The winter solstice arrived Dec. 22, delivering winter to the northern hemisphere and with it, the shortest days of our calendar year in regard to total hours of daylight.
We are currently in deep winter, also our coldest time of year. It is a time of year that often gives us beautifully clear nights to watch our skies.
Just now, our days have only nine hours and 45 minutes of daylight, but as we move through January, day length actually begins to increase. By the end of January, day length will have increased by a full 45 minutes to 10 hours and 30 minutes. So believe it or not, even if we get lots of snow this month and next, spring is on the way.
I was very pleased with the response to our Christmas program this year. A total of 340 came to see it at our five public nights and during visits from six school groups from around the county. I intend to keep producing shows with the help of Chris Singleton at WKHS-FM in the years to come, even though at this time I do not have a specific theme in mind (other then Christmas, of course). I will think of something. I thank you for your support and loyalty to the shows and to this column over the years.
Our two inner solar system planets, Mercury and Venus, appear near each other during the first half of January, and you can use the brighter of the two, Venus, to guide you to find fainter Mercury. We will look low in the southwest sky after sunset, where Venus will shine brightly at magnitude -3.9. On Jan. 1, Mercury will lie just 3 degrees to Venus's lower right and about 4 degrees above the horizon, 30 minutes after sunset, which is around 4:50 p.m. Mercury will be at magnitude -0.8. By Jan. 10, Mercury's altitude will have climbed to 10 degrees and be exactly to the right side of Venus (about 1 degree apart). For the next four days, Mercury will swing away from Venus (slightly above), peak at its greatest distance from the sun and then start to lose altitude back toward the horizon from Jan. 15 to 30. Then it will disappear from sight as it passes between us and the sun.
One other neat view will be available to us Jan. 21, when the waxing crescent moon may be seen about 6 degrees above Mercury and about the same distance to the right of Venus. Meanwhile as these Mercury and Venus events occur all month, Mars may be seen about 20 degrees above the southwest horizon and about 10 degrees above Venus.
The most spectacular planet for viewing this month, at least if one has a telescope, is Jupiter, which now rises at about 8 p.m., and will rise at around 6 p.m. at the end of the month. Its magnitude will increase from -2.4 to -2.6 through the month. Jupiter will dominate the sky from the time it rises until dawn, rising among the stars of Leo in the east sky. We are moving closer to Jupiter as we orbit the sun this month, so not only does Jupiter brighten, but it appears to grow in size, when viewed through a telescope. And Jupiter is spectacular in a telescope, with its lovely colored cloud belts and zones and its four large moons, which seem to dance around the planet as they orbit it.
Saturn will return to view this month too, rising at about 4:30 a.m. in early January and around 2:30 a.m. in late January. It will appear to move out of Libra and into Scorpius and will lie some 10 degrees above Antares, the brightest star in the Scorpion.
The full moon is early in the month on Jan. 4; last quarter is Jan. 13; new moon is Jan. 20; and first quarter is Jan. 26. A normally decent meteor shower, the Quadrantids, which peaks on the morning of Jan. 3 will be mostly washed out by the full moon this year.
And of final note and interest: Earth reaches perihelion in its orbit around the sun Jan. 4 — our closest approach to our star in our orbit — at 91.4 million miles. We are actually farther from the sun in July!
via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=in&usg=AFQjCNEarr8ITIaiKscPJlzSIX8HnuEm1g&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52778695331661&ei=42GiVIDHEsqqgAeu8IGAAQ&url=http://www.myeasternshoremd.com/news/article_45c1d2fb-b983-546a-b4ad-ccc01530e6bf.html
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