Skywatch January 2006

by Julene M Packer-Johnson

Skywatch Stargazing Archives

As the sun sets on New Years Day, look for Venus slightly west of the Moon low along the southwestern horizon. Mars will be high in the southeast sky and Saturn will soon rise over the eastern horizon. Jupiter rises in the early morning and Mercury is visible in the pre-dawn skies at the beginning of the month. The Quadrantid Meteor Shower peaks on the 3rd. The Earth reaches perihelion on January 4th at 10:00 a.m. EST. This is the closest the Earth comes to the Sun in her elliptical orbit. We will be 91.4 million miles from the Sun. Venus reaches inferior conjunction mid month and will disappear from our evening skies beforehand. After which, she will re-appear in the morning twilight. Near the end of January, Mercury reaches superior conjunction and Saturn reaches opposition. This monthís visible lunar occultations include four of the Seven Sisters & Spica.

Inferior & Superior Conjunctions of the Inner Planets
Inner planets, Mercury & Venus, never travel far from the Sun. Mercury is only 28 degrees from the Sun at his greatest elongations and Venus is 48 degrees from the Sun at hers. This means that these planets never oppose the Sun (nor do they make many other aspects for that matter). Instead they have two types of conjunctions that occur that let us know if they are on the same or opposite side of the Sun as Earth. These conjunctions occur when Earth, Sun and an inner planet align.

Venus is retrograde and Mercury is direct this month. When planets are retrograde they are closer to Earth ñ on the same side as the Sun. This is why Venusí conjunction to the Sun is an inferior conjunction and Mercuryís conjunction to the Sun is a superior conjunction.

Venus reaches inferior conjunction to the Sun on the 13th at 7:00 p.m. EST. This means Venus passes between the Sun & Earth and all three align.

Mercury reaches superior conjunction to the Sun on the 26th at 5:00 p.m. EST. When these three align, the Sun will be between Mercury & Earth as Mercury aligns from behind the Sun.

Conjunctions & Oppositions of the Outer Planets
The outer planets in this case are those outside the orbit of Earth, which is Mars outward. Again, these involve the alignment of Earth, Sun and an outer planet. Outer planets are also retrograde when closest to Earth. When Sun, Earth and an outer planet align with the planet on the same side of the Sun as Earth, we note an opposition in the ephemeris. The Earth is between the Sun and an outer planet, passing up the outer planet on the inside track around the Sun. We can observe an opposition of an outer planet to the Sun, because it will rise as the sun sets and set as the sun rises.

When Sun, Earth and an outer planet align with the planet on the opposite side of the Sun as Earth, we note a conjunction in the ephemeris. We cannot view an outer planet in conjunction to the Sun because it is traveling with the Sun through our skies from our geocentric view point.

This month, Saturn reaches opposition to the Sun on the 27th at 6:00 p.m. EST. Sun, Earth & Saturn align with Earth passing through the middle. Saturn is retrograde all month letting us know he is on the same side of the Sun as Earth. There are no outer planet conjunctions to the Sun this month.

Observing a T-Square
While there is currently a fixed grand cross in the sky involving Jupiter opposite Mars squaring Saturn opposite Neptune, we can only see three of these planets with our naked eye. We can therefore observe a T-Square in action. At twilight look for Mars in the southeast sky. Mars is squaring Saturn, so look for Saturn to rise in the east when Mars culminates (reaches the midheaven). Then if you are up around 3:00 a.m. look for Mars to set in the west while Saturn culminates overhead and Jupiter rises in the east. While they will not be in perfect paran due to orbs of their aspects, we can still observe a T-Square in the heavens. A paran is any two celestial objects who reach any two angles simultaneously.

Northern Hemisphere Planet Observation ñ Local Standard Times
Mercury rises around 7:00 a.m. on the 1st near the foot of Ophiuchus, which is to the lower left of Antares, the heart of the Scorpion. On the morning of the 3rd he rises with the uppermost bow star of Sagittarius, Mu Sagittarii. By the 7th, Mercury rises around 7:15 a.m. and the chances of catching a glimpse after this date is slim.

Since Venus reaches inferior conjunction in the middle of the month, we can observe her as both an evening and morning star. Venus is retrograde and therefore moving in a westward direction. Each night she will move closer to the setting sun. On the 1st, she sets around 6:30 p.m. On the 7th she sets around 6:00 p.m. At the same time, the Sun (who is of course always in direct eastward motion ñ good thing or it would mean Earth would spin backwards) is moving eastward to conjoin with Venus. While her great brilliance helps her to remain visible closer to the Sun than other planets, she will soon be swallowed up by the evening twilight. Ancient observers called this time of non-visibility ìunder the sunís beams.î

After falling under the Sunís beams from our starís eastern side, she continues west to conjoin the Sun, who is moving eastward to meet her as well. The Sun is moving faster than the slower retrograde planet and will soon pull away from Venus. This causes Venus to re-appear on the western side of the Sun and therefore visible in the morning sky. We can watch for her re-appearance along the eastern horizon in the early morning twilight the last week of December.

Mars gains speed this month as he recovers from slower retrograde status. Covering 10 degrees of the sky, we can observe his direct eastward motion against the backdrop of fixed stars this month. Mars begins the month among the stars of the constellation Aries. At 6:30 p.m. on the 1st, he will be high in the southeast sky. He will set around 3:15 a.m.

On January 31st, we will find Mars still among the stars of Aries, but nearer to the Pleiades. See if you can notice the red planet close some distance between himself and the Seven Sisters of Taurus. He sets around 2:00 a.m. by monthís end.

Jupiter rises around 3:15 a.m. on the 1st. In the early morning skies before sunrise brings the dawn twilight, we can locate Jupiter in the south-southeast sky. He rises around 1:45 a.m. on the 31st and will make his way to due south before sunrise blots him from view.

We can observe Jupiterís movement against the fixed stars of Libra. At the beginning of the month, he lies to the west and slightly above Zubenelgenubi of the scales. On the 10th, heíll lie just above the fixed star. By the 15th his movement to the east of Zubenelgenubi will be apparent. We can observe Jupiter pulling further east from this star each night thereafter.

Saturn rises around 7:30 p.m. on the 1st. He will set in the early morning daylight hours. We can observe Saturn before sunrise low along the western horizon. By monthís end Saturn rises around 5:30 p.m. while the sun is setting. Also at monthís end weíll observe Saturn setting around 7:15 a.m. as the Sun rises. This is due to Saturnís opposition to the Sun on the 27th.

Saturn is traveling among the dim stars of Cancer that are hard to spot in many locations. If you happen to have dark enough skies you can witness Saturn pass the fixed star Aselius Australis. At the beginning of January, Saturn lies above the aforementioned star. He moves closer to it as the month progresses. On the 20th, Saturn will be to the right of Aselius Australis. By the close of January, he will be below and east of the fixed star.

The Moon as Your Tour Guide to the Planets ñ Northern Hemisphere
January opens with the Moon joining Venus in the evening sky. Look low along the western horizon for Venus to the right of a very slender day old moon. On the 8th at sunset look in the southeast sky for Mars to the right of the moon. On the 9th, watch as the Moon occults stars of the Pleiades cluster. As the skies darken on the 14th, look for Saturn to rise after the moon. On the 15th, Saturn rises before the Moon. Look for Saturn above the moon when she rises around 7:00. The moon joins Jupiter on the 23rd. They rise around 2:15 a.m. In the pre-dawn skies around 6:30 a.m. look for Jupiter to be slightly above and left of the moon low along the south-southeast horizon. Begin to look for Venus in the morning twilight on the 26th. She will be the very bright object to the left of a balsamic crescent moon. On the morning of the 27th, she will be above and left of the rising moon.

Southern Hemisphere Planet Observation ñ Local Daylight Savings Times
Mercury rises around 5:00 a.m. on the 1st. You can locate him low along the east-southeast horizon just before sunrise for the first few days of the month.

Venus sets around 9:30 p.m. on the 1st. She will disappear into the sunset by the evening of the 3rd.

Begin looking for Venus to re-appear in the pre-dawn sky on the 22nd. She rises around 5:45 that morning and you may be able to catch a glimpse of her before dawnís sunlight envelops the sky. On the morning of the 31st, Venus rises around 5:00 a.m. making her easier to spot. She gains height above the east-southeast horizon each day during the last week of January.

Mars will pop into view on the 1st around 10:00 p.m. in the north-northwest sky as the skies darken enough to bring the red planet to light. He sets around 2:00 a.m. at the beginning of January and at about 12:30 a.m. at the end of the month.

Mars is traveling through the constellation Aries. We can observe his eastward movement through the zodiac band of the ecliptic as he encroaches upon the Pleiades cluster in Taurus.

Jupiter rises around 2:45 a.m. on January 1st among the stars of Libra. He rises around 12:45 a.m. on the 31st. In the pre-dawn skies you can observe Jupiterís eastward movement against the fixed star Zubenelgenubi of Libra. Observe Jupiter to the left and slightly above the fixed star on the 1st. By the end of the first week of January, Jupiter will lie next to Zubenelgenubi. By the end of the second week, he will have passed the star to lie below. Continue to watch until monthís end, as Jupiter increases his distance east from Zubenelgenubi.

Saturn rises around 10:45 p.m. on the 1st among the dim stars of Cancer. Setting around 8:15 a.m. he will be swallowed up by the glow of dawn before we observe his setting. On the 31st he rises around 8:45 p.m. in the glow of evening twilight and will become visible higher along the east-northeast horizon as the skies darken. He sets around 6:00 a.m. at monthís end. Saturn opposes the Sun on the 27th, at which time he rises as the sun sets and sets as the sun rises.

If you have dark enough skies to bring out the dim star Aselius Australis of the constellation Cancer, you can track Saturnís westward retrograde movement against it. On the 1st, Saturn lies below and very slightly right of Aselius Australis. By the 31st, he will lie next to the fixed star.

The Moon as Your Tour Guide to the Planets ñ Southern Hemisphere
Look for Venus slightly below and to the west of the moon as sunset begins to darken the sky on January 1st. On the evening of the 8th, look slightly east of the Moon for Mars. Look for Saturn to rise to the right of the moon on the 14th. The Moon crowns above the north-east horizon around 9:15 with Saturn following around 9:45. On the morning of the 24th, you can spot Jupiter slightly below and to the left of the Moon. On the morning of the 29th, the bright object you see to the left of the moon at dawn will be Venus.

The Moonís Occultations
On January 9th around 9:00 p.m. EST, the Moon will occult Merope, Alcyone, Atlas and Pleione of the Pleiades cluster in Taurus over various parts of North and South America. Merope and Alcyone are occulted over Central America, Mexico, the southeast corner of the USA and northern tip of South America. The arc of the occultation of Atlas runs through New Brunswick, Canada, through the Great Lakes to Salt Lake City, Utah, to southern California. Below that line to Mexico & Cuba the occultation can be witnessed. The occultation of Pleione takes a slightly lower curve.

On January 21st around 21:00 GMT the Moon occults Spica over Asia & Indonesia.

Moon Data
The Moon reaches perigee on the 1st at 5:49 p.m. EST and will be 224,781 miles from Earth. The First Quarter Moon occurs on the 6th at 1:57 p.m. EST. The Moon opposes the Sun on the 14th at 4:48 a.m. EST resulting in the Full Moon. The Moon reaches apogee on the 17th at 2:07 p.m. EST and will be 252,205 miles from Earth. On the 22nd at 10:14 a.m. EST the Last Quarter Moon occurs with the waning square between the luminaries. On the 29th at 9:15 a.m. EST the New Moon occurs. The Moon reaches perigee once again this month as she nears earth at a distance of 222,313 miles on the 30th at 2:51 a.m. EST.

The Quadrantid Meteor Shower
This meteor shower is active from December 28, 2005 ñ January 5, 2006 and peaks on the morning of January 3rd. The Quadrantid meteors hit Earthís atmosphere at a rate of 25 miles per second. The shower is visible in northern latitudes where you can see Bootes, Ursa Major & Hercules. The viewing conditions are excellent this year because the nearly first quarter moon sets around 9:00 p.m. getting well out of the way. Now we just have to hope for clear winter skies after 1:45 a.m. when Bootes fully clears the east-northeastern horizon. The best time to observe the most activity is in the pre-dawn skies on the morning of the 3rd when the radiant is overhead. At 6:00 a.m. the radiant should be high enough for peak activity until sunrise. The expected peak rate this year is 100 per hour! Itís probably worth getting up to see.

The radiant of the Quadrantids lies in the constellational boundary of Bootes. Usually meteor showers are named after the constellation they radiate from. So why is this one not called the Bootids? What constellation is the Quadrantid named after anyway? The stellar story goes like thisÖ. In 1795 a French astronomer named Joseph Jerome la Francais de Lalande created a modern constellation that represented an instrument he used to plot stars called the mural quadrant. Using stars north of Bootes, above Hercules, and extending to the tail of Ursa Major, he dubbed the constellation Quadrans Muralis. In 1922 the International Astronomical Union decided the star maps were too crowded and got rid of a few constellations giving us our present count of 88 officially recognized constellations. Quadrans Muralis was among the few that were scratched from the list and this shower was re-zoned to the domain of Bootes.

Sky Maps Available in the OCA Main Public Library
Northern Hemisphere:
-January 3rd at 6:00 a.m. looking east depicting the position of the Quadrantid radiant in the constellation Bootes
-January 14th at 7:30 p.m. looking east to southeast depicting the position of Saturn, Moon & Mars
-January 26th at 6:30 a.m. looking southeast depicting the position of Jupiter, Moon & Venus

Southern Hemisphere:
-January 8th at 10:45 p.m. looking north-northeast depicting the position of Saturn, Mars & Moon
-January 29th at 5:45 a.m. looking east depicting the position of Jupiter, Venus & Moon

Happy stargazing! Best wishes for a happy, healthy & prosperous New Year from your friends at ONLINE College of Astrology.

Classes begin the week of January 12, 2006 in OCA's internationally recognized Professional Training Department.

Julene Packer, Dipl.O.C.A., ISAR-C.A.P.
Media Director & Instructor, OCA
ONLINE College of Astrology
www.astrocollge.com
Preparing Students for Professionalism
With a Well Rounded Balanced Curriculum