January 16 Observing Guide

Hi all,

January's guide is below - enjoy.

OBSERVING GUIDE
(Please note all times are UT and are based on the location of Belfast and covers January)

The Sun

At the start of the month, the Sun rises at 08:50 and sets at 16:05. By month's end, it rises at 08:20 and sets at 17:00.

The Planets

Mercury is at inferior conjunction on the 14th and is visible in the evening sky at the start of the month. By month's end it is visible in the morning sky. At the start of the month, it sets at 17:35 and is mag -0.3, by month's end it rises at 07:05 and is mag +0.3.

Venus is visible in the morning sky during the month. At the start of the month, it rises at 05:40 and by month's end at 06:45. It fades from mag -3.9 to mag -3.8 during the month. On the morning of the 9th, it is at conjunction with Saturn, with the gap between the two only 5 arcminutes.

Mars is visible in the morning sky and moves from Virgo into Libra this month. At the start of the month, it rises at 02:25 and by month's end at 02:05. It brightens from mag +1.3 to mag +0.9 during the month.

Jupiter is visible in the evening sky in Leo this month. At the start of the month, it rises at 22:55 and by month's end at 20:50. It brightens from mag -2.0 to mag -2.2 during the month.

Saturn is visible in the morning sky and is in Ophiuchus this month. At the start of the month, it rises at 06:30 and by month's end at 04:45. It brightens from mag +1.4 to mag +1.3 during the month. It is at conjunction with Venus on the 9th (see above).

Uranus is at Eastern Quadrature on the 7th and is visible in Pisces this month. At the start of the month, it sets at 01:15 and by month's end at 23:15. It fades from mag +5.8 to mag +5.9 and lies to the S of Epsilon (ε) Piscium, mag +4.3 during the month.

Neptune is visible in Aquarius this month. At the start of the month, it sets at 21:20 and by month's end at 19:30. It fades from mag +7.9 to mag +8.0 and lies between Lambda (λ) Aquarii, mag +3.7 and Sigma (σ) Aquarii, mag +4.8.

The Moon

The last quarter moon is on the 2nd with the new moon on the 10th. The first quarter moon is on the 16th with the full moon on the 24th.

On the morning of the 3rd, the waning crescent moon lies 7° to the NE of Spica (Alpha (α) Virginis, mag +1.0) and to the NW of Mars at around 04:00. On the following morning, the waning crescent moon lies 5° to the SE of Mars at around 04:00.

On the morning of the 7th, the waning crescent moon lies 5° to the E of Venus and 3° to the NE of Saturn at around 07:00.

On the evening of the 13th, the waxing crescent moon lies 6° to the N of Neptune at around 19:00.

On the evening of the 16th, the waxing crescent moon lies 8° to the E of Uranus at around 19:00.

On the morning of the 20th, the waxing gibbous moon occults Aldebaran (Alpha (α) Tauri, mag +0.9). The star disappears at around 03:15 and reappears at around 04:00.

On the evening of the 25th, the waning gibbous moon lies 5° to the NW of Regulus (Alpha (α) Leonis, mag +1.4) at around 20:00.

On the evening of the 27th, the waning gibbous moon lies 2° to the SW of Jupiter at around 22:00.

On the morning of the 31st, the waning gibbous moon lies 8° to the E of Spica (Alpha (α) Virginis, mag +1.0) at around 01:00.

Meteors

The best time to observe meteor showers is when the moon is below the horizon; otherwise its bright glare limits the number you will see especially the fainter ones. Below is a guide to this month's showers.

The Quadrantids peak on the 4th at 08:00 with a ZHR of 120. However the low position of the radiant makes a much lower ZHR more realistic. The radiant is roughly where the constellations Boötes, Draco and Hercules meet low in the North and is circumpolar. The waning crescent moon rises in Virgo at 02:40 on the morning of the 4th. The shower is named after a now defunct constellation Quadrans Mualis which lay between Boötes and Draco.

There are additional minor showers this month, details of which can be found at meteorshowersonline.com/calendar.html or imo.net/files/data/calendar/cal2016.pdf

Asteroids

There are no bright asteroids at opposition this month.

Finder charts and further information about other fainter asteroids can be found at; britastro.org/computing/charts_asteroid.html in the source list below.

Comets

Comet C/2013 US10 Catalina comes into the evening sky this month. Current estimates have it at mag +6 and it will fade during January. At the start of the month, it may be seen in the morning sky in Bootes at around 02:00. It heads North during the month and is circumpolar by mid-month. After Bootes, it is in Canes Venatci, then Ursa Major by mid-month. It then heads into Draco and is in Ursa Minor by month's end. At the start of the month, it lies S of Arcturus (Alpha (α) Bootis, mag -0.1). On the morning of the 6th, it lies to the E of M3, by the mornings of the 14th and 15th, it lies to the E of M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy and Alkaid (Eta (η) Ursae Majoris, mag +1.9). On the night of the 16th, it lies to the W of M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy.

Comet C/2014 S2 (PanSTARRS) is currently mag +9 and is expected to remain at similar brightness for the next few months. It will be visible in Draco this month and will be circumpolar.

Comet C/2013 X1 (PanSTARRS) is currently mag +9 and brightening. It is expected to peak at mag +6 in the summer. During the month, it will be visible in the square of Pegasus. At the start of the month, it sets at 01:00 and at 23:00 by mid-month onwards.

Finder charts and further information about the above and other fainter comets can be found atwww.aerith.net , cometchasing.skyhound.com, www.ast.cam.ac.uk/%7Ejds/ , in-the-sky.org, www.nightskyhunter.com/index.html in the source list below. Any of the above estimates are based on current information at the time of writing the guide and can be wrong - “Comets are like cats; they have tails, and they do precisely what they want”, David H Levy.

Deep Sky

On the deep sky front this month, galaxies M81 and M82 can be observed in Ursa Major. In Andromeda, M31 - The Andromeda galaxy can be observed along with its satellite galaxies M32 and M110. In Perseus, there is the open cluster M34 and the excellent Double Cluster - NGC 869 and 884. In Triangulum, there is the galaxy M33. In Auriga there are three open clusters M36, M37 and M38 and also M35 in Gemini. Taurus has the excellent Pleiades - M45, the Hyades and also M1 - The Crab Nebula. Orion returns to our skies with M42 - The Great Orion Nebula and also Cancer with M44 - The Beehive Cluster.

General Notes

Always keep an eye out for Aurorae. Other interesting naked eye phenomena to look out for include the Zodiacal Light and the Gegenschein.

Both are caused by sunlight reflecting off dust particles which are present in the solar system. The Zodiacal Light can be seen in the West after evening twilight has disappeared or in the East before the morning twilight. The best time of year to see the phenomenon is late-Feb to early-April in the evening sky and September/October in the morning sky - it's then that the ecliptic, along which the cone of the zodiacal light lies, is steepest in our skies. The Gegenschein can be seen in the area of the sky opposite the sun. To view either, you must get yourself to a very dark site to cut out the light pollution. When trying to observe either of these phenomena, it is best to do so when the moon is below the horizon. A new appendix has been added explaining some of the more technical terms used in the guide.

Clear Skies

Neill McKeown

Appendix

The ZHR or Zenithal Hourly Rate is the number of meteors an observer would see in one hour under a clear, dark sky with a limiting apparent magnitude of 6.5 and if the radiant of the shower were in the zenith. The rate that can effectively be seen is nearly always lower and decreases as the radiant is closer to the horizon. The Zenith is the overhead point in the sky.

The radiant is the point in the sky, from which (to a planetary observer) meteors appear to originate, i.e. the Perseids, for example, are meteors which appear to come from a point within the constellation of Perseus. When the radiant is quoted as "circumpolar", it is never below the horizon and visible all night, otherwise the times quoted are when the constellation in which the radiant lies rises above the horizon in the East.

A fireball is defined by the International Astronomical Union as a meteor brighter than any of the planets, i.e. magnitude -4 or brighter. The International Meteor Organisation alternatively defines it as a meteor which would have a magnitude of -3 or brighter at the zenith.

The ° symbol in the guide is that for degrees. A degree is two full moon widths to give an idea for judging any distances quoted in the guide. There are 60 arcminutes in a degree.

An asterism is a collection of stars seen in Earth's sky which form simple patterns which are easy to identify, i.e. the Big Dipper. They can be formed from stars within the same constellation or by stars from more than one constellation. Like the constellations, they are a line of sight phenomenon and the stars whilst visible in the same general direction, are not physically related and are often at significantly different distances from Earth.

Mag is short for magnitude which is the measure of an object's brightness. The smaller the number, the brighter the object. The brightest object in the sky is the Sun at mag -26, the full moon is mag -12 and Venus the brightest planet is mag -4. The brightest stars are mag -1. If there is a 1 mag difference between two objects - there is a difference in brightness of a factor of 2.5 between the two objects. For example the full moon is eight magnitudes brighter than Venus on average which means it is 1,526 times brighter than Venus. Objects down to mag +6 can be seen with the naked eye under very dark skies.

Local time is always quoted in the guide and this means for November - February - universal time (UT)/GMT is used and for April to September - daylight savings time (DST, = GMT+1). For the months of March and October when the clocks go forward/back respectively, both times will be used and attention should be paid to any times at the end of these months for that change.

Deep Sky Objects such as galaxies, nebulae and star clusters are classified in catalogues such as the Messier catalogue for objects like M44 - M for Messier. Another example of a catalogue would the New General catalogue whose objects have the prefix NGC. There are links for websites to both catalogues in the section above.

Perihelion is the point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid or comet where it is at the nearest point in its orbit to the sun. It is the opposite of Aphelion, which is when the object is at the farthest point in its orbit from the sun. For the earth, the comparative terms used are perigee and apogee and for the moon, pericynthion and apocynthion are sometimes used.

The Planets

From Earth - Mercury and Venus are the inner planets in the solar system and Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are the outer planets. Below is a short guide as to how both the inner and outer planets move around the sun. The above pictorial guide should hopefully help in this.

The Inner Planets

These are best seen when at Greatest Eastern/Western elongation and are not visible when at either Inferior/Superior conjunction. Greatest Eastern elongation is when the inner planet is at its furthest point east from the sun as seen from Earth and visible in the evening sky in the West after sunset, Western elongation is when it's at its furthest point west from the sun as seen from Earth and visible in the morning sky in the East before sunrise. Inferior conjunction occurs when the inner planet is between the Sun and the Earth. Superior conjunction occurs when the inner planet is on the other side of the Sun as seen from Earth.

From our Northerly latitudes, the ecliptic, along which the planets move, lies at a very shallow angle to the horizon after sunset in the autumn and before sunrise in the spring. This means that any of the planets will be difficult to see when fairly close to the Sun in the evening sky in the autumn or in the morning sky in the spring. In particular, Mercury is more or less invisible from here when at Eastern elongation in the autumn or at Western elongation in the spring, because it lies so close to the horizon and is never above the horizon except in daylight or bright twilight.

The normal cycle for an inner planet is Superior Conjunction - Greatest Eastern Elongation - Inferior Conjunction - Greatest Western Elongation - Superior Conjunction. After superior conjunction, the planet moves away from the Sun as seen from Earth and becomes visible in the evening sky after a period of time. It then moves past the point of Greatest Eastern Elongation and moves back towards the Sun as seen from Earth until a point when it is not visible and at Inferior Conjunction. After this the planet appears in the morning sky for a time, before again slipping into the Sun's glare as seen from Earth. The duration of this cycle will depend on the planet's closeness to the Sun, i.e. Mercury completes the above cycle in around 4 months.

The Outer Planets

These are best seen when at opposition and are not visible when at conjunction. Opposition occurs when the earth is between the sun and the outer planet. It is the best time to observe them because the planet is visible all through the night and it is due South and at its highest at about midnight. The planet is also at its closest point in its orbit to Earth - making it appear brighter. Conjunction occurs when the outer planet is on the other side of the Sun as seen from Earth.

If the planet is at or near it furthest point South along the ecliptic, then it won't get very high in the sky even at opposition - just as the Sun never gets high in the sky in midwinter. This happens when opposition occurs near midsummer when the planet is opposite the Sun in the sky and in midsummer the Sun is high, so the planet will be low. The opposite of course applies in winter.

The normal cycle for an outer planet is Conjunction - Western Quadrature - Opposition - Eastern Quadrature - Conjunction. After conjunction, the planet moves away from the Sun as seen from Earth and becomes visible again. The planet from this point on rises earlier and earlier in the morning sky and eventually becomes visible in the evening sky. At Western Quadrature it is at its highest at sunrise and by opposition it is in the same position by midnight. By Eastern Quadrature, it is past its best and is at its highest at sunset, meaning it is rising in daytime and setting earlier and earlier until a point when it sets too close to the Sun as seen from Earth and is no longer visible. The duration of this cycle will depend on the planet's closeness to the Sun, i.e. Jupiter completes the above cycle in around 13-14 months.

Information Sources Used and Links

www.skyviewcafe.com ; Sky at Night Magazine Observing Guide and CD; www.aerith.net;cometchasing.skyhound.com ; www.ast.cam.ac.uk/%7Ejds/ ; kometen.fg-vds.de/fgk_hpe.htm ; www.rasnz.org.nz ; Stardust Magazine; britastro.org/computing/charts_asteroid.html ; in-the-sky.org ; www.nightskyhunter.com/index.html ; www.eag...meris/ephemeris.html; eco.mtk.nao.ac.jp/cgi-bin/koyomi/cande/phenomena_en.cgi;
Philip's Stargazing 2016; Patrick Moore's 2016 Yearbook of Astronomy; www.heavens-above.com;www.spaceweather.com ;meteorshowersonline.com/calendar.html ; www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/;http://ww...calendar/cal2016.pdf - International Meteor Organisation; messier.seds.org/ - The Messier Catalogue website; www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/ngc.html - NGC Catalogue website; www.irishastronomy.org - Irish Federation of Astronomy Societies Website; irishastro.org.uk/- Irish Astronomical Association website; www.eaas.co.uk - Northern Ireland Amateur Astronomy Society;

Excellent work, as always Neill, many thanks.

Paul

Thanks for the January Observation guide. Also look forward to using it
thanks
Stephen

Thank you, Neill. It is good to get this Observing Guide early.

I am very interested in observing the Venus -Saturn conjunction on January 9. It is a Saturday morning.
Let us start a separate thread for that one.

Clear skies to all in 2016!

Aubrey.