Some daily events in the changing sky for January 7 – 15.
by Alan M. MacRobert
Friday, January 7
This is the coldest time ofyear on average (for northern latitudes). But look low in theeast-northeast after 9 or 9:30 p.m. and there you'll see Regulus and theSickle of Leo already on the rise — a distant foreshadowing of thecoming of spring.
Thewaxing Moon currently passes well north of Jupiter. (These scenes aredrawn for the middle of North America. European observers: move eachMoon symbol a quarter of the way toward the one for the previous date.For clarity, the Moon is shown three times its actual apparent size.)
The waxing crescent Moon is closing in on Jupiter day by day, as shown in the mid-evening (9 p.m.) view here.
Venus is at greatest eastern elongation, 47° west of the Sun in themorning sky — the bright "Morning Star" in the southeast. Mercury too isat greatest morning elongation (23° west of the Sun) just one daylater. Look for Mercury far to Venus's lower left; don't confuse it withAntares closer below Venus. See the scene under "This Week's PlanetRoundup" below.
Sunday, January 9
The crescent Moon shinesto the right or lower right of Jupiter, as shown here. Jupiter ispositioned nearly on the ecliptic, but the Moon is currently traveling5° north of the ecliptic, which is why it misses Jupiter by such a widemargin.
In a telescope, Jupiter's Great Red Spot crosses the planet's central meridian around 8:34 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
A little later, Jupiter's satellites Callisto and Europa are both infront of Jupiter's face (and thus hard to see, if not invisible) from7:49 to 8:13 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (9:49 to 10:13 p.m. CentralStandard Time).
Monday, January 10
The waxing Moon is now above or upper right of Jupiter.
Tuesday, January 11
A small telescope willshow Jupiter's moon Europa gradually reappearing out of eclipse fromJupiter's shadow around 8:05 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, just east ofthe planet. For a complete listing of all of Jupiter's satellite eventsthis month, good worldwide, see the January Sky & Telescope, page 40.
Wednesday, January 12
First-quarter Moon(exact at 6:31 a.m. EST on this date). Look above the Moon this eveningfor the little constellation Aries.
Thursday, January 13
Aries is now to the right of the Moon.
Friday, January 14
In this coldest time of the year, the Little Dipper hangs straight down from Polaris after dinnertime as if (per Leslie Peltier) from a nail on the cold north wall of the sky.
Jupiter's Great Red Spot crosses the planet's central meridian around 7:44 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Saturday, January 15
The gibbous Moon shines between Aldebaran and the Pleiades, high above Orion in early evening. Look below Orion for Sirius.
