January  2014

 

Moon                                                                                                                             

New                                                    1st 07:47  --  16:34

First Quarter                                     8th 11:20  --  00:33
Full                                                   16th 17:10  --  07:45
Last Quarter                                    24th 00:58  --  10:52

  

Planets

Mercury will not be easy this month till after the 15th, when it'll be a bright mag -1.0/5arcsec disc, setting in bright twilight about 40 mins after the sun. This interval will increase through the rest of the month till on the 31st, the sun will set at 4:45pm and Mercury at 6:25pm. During these days Mercury's phase will have changed from 94% to 53%.

Venus similarly, is an evening object, the Evening Star, mag -4.3/60arcsec, very bright and with a phase of 3.5% on the 1st, it will set about 90 mins after the sun. Plenty of time to photograph that thin crescent. If you wait till the 2nd, you'll have a thin crescent moon just 3.3° away. By the 11th, Venus will be getting too close to the sun for safe observing in the evenings. It now runs round the sun and becomes the Morning Star. On the 12th it can be seen at 7:45am in the east-south-east for half an hour before the sun rises at 8:15 in the south-east. It will be at mag -4.1/63arcsec and show a phase of 0.4%! By the 18th it will be up an hour before the sun at mag -4.3, with a phase of 2.3%. On the 31st it will be up for two hours before the sun and be brighter still at mag -4.6 with a 12% phase. A bright Morning Star indeed.

Mars rises on the first, in Virgo, at 12:30am in a dark sky, a mag 0.8/7arcsec disc. It will be available till twilight lightens the sky at about 6:30am. On the 15th it will be mag 0.6/8arcsec, and rise at midnight, again to be extinguished by dawn twilight. At the end of the month it will be mag 0.3/9arcsec. Getting bigger and brighter. We should be able to see some detail on the disc now. It rises at 11:30pm and again is lost in dawn twilight when it's well past southing.

Jupiter rises in Gemini, in evening twilight at 4:15pm, a -2.7/47arcsec disc. It will be with us all night, southing at 12:30am and finally drowned by dawn twilight at 7am, finally setting an hour and a half later. At the end of the month it will rise at 2pm in daylight and set at 6:30am just as the sky is lightening.

Saturn will rise at 4:15am in dark skies, a mag 0.6/16arcsec disc (excluding the rings), only to be overcome by dawn twilight at 6:45am. On the 31st it rises at 2:30am and is available till about 6:30am, only just past southing. It rises up into the sky only 20° too. Not a good month for Saturn, but all is forgiven when we see the rings.

Uranus rises on the first at 11:45am, but isn't visible till it is almost due south in evening twilight at 5:30pm. Its blue mag 5.9/3arcsec disc will be visible, you'll need a well set up goto telescope to find it, right on the southern border of Pisces. It will set at midnight. At the end of the month it will rise at 9:45am and set at 10:10pm, so will only be available from when evening twilight darkens at about 5:45pm till it sets.

Neptune's tiny disc of mag 7.9/2arcsec rises at the beginning of the month at 10:45am, in daylight and sets at 8:30pm, but it will only be visible from when twilight allows at about 5:30pm. At the end of the month it rises at 8:45am and sets at 6:30pm, very soon after twilight darkens the sky enough to see it. So it's tiny blue disc will hardly be worth the effort to find it as it sets in the darkening sky. Not a good month for Neptune either.

 

Meteor Showers. The only one that peaks this month is the Quadrantids, on the 4th, and a good show it is too, with a rate of up to 120/hour of bright meteors if at the Zenith. The Radiant is at the top of Bootes and is circumpolar, and at sunset it will be due north and the crescent moon will be setting in the west, so shouldn't interfere with observing.

 

Comets ISON is unfortunately no longer available. I photographed the place where it should have been after it had passed round the Sun, but it wasn't there, disappeared in a cloud of dust. Lovejoy is still there a bit fainter and getting more so. It will fade from mag 9 to mag 11 through the month and will be rising in the north-east about 3al and be visible till 6am-ish. C/2012 X1 Linear on the other hand will also be there, within 18° to 10° of Lovejoy, to the right. It will brighten slightly, from mag 12 to 11.6, almost on a level with Lovejoy. Neither will be easy visually, but should be easier with a camera, though you’ll have to know its position exactly. Very long and involved to list their movements here but send me an email at the observatory for more detail.