The Sky At Night
Happy New Year everybody. Here is a brief description of what you should be able to see in the sky during January: Jupiter will dominate the night sky as it is at its closest to us this month. It will be visible all night long within Gemini. By just using binoculars you should be able to make out Jupiter’s four largest moons. Saturn will be on show in the early evening south-western sky during the first half of the month. It will be on the borders of Pisces and Aquarius and set around 22:00. Neptune will be within Pisces just above Saturn. It will also set at 22:00 but you will need binoculars or a small telescope to see it. Uranus will be an evening planet within Taurus just below the Pleiades and will sink below the horizon at 04:00. You should be able to spot it with binoculars. Mercury , Venus, and Mars will be too close to the Sun to be properly visible during January. The Moon will have visits from: Jupiter on 3rd at 22:01, Pollux on 4th at 03:28, Regulus on 6th at 16:20, Spica on 12th at 23:50, Antares on 14th at 19:28, Saturn on 23rd at 12:31, Pleiades on 27th at 21:07, Jupiter again on 31st at 02:31 and Pollux on 31st at 13:45. The Full Moon is on the 3rd and the New Moon is on 18th. The peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower is on 3rd/4th which is the same date as the New Moon so it will be difficult to spot them this year. Most meteor showers are caused by Earth moving through the debris left by comets but it is not really known what the parent comet for this shower is. Remember that you may catch sight of meteors a few days either side of the peak. Comet 24P/Schaumasse will be at its closest to us on 4th and will be buzzing between the constellations of Virgo and Bootes during the month. Depending on when you look out, in the northern sky you should be able to see the following constellations: Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Bootes, Pegasus, Cygnus and Hercules. To the south you should see Aries, Hydra, Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, Leo, and Orion. Perseus will be almost directly overhead. Pisces will be over to the west with Virgo to the east.
Carry on stargazing.
The Stargazer
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