Earth--Day and Night Regions

Earth--Day and Night Regions

Planetary Positions

Friday, December 30, 2011

The Night Sky This Month (January 2012)

From nightskyinfo.com:

The Night Sky This Month (January 2012)




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Key Stars



Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, glitters in the south

this month. Red Betelgeuse is to its upper right, while white Procyon

stands above and to its left. Capella appears directly overhead this

month at 10 P.M. local time from mid-northern latitudes. Observers

below latitude 35 degrees north will find Canopus due south around 10

P.M. local time, just beneath Sirius.



The Planets



Mercury



Innermost Mercury shines at magnitude -0.4 and can be spotted 10

degrees above the southeastern horizon a half-hour before sunrise.

Your best chance to see the planet is in early January, as Mercury

sinks toward the horizon with each passing morning and will disappear

by the middle of the month. Through a telescope, Mercury shows a

6"-diameter disk that is 80-percent illuminated.



Venus



Venus is often considered the Evening Star or the Morning Star,

depending on which time of day it is up and dominating the twilight.

For example, until late May 2012, Venus will appear as a brilliant

yellow star in the evening sky, right after sunset. Located 25

degrees above the southwestern horizon half an hour after sundown, it

remains on view until after 8 P.M. local time.



Mars



Mars pokes above the eastern horizon around 10 P.M. local time and is

well up in the south before dawn. The planet is on its way to

opposition next March, when it will be at its closest approach to

Earth and will reach a width of 14". Right now, the disk is less than

10"-wide, too small to show features in most instruments.



Jupiter



Jupiter reached opposition to the Sun in late October, 2011, when it

was closest to Earth and at its largest and brightest. Although

Jupiter is now slowly receding from our home planet, it remains

visible well after midnight and looks stunning through a telescope.

The gas giant shines at magnitude -2.6 and lies in a star-barren

region near the border between Aries and Cetus.



Saturn



Throughout January, Saturn is 40 degrees high in the south as dawn

begins, and gets a little higher every morning. The ringed planet

resides among the background stars of Virgo the Maiden and remains

within 5 degrees of the blue-white star Spica all month.



Uranus



Uranus lies in the same binocular field of view as Lambda Piscium,

the star that forms the southeast corner of the "Circlet" in Pisces,

and is itself an easy binocular target. The planet glows at magnitude

+5.9 and looks just like a star of that brightness. A telescope easily

reveals its 3.4"-diameter disk, which has a distinct blue-green color.



Neptune



Seek out Neptune in western Aquarius, 1.5 degrees north of the

4th-magnitude star Iota Aquarii. The distant world lies 2.8 billion

miles from Earth and glows dimly at magnitude +7.9. A 4-inch diameter

telescope is probably the minimum required to see the planet and

resolve its disk, only 2.4" across.



Pluto



The dwarf planet is barely emerging from the glow of dawn, so it will

be obscured for many observers. It will not be high enough above the

horizon for telescopic viewing until about mid-February.



Bright Asteroids



4 Vesta



The best time to observe Vesta is in the early evening, when Aquarius

the Water Bearer - the constellation through which the asteroid tracks

- is highest above the southwestern horizon. Delta Aquarii serves as a

good guidepost for following the slow nightly motion of 8th-magnitude

Vesta, but it may take a few nights of telescopic observing before

you notice the asteroid's movement.



15 Eunomia



Asteroid 15 Eunomia provides an opportunity to test your observing

skills - spotting it requires a lot of patience and a dark-sky

observing site, far from city lights. The asteroid shines at

magnitude +9 and can be found in Taurus, close to the Pleiades. The

best time to search for it is in the evening, when Taurus is highest

above the horizon.



Bright Comets



C/2009 P1 Garradd



Comet Garradd can be found among the background stars of the

constellation Hercules, a few degrees east of the globular cluster

M13, and according to recent reports, it should glow at 7th

magnitude. The key to finding C/2009 P1 Garradd is to start about one

hour before sunrise from a site that has an unobstructed view of the

eastern horizon.



P/2006 T1 Levy



Comet P/2006 T1 Levy was discovered in 2006 and takes slightly longer

than five years to orbit the Sun on a track that brings it from

Earth's neighborhood out to Jupiter's. The comet is expected to reach

about 7th-magnitude sometime around mid-January and moves quickly

across the evening sky. It starts the month in Pegasus and traverses

both Pisces and Cetus before winding up in Eridanus.



Meteor Showers



The Quadrantids



The Quadrantids, a major annual meteor shower, are visible from

December 28 through January 12. The peak of activity is much sharper

than that of most showers, lasting only a few hours; this year the

peak should arrive around 7:00 UT (2:00 A.M. EST) on Wednesday

morning, January 4th. At best over one hundred Quadrantids an hour

can be seen, although the meteors of this shower are not as bright as

other great displays such as the Perseids and Geminids.



The Coma Berenicids



Coma Berenicid meteors come from a radiant very easy to locate, near

the large naked eye star cluster designated Melotte 111. In early

January, the radiant rises about 11 P.M. local time and is nearly

overhead at predawn. This weak shower has no definite peak and lasts

approximately from December 12 to January 23. Although activity is

low (with an average fall rate of three meteors per hour), this

shower still warrants study.



Sky Events



January 1 - First Quarter Moon at 1:15 A.M. EST.



January 2 - The Moon is at apogee, the point in its orbit when it is

farthest from Earth.



January 4 - The Quadrantid meteor shower is at peak activity. The

Earth is at perihelion, its annual closest approach to the Sun.



January 5 - The Moon is 3.1 degrees south of the Pleiades star

cluster at 4:17 A.M. EST.



January 9 - Full Moon at 2:30 A.M. EST.



January 16 - The Moon is 2 degrees south of Spica (Alpha Virginis) at

2:21 A.M. EST. Last Quarter Moon at 4:08 A.M. EST.



January 17 - The Moon is at perigee, the point in its orbit when it

is nearest to Earth.



January 23 - New Moon at 2:39 A.M. EST.



January 30 - The Moon is at apogee, the point in its orbit when it is

farthest from Earth. First Quarter Moon at 11:10 P.M. EST.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

The Night Sky This Month--December

The Night Sky This Month (December 2011)




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Key Stars



For observers at mid-northern latitudes, the Pleiades star cluster is

due south around 10 P.M. local time. Above it is Perseus, flanked by

Auriga and Cassiopeia. Orion can be found above the southeastern

horizon, and between it and the celestial pole glitters Capella. High

in the east are Castor and Pollux, the brightest stars of Gemini, and

below them Leo the Lion is rising. In the southwest is the Square of

Pegasus and Vega shines low above the northwestern horizon.



The Planets



Mercury



Mercury moves to December's morning sky, but will be hard to spot for

the first half of the month. By the end of the month, however, it will

rise almost ninety minutes before the Sun and will be easily

identified sitting 10 degrees to the lower left of the 1st-magnitude

star Antares (Alpha Scorpii).



Venus



Until late May 2012, Venus will appear as a brilliant yellow star in

the evening sky, right after sunset. This month the planet is located

15 degrees above the southwestern horizon half an hour after sundown,

and it remains on view until after 6 P.M. local time.



Mars



Mars pokes above the eastern horizon around midnight local time and

is well up in the south before dawn. The planet is on its way to

opposition next March, when it will be at its closest approach to

Earth and will reach a width of 14". Right now, the disk is less than

9"-wide, too small to show features in most instruments.



Jupiter



Jupiter reached opposition to the Sun in late October, when it was

closest to Earth and at its largest and brightest. Although Jupiter

is now slowly receding from our home planet, it remains visible well

after midnight and looks stunning through a telescope. The gas giant

shines at magnitude -2.7 and lies in a star-barren region near the

border between Aries and Pisces.



Saturn



Throughout December, Saturn is low in the southeast as dawn begins,

but gets a little higher every morning. The ringed planet resides

among the background stars of Virgo the Maiden and remains within 5

degrees of the blue-white star Spica all month. Through a telescope,

Saturn sports an angular size of 16", while the rings span 37".



Uranus



Uranus lies in the same binocular field of view as Lambda Piscium,

the star that forms the southeast corner of the "Circlet" in Pisces,

and is itself an easy binocular target. The planet glows at magnitude

+5.8 and looks just like a star of that brightness. A telescope easily

reveals its 3.4"-diameter disk, which has a distinct blue-green color.



Neptune



Seek out Neptune in western Aquarius, 1.5 degrees northwest of the

4th-magnitude star Iota Aquarii. The distant world lies 2.8 billion

miles from Earth and glows dimly at magnitude +7.9. A 4-inch diameter

telescope is probably the minimum required to see the planet and

resolve its disk, only 2.4" across.



Pluto



The dwarf planet is too deep in the evening twilight and cannot be

observed until mid-February 2012, when it will reappear in the

morning sky.



Bright Asteroids



Vesta



8th-magnitude Vesta is an easy find in small telescopes. Look for it

just after dusk, when Aquarius the Water-Bearer - the constellation

through which the asteroid tracks - is highest above the southern

horizon.



Amphitrite



This space rock wends its way through the rather faint constellation

Aries the Ram, which is nearly overhead for observers at mid-northern

latitudes around 8 P.M. local time. The asteroid glows at magnitude

+9.6 - outside the range of binoculars from a suburban backyard, but

well within the reach of a 3-inch scope.



Bright Comets



C/2009 P1 Garradd



Comet Garradd can be found among the background stars of the

constellation Hercules, a few degrees east of Delta Herculis, and

according to recent reports, it should glow at 7th magnitude. This

"dirty ice ball" appears as a bright, round fuzz ball roughly 10'

across, with little hint of a tail. The key to finding C/2009 P1

Garradd is to start half an hour after sunset from a site that has an

unobstructed view of the western horizon.



C/2010 G2 Hill



This comet was discovered on April 10, 2010, in the course of the

Catalina Sky Survey, and astronomers expect it to glow around 10th

magnitude throughout December. Search for it around 10 P.M. local

time, when it lies high in the south within the borders of the

constellation Taurus.



Meteor Showers



The Geminids are active from December 7 to 17th and peak very quickly

on the night of December 13 - 14. Most activity occurs after midnight

on the 14th, when as many as one hundred slow, graceful Geminids

might be seen per hour under ideal conditions. This year, however,

the Moon rises at mid-evening and shines all the way until daybreak,

so bright moonlight will wash out most meteors.



The Ursid shower is active from December 17 to December 26, and peaks

on the morning of December 23. The Moon is New on the 24th - which

means no moonlight, dark skies and perfect observing conditions! The

radiant lies near the bright star Kochab (Beta Ursae Minoris), which

appears below the Pole Star in the evening and above it before dawn.

The radiant is circumpolar from most of the Northern Hemisphere, so

viewing can last all night.



Sky Events



December 1 - Venus is at greatest eastern elongation, 27.3 degrees

east of the Sun in the evening sky.



December 2 - First Quarter Moon at 4:52 A.M. EST.



December 4 - Mercury is in inferior conjunction with the Sun.



December 5 - The Moon is at apogee, the point in its orbit when it is

farthest from Earth.



December 8 - The Moon is 3.1 degrees south of the Pleiades at 8:26

P.M. EST.



December 10 - Full Moon at 9:37 A.M. EST. A total lunar eclipse is

visible from western North America and across the Pacific Ocean to

Australia and Asia.



December 14 - The Geminid meteor shower is at peak activity.



December 17 - Last Quarter Moon at 7:48 P.M. EST.



December 21 - The Moon is at perigee, the point in its orbit when it

is nearest to Earth.



December 22 - The winter solstice occurs at 12:30 A.M. EST. Mercury

is at greatest western elongation, 21.8 degrees west of the Sun in

the morning sky.



December 23 - The Ursid meteor shower is at peak activity.



December 24 - Mercury is 6.6 degrees north of Antares (Alpha Scorpii)

at 5:36 A.M. EST. New Moon at 1:06 P.M. EST.



December 27 - The Moon is 6.7 degrees north of Venus at 5:52 A.M.

EST.



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