Starting the New Year off Looking Up

Lots of us make New Year's resolutions about improving something, we don't always keep them but here's simple one that you can get rewards from: make a resolution to look up at the night sky at least one night a week! The stars and planets have a lot to offer and there's always something exciting to see.

The new year starts off with Venus dazzling viewers at sunset in the western sky. You simply can't miss it! In early January Venus is high in the southwester sky at dusk. The first week Venus is about 18 degrees above the horizon and by the second week, Venus climbs to 25 degrees. The bright planet will continue to climb higher in the sky and by month's end, Venus till be 36 degrees above the horizon.

Saturn dominates the sky all night long and this is your best chance to view it for over thirty years! Just after sunset, Saturn is rising in the east-northeast in the constellation Gemini. On December 31st, Saturn was at opposition, in a straight line with the Earth and Sun, and that is why Saturn is visible all night long. Each day Saturn will rise a little earlier and by month end it will be higher in the east at sunset.

Although Saturn may be in the sky all night long, it is not as bright as the planet that begins January rising around 10:30 pm. Jupiter, at magnitude -2.0 resides in the constellation Leo the lion and clearly outshines all the other stars in that area of the sky. Jupiter moves quickly and by the middle of the month will be rising about 9:30pm and by the end of January around 8:20pm.

In early January, Mercury remains hidden in the glare of the Sun. By the middle of January though, you might be able to spot Mercury very low in the southeastern horizon before sunrise.

High above the southern horizon, Mars has dimmed to zero magnitude but that's still bright enough to be seen from urban areas. Mars is still fairly close to Earth, but don't expect to be seeing NASA's twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity in your telescope! Spirit has successfully landed on Mars and its twin will land later this month on January 24. For more information about the Mars rovers, visit marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html.

Many people mistakenly think that it is cold in the northern hemisphere this time of year because Earth is farther from the Sun. Try asking some coworkers and friends and see what they think. At 2pm EST on January 4, Earth reachest its closest point to the Sun in its orbit, at perihelion. Northern hemisphere winter is caused by the Earth tilting away from the Sun and therefore we receive less sunlight. Our most distant point from the sun will be at midnight Universal Time (UT) on July 4.

For winter sky charts, visit http://starryskies.com/The_sky/constellations/winter.html. There are a lot of bright constellations to view including Orion, Canis Major and Gemini.

Constellations

The Solar System