Monthly Night Sky information provided by Chris Vaughan (@Astrogeoguy) at Starry Night Education (@StarryNightEdu).
Early risers on Tuesday morning, January 21 can see the pretty, waning crescent moon shining in the southeastern sky just below (or celestial east of) Virgo’s brightest star, Spica. If you view the pair at sunrise, or in westerly time zones, the moon will be farther from the star. Observers in a zone covering the […]
The moon will complete three quarters of its orbit around Earth, measured from the previous new moon, on Tuesday, January 21 at 3:31 p.m. EST or 12:31 p.m. PST, or 20:31 GMT. At the third (or last) quarter phase the moon appears half-illuminated, on its western, sunward side. It will rise around midnight local time, […]
From mid-January to mid-April Mars’ retrograde loop will carry it through the stars of Gemini. On Wednesday, January 22, the bright red planet will pass only 2.4 degrees from Gemini’s bright, white star, Pollux. The planet and the star will be less than two finger widths apart for several days, and binoculars close (orange circle) […]
In the southeastern sky before dawn on Friday morning, January 24, the waning crescent moon will be shining among the medium-bright stars that form the claws of Scorpius, barely missing an occultation of the southernmost star, Pi Scorpii. The moon’s easterly orbital motion (by about its own diameter every hour) will produce an occultation of […]
The bright stars of mighty Orion, the Hunter, shine in the southeastern sky during evening in January. Orion’s sword, which covers an area of 1.5 by 1 degrees (about the end of your thumb held up at arm’s length), descends from Orion’s three-starred belt. The patch of light in the middle of the sword is […]