News on what is visable in this months sky as posted by Adrian Zielonka's in his monthly sky notes.
Thank you Adrian and thank you CADAS.
Hi All
Here is the astronomy news for January.
Wishing you all have a very Happy Christmas and A Happy New Year.
From Adrian
Astronomy News
Night Sky 2021 - January
Sunrise |
Sunset |
Mercury Sets |
Venus Rises |
1st –8:14am 10th –8:11am 20th –8:03am 30th – 7:50am |
1st –4:15pm 10th –4:26pm 20th –4:41pm 30th – 4:59pm |
5th –4:51pm 10th –5:18pm 20th –6:12pm 30th – 6:25pm |
1st –6:48am 10th –7:06am 20th –7:19am 30th – 7:24am |
Moon Rise |
Moon Set |
Moon Rise |
Moon Set |
- - - - - - - 1st –6:39pm 2nd –7:56pm 3rd –9:15pm(ENE) 4th –10:34pm 5th –11:54pm (E) 7th –1:14am 8th –2:37am(ESE) 9th –4:01am 10th –5:25am 11th –6:44am 12th –7:52am 13th –8:46am 14th –9:26am 15th –9:56am 16th –10:19am(ESE) 17th –10:37am 18th –10:53am 19th –11:08am (E) |
1st –10:12am 2nd –10:43am 3rd –11:07am(WNW) 4th –11:28am 5th –11:46am 6th –12:04pm (W) 7th –12:23pm 8th –12:44pm(WSW) 9th –1:11pm 10th –1:45pm 11th –2:30pm 12th –3:28pm 13th –4:38pm 14th –5:54pm 15th –7:11pm 16th –8:25pm(WSW) 17th –9:37pm 18th –10:46pm (W) 19th –11:54pm |
20th –11:23am 21st –11:39am 22nd –11:57am(ENE) 23rd –12:20pm 24th –12:48pm 25th –1:24pm 26th –2:12pm 27th –3:12pm 28th –4:22pm 29th –5:40pm 30th –7:00pm(ENE) 31st – 8:21pm - - - - - - - All times in notes are set for Somerton unless stated |
21st –1:02am 22nd –2:09am(WNW) 23rd –3:17am 24th –4:26am 25th –5:32am 26th –6:33am 27th –7:26am 28th –8:09am 29th –8:43am 30th -9:10am(WNW) 31st – 9:33am - - - - - - - Moon Phases Last Quarter – 6th New Moon – 13th First Quarter – 20th Full Moon – 28th |
A useful site: www.heavens-above.com |
A S Zielonka |
At midnight on the 1st the star Epsilon Leonis (2.9 mag) in Leo is 7 degrees to the left of the Moon in the south east... and at 6:05am on the 2nd the stars Rasalas (3.8 mag) and Epsilon Leonis point the way to the moon in the south west.
From the 1st – 10th Comet C/2020 M3 Atlas (9.4 mag – Dec 9th) passes close to the star Capella (0 mag). On the 3rd at 8:00pm they are high in the west, with Comet Atlas is just ½ a degree above Capella.
On the 2nd at 9:00pm the star Eta Leonis (3.4 mag) in Leo is ¾ of a degree above the Moon in the ENE... and at 6:00am on the 3rd with the star Regulus, all three form an equilateral triangle. Eta Leonis is to the right of the Moon.
The Quadrantids meteor shower reaches its peak on the 2nd/3rd though they can be seen from the 1st – 5th.
At midnight on the 3rd the star Chertan (3.3 mag) in Leo is 4 degrees to the left of the Moon and 2½ degrees above... and at 6:00am on the 4th the star Iota Leonis (4 mag) is 2 degrees above left of the Moon.
On the night of the 5th at 1:00am the star Porrima (2.7 mag) in Virgo is 2½ degrees upper right of the Moon.
From the 5th - 20th Comet C/2020 P1 Neowise (11.5 mag – Nov 28th) passes close to the star Unukalhai (2.6 mag) in Serpens. On the 10th at 6:00am Neowise is just ½ a degree below right of Unukalhai. The crescent Moon is directly below them near the horizon in the south east.
At 6:00am on the 7th the star Spica (0.9 mag) in Virgo is 7 degrees to the right of the Moon and 2½ degrees below.
On the 8th at 6:00am the star Zubenelgenubi (2.7 mag) in Libra is 3 degrees below the crescent Moon and ½ a degree to the left.
At 6:30am on the 9th the star Acrab (2.5 mag) in Scorpius is 5½ degrees to the lower left of the crescent Moon. The moon is at perigee (367,387km) at 3:37pm.
From the 9th – 12th Mercury passes close to Jupiter and Saturn. On the 10th at 5:00pm Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury will be low in the south west. Jupiter is 4½ degrees above the horizon at 231 degrees azimuth. Mercury is 2 degrees below Jupiter. Saturn is 2¼ degrees to the lower right of Jupiter and 1¾ degrees slightly upper right of Mercury. On the 11th Mercury is 1½ degrees to the lower left of Jupiter. On the 12th Mercury is 2 degrees to the left of Jupiter.
On the 10th at 6:45am the star Antares (1 mag) in Scorpius is 5 degrees to the lower right of a thin crescent Moon.
At 7:30am on the 11th a very thin crescent Moon maybe seen low in the south east 6½ degrees to the right of Venus. The Moon is 4 degrees above the horizon at 139.5 degrees azimuth and Venus just 2 ½ degrees above the horizon at 133 degrees azimuth.
On the 14th at 5:00pm the crescent Moon is due south west at 225 degrees azimuth with Mercury 4 ½ degrees to its right. Jupiter is 4¼ degrees to the lower right of Mercury, with Saturn 1½ degrees above the horizon at 235.5 degrees azimuth, and just 2¾ degrees lower right of Jupiter.
Pluto is at superior conjunction on the 14th.
At 5:00pm on the 15th the star Delta Capricorni (2.8 mag) in Capricornus is 4 degrees to the right of the Moon.
On the 16th at 5:00pm the star Tau Aquarii (4 mag) in Aquarius is 1 degree to the lower right of the Moon.
At 5:00pm on the 17th Neptune is 5½ degrees to the right of the Moon and 3 degrees above.
From the 17th – 23rd the asteroid 39 Laetitia (10.4 mag) passes close to the star Meissa (3.3 mag) in Orion. During the evenings of the 20th and 21st Laetitia will be ½ a degree from Meissa.
On the 18th at 5:00pm the star Iota Ceti (3.5 mag) in Cetus is 5½ degrees below the Moon and 1¼ degrees to the right.
Mercury is at perihelion on the 19th.
From the 19th – 22nd the asteroid 8 Flora (10.1 mag) passes close to the star Mu Ceti (4.2 mag) in Cetus. On the 20th Flora is ¾ of a degree from Mu Ceti and on the 21st at 8:00pm Flora will be approximately midway between Mu Ceti and the Moon.
At midnight on the 20th Mars is 7 degrees above the Moon and 2 degrees to the right. Uranus is 6¼ degrees above the Moon and just ½ a degree to the right. Uranus is 1½ degrees to the lower left of the Moon.
The moon is at apogee (404,360km) on the 21st at 1:11pm. At 8:30pm Mars is 7 degrees to the right of the Moon with Uranus 1½ degrees below Mars and ¾ of a degree to the left.
From the 21st – 26th Comet C/2020 S3 Erasmus (5.6 mag – Dec 9th) passes close to the star Albali (3.7 mag) in Aquarius. On the 24th at 5:30pm Comet Erasmus will be midway between Albali and 102624 “Hipparcus Cat ID” (4.4 mag) will be low in the WSW and just 5 degrees above the horizon at 252 degrees azimuth.
From the 22nd – 25th Mercury passes close to the star Delta Capricorni (2.8 mag) in Capricornus. On the 24th at 5:30pm Mercury will be 2¾ degrees above right of Delta Capricorni which is 6½ degrees above the horizon at 235 degrees azimuth.
On the 22nd at 8:30pm the star 16369 “Hipparcus ID” (4.1 mag) in Taurus is 3 degrees below the Moon and 1 degree to the left.
At 11:30pm on the 23rd the star Ain (3.5 mag) in Taurus is 1½ degrees to the left of the Moon.
Mercury reaches maximum eastern elongation on the 24th.
Saturn is at superior conjunction on the 24th.
From the 25th – 31st Comet 88P Howell (9.1 mag – Dec 9th) passes close to Neptune. At 6:00pm on the 28th Howell will be 1½ degrees to the lower left of Neptune. Neptune is 2½ degrees to the left of the star Phi Aquarii (4.2 mag) in Aquarius and 1 degree above.
On the 25th at midnight the star Propus (3.3 mag) in Gemini is 1¾ degrees to the left of the Moon and 1 degree below. Mu Geminorum is 3¼ degrees to the left of the Moon.
At midnight on the 26th the star Wasat (3.5 mag) in Gemini is 3½ degrees to the left of the Moon and 1 degree below.
On the 27th at 8:00pm the stars Castor (1.5 mag) and Pollux (1.1 mag) in Gemini point the way to the Moon.
At 6:00pm on the 28th the Beehive star cluster is 2¾ degrees to the right of the Moon.
On the 29th at midnight the star Eta Leonis (3.4 mag) in Leo is 2 degrees to the left of the Moon and ¾ degree below.
Jupiter is at superior conjunction on the 29th.
At 11:30pm on the 30th the star Chertan (3.3 mag) in Leo is 6¼ degrees to the left of the Moon.
On the 31st at 11:30pm the star Denebola (2.1 mag) in Leo is 8 degrees to the upper left of the Moon.
* = Dates and times are subject to change.
News: Solar Orbiter: The science payload is composed of 10 instruments.
10/10) SoloHI – Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager (United States): Images both the quasi-steady flow and transient disturbances in the solar wind over a wide field of view by observing visible sunlight scattered by solar wind electrons. SoloHi provides unique measurements to pinpoint coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
News: The planned launch date (at present) of the James Webb Space Telescope is October 31st.
Facts: On December 12th 1967, NASA launched the Pioneer 8 spacecraft on a mission to study the Sun and interplanetary space. It sent back data for nearly 30years.