: NASA/NSSDC; Graphics: explorezone.com