Wednesday, January 5
The Moon passes 4° south of Jupiter at 7 P.M. EST tonight. Now in the constellation Aquarius, our satellite is some 14 percent illuminated and features on its eastern limb (west on the sky) are visible. Most prominent is the circular Mare Crisium (Sea of Crises). Just above it is the large crater Cleomedes, while farther south on the lunar face is Langrenus, which sits at the eastern edge of Mare Fecunditatis (Sea of Fertility).
If you have a lunar map handy, you’ll notice that Mare Crisium appears farther south than on your reference. That’s because of libration, which causes the Moon to appear to “nod” up and down from month to month.
Sunrise: 7:22 A.M.
Sunset: 4:49 P.M.
Moonrise: 10:00 A.M.
Moonset: 8:22 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (12%)
Thursday January 6
Night owls can track down a stunning sight in Gemini the Twins tonight. Located less than 2.5° south-southeast of magnitude 3.5 Wasat (Delta [δ] Geminorum) is NGC 2932, also called the Lion Nebula. This object is a planetary nebula created by a dying Sun-like star. As these stars age, they puff off their outer layers, which then light up as photons from the stellar remnant still glowing in the middle hit them.
The Lion Nebula is roughly magnitude 9 and spans 15″ on the sky. It’s best seen with a telescope and the larger the aperture, the more detail you’ll see. The white dwarf at the center of the nebula is magnitude 10, making it relatively easy to spot. It’s surrounded by two shells of gas — one smaller, denser, and closer to the star, and a second that’s fainter, larger, and farther away. The inner shell creates the nebula’s namesake lion’s head, while the gas filaments forming the outer shell are its mane.
Sunrise: 7:22 A.M.
Sunset: 4:50 P.M.
Moonrise: 10:31 A.M.
Moonset: 9:33 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (21%)
Friday, January 7
The Moon passes 4° south of Neptune at 5 A.M. EST. Although not visible at the time, the pair can be caught in the evening sky, where they sit 7° apart an hour after sunset. Neptune, which requires binoculars or a small telescope to observe, is just less than 19° east-northeast of Jupiter. The solar system’s outermost planet is currently about 3.3° northeast of 4th-magnitude Phi (ϕ) Aquarii. Over the course of the month, it will slowly inch away from the star, ending January about 4° from this luminary.
Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation from the Sun today at 6 A.M. EST, when it is 19° from our star. It is now shining at magnitude –0.5 and still visible in the evening planetary lineup in the west, even as Venus has disappeared for its inferior conjunction with the Sun tomorrow. At sunset, Mercury is now 14° high in Capricornus, just under 6° west-southwest of Saturn. Keep an eye on this region as it grows darker to see some nearby bright stars pop out against the background: Fomalhaut in Piscis Austrinus, Altair in Aquila, and Diphda in Cetus. Farther above the horizon, about 65° high an hour after sunset, is the Square of Pegasus, drawn from Markab, Algenib, Alpheratz, and Scheat.
Sunrise: 7:22 A.M.
Sunset: 4:51 P.M.
Moonrise: 10:58 A.M.
Moonset: 10:39 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (30%)
The Sky This Week: Enjoy the Quadrantids
Source: Trending Update Article
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