January 1997

by Steve Stefanik

Just as December 21 marked the day when we reached the winter solstice (when the Earth’s axis is tipped at it’s greatest degree in relation to the ecliptic), January 1 is the day when the Earth reached its closest point to the sun (or perihelion) marking the first day of a new year. Although we are closest to the sun in the "dead of winter" the closer proximity does not translate itself into heat due to the acute angle with which the sun’s rays strike the surface of the planet in the northern hemisphere (the opposite is true in the southern hemisphere). Because the two celestial events don’t coincide, we are already beginning to see the effect of Earth tilting back toward the ecliptic with longer days and shorter nights (by minutes) which transfers into heat (sooner or later!). In any event its winter! If you can’t tell by the temperature or the time the sun sets and rises, just look up some night and you’ll see some of the familiar winter constellations. Pegasus the mythical flying horse (or Great Square) is directly overhead as soon as it gets dark. . Taurus the bull (a huge "V") with the star Aldebaran as its bright red 1st magnitude "eye" is rising in the east. Auriga the pentagram shaped charioteer with its brilliant 1st magnitude yellow star Capella and three spectacular open star clusters is to the north. Orion the hunter stands tall above the southern horizon marked by the three second magnitude stars of his belt and first magnitude stars red supergiant Betelgeuse which is his right shoulder and brilliant blue supergiant Rigel which is his left knee. Following close on his heels to the southeast are the large dog, Canis Major, marked by the brightest star in the sky Sirius, at magnitude -1.4 and Canis Minor, the small dog, which is marked by the bright first magnitude star Procyon. Gemini the bright first magnitude twin stars Castor and Pollux are above and to the northeast.

As the sun goes down the first planet to see is Saturn low in the southwest. Look for it before 9:30 p.m. EST when it sets. If you have difficulty locating it, the moon will be above it on the night of the 13th.

About the time Saturn is setting, Mars is rising in the east. Look for the rusty red +0.5 magnitude planet in the constellation Virgo. The waning gibbous moon will be near the planet on the nights of the 28th & 29th.

The planets Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune are all in conjunction with the sun so they will be lost in its glare until they rise in the east next month.

The remaining planets to be seen are Mercury and Venus rising in the east before dawn. The first to rise is Venus of course because it is further from the sun than Mercury and closest to us. Its not difficult to spot at a blazing -3.9 magnitude. Mercury on the other hand is more difficult to locate because it is the closest to the sun and not nearly as bright at magnitude +0.5. However, you may be able to spot it above and to the left of Venus on the morning of the 12th. The best time however, will be on the mornings of the 23rd & 24th when it will be more than 25 degrees from the sun and rise more than 90 minutes before the sun.