January 2018 Sky Calendar
Jan 8, 2018 0:15:53 GMT
Post by Joe on Jan 8, 2018 0:15:53 GMT
CVAS Monthly Sky Calendar for January 2018
Neptune – Neptune is best viewed in the south-western evening skies as soon as it gets dark out. As it approaches conjunction with the Sun in early March, it is getting lower and lower in the evening, so it best to try to see it when it higher up in the beginning of the month. To start the month it will be up for 5 hours after sunset and around 40° high at the end of civil twilight, by month’s end it is up for around 2 ½ hours after sunset and only 22° high at the end of civil twilight. During the month its size will be around 2.2 arc-seconds with a magnitude of 7.9.
Uranus – Uranus is best viewed also right after it gets dark enough out in the evening. It can be found in the southern skies after sunset for the whole month. It is up for a good part of the night with it being up close to 8 1/2 hours to start the month, by months end it is up for only around 6 hours. During the month, its magnitude will around 5.8 with a diameter of 3.5 arc-seconds.
See is.gd/urnep/ for finder charts for Uranus and Neptune from Sky&Telescope.
Jupiter – Jupiter is best viewed a couple hours before sunrise when it is highest up in the SE/S morning skies this month. To start the month it is up for around 4 hours and being 32° high by sunrise. By month’s end, it will be up for over 5 1/2 hours. During the month the size goes from 33.1 to 35.6 arc-seconds with a magnitude will be from -1.85 to -2.0 for the month.
Mars – Mars as well is best viewed in the morning when it is highest up in the SE/S skies an hour or so before sunrise. It is up for about 4 ½ hours before sunrise. It size goes from 4.8 to 5.5 arc-seconds and its magnitude increases from 1.5 to 1.2 during the month.
Jupiter and Mars will be within 0.2° of each other on the 7th.
Saturn- After just coming out of conjunction with the Sun last month, to start the month it can be found very low on the SE horizon right before sunrise. To start the month it probably will be too close to the Sun to get a look at, but by month’s end it will higher up being 17° high and up for 2 hours by sunrise. The size of Saturn itself will be at 15 arc-seconds with a magnitude of around 0.5 for the month. The rings have an inclined of over 26° this month, nearly the maximum incline.
Mercury – Mercury can be found in the morning skies low on the south-eastern horizon for the month. To start the month it will be 15° high at sunrise and up for 1 ¾ hours before the sun comes up, which is good Mercury. But as it approaches Superior Conjunction with the Sun next, month, it is sinks lower as the month goes on and is only be 4° high and up for only ½ before sunrise at month’s end. During the month it phase will go from 39% to 94%, its magnitude from -0.27 to -0.5, and it’s size from 6.7 to 4.9 arc-seconds.
Saturn and Mercury will be within 0.6° of each other on the morning of the 13th.
Venus – Venus is in Superior Conjunction with the Sun on 9th of this month so it will not really be visible the whole month. At month’s end it will be in the SW evening sky, but only up for around 20 minutes after sunset.
Earth at Perihelion – The Earth is at it’s closest point to the Sun at 12:34am on the 3rd of the month at a distance of 91,401,983 miles (98.3% of it’s average distance).
Total Lunar Eclipse – On the 31st there is a Total Lunar Eclipse, but the event is only partially viewable from our location with the Moon setting at 7:39AM while the Moon is entering the Umbra, the darker part of the Earth’s shadow. The farther west you are, the more of the event you can see. You need to be in the Pacific or eastern Asia to see the whole event. The Moon enters the Penumbral part of the Earth’s shadow at 6:20AM, and then enters the darker Umbra at 6:48AM. Totality is from 7:51AM to 9:08AM.