Feature Article January 8, 2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeContact Us
NIGHT SKIES! Two Bright Planets are amazingly brilliant!by Leo Enright
Our earliest sunset of the winter was on December 10, but since then the time of sunsets has been getting later by a few seconds each day. The time of sunset changes from 4:33 p.m. locally on New Years Day to 5:10 p.m. on January 31. In the mornings, sunrise times range from 7:47 a.m. on January 4, the date of the latest sunrise of the year, to 7:31 a.m. on January 31, a change of 16 minutes over the whole month.In January, we can truly appreciate the distinctive star patters that rose into prominence in the southern sky over the past month. The huge constellation known as Orion The Hunter marches across the southern sky during the night, attacking Taurus The Bull, and followed, one after the other, by his hunting dogs, Canis Major and Canis Minor. The larger dog has the brilliant star Sirius, brightest star in the whole sky, to mark its eye. The smaller dog, slightly behind and somewhat higher than his bigger companion, has the star Procyon, the sixth brightest star, to mark its location. Orion himself has four very bright stars to mark his shoulders (Betelgeuse and Bellatrix) and his knees (Rigel and Saif) and the distinctive trio of almost equally bright stars to mark his waist. Most of these stars in Orion are almost as bright as the two dog stars. Even with the unaided eye, a glance at Orions sword, which is easily seen below his belt, will show what astronomers call The Orion Nebula, a very distant region of hydrogen gas where new stars are being born over many millions of years. If you are still not familiar with this part of the winter sky, try to examine it carefully on a number of clear January nights to assure yourself of identifying all of the bright stars mentioned.
Of the five bright planets, four of them are very easily seen this month, and the fifth may be seen with some difficulty late in the month. In fact, the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter are about as bright as they ever appear, and Saturn, over the last month and this month, has been brighter than it has appeared in many years. Saturn will be the first one noticed on a clear night, as it rises in the east at the end of twilight above the head of Orion. As the night progresses, it will appear higher and higher, and by morning it may be noticed setting in the west. Jupiter, which is considerably brighter than Saturn, rises somewhat later, and dominates the whole eastern sky in the first half of this Januarys clear winter nights. Its brilliant light makes it unmistakable! However, for the ultimate in planetary brilliance we just have to wait until about 4:00 a.m., when an amazingly bright Venus rises in the east and completely dominates that part of the sky almost until the sun rises. Early risers can use this guiding light to direct them to the planet Mars, which is easily found slightly to the right and up for Venus. A short distance below Mars, the reddish star Antares, brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, should be easy to locate. Remember when observing this star and the planet Mars, so close to each other, that our ancestors named this star after the planet Mars because of its similar brightness and reddish colour. The fifth bright planet, Mercury, may be spotted during the final week of January by careful observers, if they look down and to the left from Venus by about the same distance that Mars is up and to the right from Venus. n several January nights it will be easy to see the moon move past the planets: on the night of January 14 and 15, watch the waxing gibbous moon move past Saturn; on the nights of January 19 and 20, the just past Full Moon glides past Jupiter. In the early morning sky on January 28 the slim Crescent Moon is beside Venus and below Mars, a sight not to be missed on that Tuesday morning (be sure to set the alarm clock for 4:30 a.m.!). The following morning, January 29, about one hour before sunrise, an even thinner crescent moon, that will be slightly lower in the south-southeastern sky, will be a guide to finding Mercury, which will be almost the same distance to the left of the crescent as Venus is above the crescent.
More information about observing the winter constellations is to be found in the The Beginners Observing Guide, currently available at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy. It provides numerous observing tips in clear, understandable language. Good wishes for 2003, and enjoy the beauty of the clear, dark, starry skies of January!
