The January Sky

Paul Curtin

In the north look for kite-shaped Auriga, seemingly balancing one foot on the eastern horn of Taurus. Its brightest star is Capella. Locate the open clusters M36, M37, and M38 in binoculars. These objects are easy to find and offer very nice views in small telescopes.

South of this is the unmistakable form of Orion. This is a great area to wander through with binoculars. The highlight here is M42, the famed Orion Nebula. This is an interesting sight in telescopes of all apertures and is also a beautiful object to photograph. Drawing the bright wisps and dark lanes is a challenge worth attempting.

At the foot of Orion is Lepus, notable primarily for M79, a globular cluster. Even farther south is Columba, which also has a noteworthy globular cluster, NGC 1851. Both Lepus and Columba also host a number of galaxies although larger telescopes are needed to see them well.

South of this is faint Pictor, which is overshadowed by Carina to the east. Canopus, alpha carinae, outshines all stars save Sirius.

Still the most impressive object in the southern summer is the Large Magellanic Cloud. Look for the gas nebula NGC 2070, the Tarantula Nebula, in the north-east quadrant of the LMC. Scan the rest of this amazing galaxy for nebulae and open clusters.

The Planets in January

Mercury is a difficult morning object in January.

Venus is still shines brightly in the west but slips into the sunsets glare
before the 15th.

Mars remains a distinct naked eye object hovering on the Aries/Taurus border
but its disk appears much smaller in telescopes.

Jupiter, a morning object, dominates the sky before dawn.

Saturn can be observed for much of the night, it is quite bright and can be
spotted not far from M44 in Cancer.

Bibliography

Burnham, Robert Jr., Burnham's Celestial Handbook, New York: Dover, 1978.

Jones, K. G. (ed.), Webb Society Deep-Sky Observers Handbook, Volume. 3, Hillside, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1980.

Kepple, G. R., Sanner, G. W., The Night Sky Observers Guide, Richmond, Virginia: Willman-Bell, 1999.

Tirion, W., Rappaport, B., Remaklus, W., Uranometria Deep Sky Atlas, Richmond, Virginia: Willman-Bell, 2000.

Webb, T. W., Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes, New York: Dover, 1962.