The Sky This Week for January 2 to January 8
By Richard Talcott
Monday, January 2
The waxing crescent Moon stands between Mars and Venus in this evening’s sky. Notice the brightness difference between the two planets. At magnitude 0.9, Mars glows less than 1 percent as bright as Venus.
Tuesday, January 3
The Quadrantid meteor shower reaches its peak this morning. And, with the waxing crescent Moon setting before 10 p.m. local time, observers with clear weather will have ideal conditions. Under a dark sky, viewers can expect to see up to 120 meteors per hour — an average of two per minute. The meteors appear to radiate from a spot in the northern part of the constellation Boötes. This region climbs high in the northeast as dawn approaches, which makes the hours after midnight the best for viewing.
Wednesday, January 4
Earth reaches perihelion, the closest point to the Sun during its year-long orbit, at 9 a.m. EST. The two then lie 91.4 million miles (147.1 million kilometers) apart. It surprises many people to learn that Earth comes closest to the Sun in the dead of winter, but the cold weather in the Northern Hemisphere at this time of year arises because the Sun lies low in the sky.
The Sun is in the news more than once today. Although people in the Northern Hemisphere experienced the shortest day of the year two weeks ago (at the winter solstice December 21), the Sun has continued to rise slightly later with each passing day. That trend stops this morning for those at 40° north latitude. Tomorrow’s sunrise will arrive a second or two earlier than today’s. This turnover point depends on latitude. If you live farther north, the switch occurred a few days ago; closer to the equator, the change won’t happen until later this month.
Thursday, January 5
First Quarter Moon arrives at 2:47 p.m. EST. Our satellite rises in the east around noon local time but doesn’t become prominent until the Sun sets around 5 p.m. By 6 p.m., it appears due south and nearly two-thirds of the way to the zenith. The Moon’s half-lit orb then lies among the background stars of southern Pisces.
Friday, January 6
Jupiter dominates the morning sky in early January. The giant planet rises before 1 a.m. local time and climbs nearly halfway to the zenith in the southern sky by the time twilight begins. Jupiter shines brilliantly at magnitude –2.0 and shows a disk that spans 36″ when viewed through a telescope. A small scope also reveals the planet’s four bright moons, though you may have to hunt for one of them this morning. The shadow of volcanically active Io starts to transit Jupiter at 5:24 a.m. EST, and the moon itself begins to cross the planet’s disk at 6:37 a.m.
Saturday, January 7
The variable star Algol in Perseus appears faintest at 12:30 a.m. EST tomorrow morning, when it shines at magnitude 3.4. If you start watching it immediately after darkness falls, you can see it dim from its peak brightness (magnitude 2.1) to minimum and then rise back to maximum all in a single night. This eclipsing binary star runs through a cycle from minimum to maximum and back every 2.87 days, but the drop from peak brightness and subsequent rise lasts only about 10 hours. Algol appears in the eastern sky after sunset and passes nearly overhead around 8 p.m. local time.
The dwarf planet Pluto is in conjunction with the Sun at 2 a.m. EST. The distant world then lies on the far side of the Sun from our perspective and can’t be seen.
Sunday, January 8
Although Mercury passed between the Sun and Earth in late December, it already has returned to view before dawn. This morning, you can find the inner planet 9° above the southeastern horizon 30 minutes before sunrise. Shining at magnitude 0.2, it should show up through the twilight glow. If you don’t see it right away, binoculars will bring it into view. A telescope reveals Mercury’s 8″-diameter disk, which appears one-third illuminated.
Source
Astronomy Magazine
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