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The One-Minute Astronomer: The Sky This Month, Jan 2013


Guest Ely Ellis

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Guest Ely Ellis

Hi All,


 


Just posting this for information, taken from the One-Minute Astronomer site.


 


http://www.oneminuteastronomer.com/sky-this-month/


 


 


Here’s what to see in the night sky this month…


 


2 January.  The Earth reaches aphelion, its closest approach to the Sun.  Our lovely little oasis lies about 0.983 A.U. from the Sun, which is about 3% closer than at perihelion in July.


 


5 Jan.  Last-quarter Moon, 3:58 UT.


 


10 Jan.  Venus comes within 2 degrees of a slender waning crescent Moon in the southwestern sky about an hour before sunrise.  The brilliant planet will appear to sink towards the Sun for the rest of the month and will swing around to begin its appearance in the evening sky in several weeks.


 


11 Jan.  New Moon, 19:44 UT.


 


12 Jan.  First-magnitude Mars lies next to a very thin waxing crescent Moon about an hour after sunset.  This is a good sight in binoculars, but the planet is not worth inspecting with a telescope—its disk is just 4†across.  On the 13th, a somewhat thicker (but easier to find) crescent Moon lies a little higher than Mars.


 


18 Jan.  First-quarter Moon, 23:45 UT.


 


21 Jan.  As in December, Jupiter comes very close to a waxing gibbous Moon.  The pair is just 1 degree apart just before midnight as seen from the northern hemisphere.  Observers in South America can see the bright planet briefly pass behind the Moon tonight.


Note: Jupiter remains the most accessible planet for observing through the next few months.  It lies among the stars of the Hyades star cluster, a cluster which makes up most of the constellation Taurus.  Jupiter shines at magnitude -2.5, far brighter than any star.


 


A small telescope easily shows the four Galilean moons of Jupiter along with the 43â€-wide disk of Jupiter and the northern and southern equatorial belts.  In a 4-inch or larger telescope, you can see more subtle surface features including fainter belts and zones, the Great Red Spot, and fine detail in the upper atmosphere of the planet.  Good seeing is essential, as it a practiced eye.  Don’t just take a peek and move on.  Stay with Jupiter over the course of an evening, and you’ll be amazed what you can see.


 


27 Jan.  Full Moon, 4:38 UT.


 


31 Jan.  Saturn rises by about 1 a.m. by month’s end.  If you’re an early riser, or if sleeping is not your thing, you can see Saturn in a telescope in the southern sky well before sunrise.  The rings are tilted about 19 degrees from edge-on and, because Saturn reaches its greatest western quadrature at the end of January, the shadows cast by the rings on the surface of the planet are particularly striking.  The planet has crossed the border from Virgo into Libra and lies not far from the star alpha Librae, also known as Zubenelgenubi.


 


 


Cheers


 


Martin


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