Have you managed to catch a glimpse of Venus in the western sky as the sun sinks below the horizon. Best chance is for the hour after twilight before Earth has rotated far enough around its axis that Venus disappears beneath the western horizon. But it is worth getting out there and looking. The sunset colors of the sky are such an amazing palette of violet through rose, it is well worth just walking out and looking up. During winter when Venus is in the sky it is lower than other seasons and this makes it harder to find since there are always trees or buildings obstructing lower stars and planets.
On the 25th Jupiter will be showing off just above the moon at nightfall. When you have an opportunity to see Jupiter through a telescope or decent binoculars you will also enjoy the view of the four Galilean moons that orbit around their planet and which changed the scientific community’s understanding of the solar system. If this intrigues you, consider reading Dava Sobel’s book, Galileo’s Daughter or a biography of the man himself.
All week the moon will be south of Saturn and Venus on the 23rd, on the 25th south of Neptune and Jupiter. The first quarter moon will occur on the 28th. And something to look forward to on January 30 is an occultation of Mars by our moon. Because the orbital path of both objects are close, we will be able to observe the brief event from Florida, through Texas, into Southern California. The show will begin for us about 11:18 p.m. It will only be hidden for a brief minute so be ready ahead of time. Will you be up and outside? Keep your fingers crossed for clear skies-because you know what usually happens for a big event-clouds or rain. Ah, well; it could be worse.
Constellations and asterisms to locate in the north are the Ursa Major/Big Dipper in the northeast. High overhead near Mars, locate Auriga the Charioteer. In this region look for the constellation Taurus, the Pleiades star cluster and then Gemini emerging from the east-northeastern horizon. In the northwest quadrant the W of the Queen of Ethiopia, Cassiopeia and beneath that is King Cepheus which resembles one of those Star Wars AT-AT Walkers.
In the west the Great Square of Pegasus, with Princess Andromeda reaching upwards towards Mars and Auriga are in their usual positions. The various colors of stars are fairly easy to discern on a clear dark winter night. After looking at the angular science drawings of constellations it does seem that Andromeda and Pegasus together resemble another Star Wars weapon.
Auriga has yellow, red, blue, and white stars. It also harbors two Messier Objects, M 36, 38, and 37. You might want to use your favorite search engine to locate images of these beautiful features. You also might want to read about how they were discovered in a book about Charles Messier, a French astronomer in the 18th century who made careful observations of what he found while searching for comets.
Finishing with comets, the San Benito library is hosting an event related to a NASA comet mission, Stardust, on Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. It will start on time and end at 6 p.m. Check with the library for more information.
Until next week, KLU and DO let some stars get in your eyes.
