Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events. All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT). Nightly darkness estimates are calculated for Greenwich, London (51.5° N, 0° W).

Calendar of Events - January 2005

Date Event
1 Sat
2 Sun Earth at perihelion
3 Mon The light from the Last Quarter Moon spoils this year's viewing of the Quadrantids meteor shower.
4 Tue Moon occults Jupiter
5 Wed
6 Thu
7 Fri
8 Sat Jupiter at west quadrature
9 Sun
10 Mon The New Moon occurs only two hours after perigee which will lead to unusually high tides.
11 Tue
12 Wed
13 Thu Saturn at opposition
14 Fri
15 Sat
16 Sun
17 Mon First Quarter Moon
18 Tue
19 Wed
20 Thu
21 Fri
22 Sat
23 Sun Moon at apogee
24 Mon
25 Tue Full Moon
26 Wed
27 Thu
28 Fri
29 Sat
30 Sun
31 Mon Moon occults Jupiter

The Solar System

The word planet is derived from the Greek word for "wanderer." Unlike the background stars, planets seem to move around the sky, keeping mostly to a narrow track called the ecliptic, the path of the Sun across the stars.

Sun
Location: Sagittarius -> Capricornus
Mercury
Location: Sagittarius -> Capricornus
The closest planet to the Sun is found near Venus in the southeast just before sunrise. The best views are early in the month as both planets get ever lower in the sky.
Venus
Location: Sagittarius
The "morning star" appears very near its sister planet, Mercury, this month. Look for both objects low in the southeastern dawn sky.
Mars
Location: Scorpius -> Ophiuchus -> Sagittarius
The "red planet" is also a morning sky object. It rises an hour or two before the inner planets Mercury and Venus.
Jupiter
Location: Virgo
Rising around midnight, the king of the planets reaches west quadrature this month, making this an ideal time to observe the interesting interplay of shadows between the planet and its four Galilean satellites. The Moon occults Jupiter twice this month. The beginning of the occultation on 4 January is visible during the very early morning hours from southern parts of Africa but most of the event occurs during daytime. The second occultation on 31 January is visible only from the southern-most reaches of the Pacific Ocean.
Saturn
Location: Gemini
Since it reaches opposition mid-month, the ringed planet is easy to see all night.
Uranus
Location: Aquarius
The most distant planet to be visible to the naked eye, Uranus becomes difficult to observe by the end of the month due to its conjunction with the Sun in February.
Neptune
Location: Capricornus
Like its outer solar system neighbour, Neptune undergoes conjunction next month and thus is too close to the Sun to observe in January.
Pluto
Location: Serpens (Cauda)
With a brightness of around fourteenth magnitude, the smallest planet in the solar system can be seen only through a good-sized telescope. However, because it was at conjunction with the Sun only last month, it may be difficult to see just before sunrise.

The Celestial Sphere

Constellations are patterns of stars in the sky. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognises 88 different constellations. The brightest stars as seen from the Earth are easy to spot but do you know their proper names? With a set of binoculars you can look for fainter objects such as nebulae and galaxies or some of the closest stars to the Sun.

Descriptions of the sky for observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres are available for the following times this month. Subtract one hour from your local time if summer (daylight savings) time is in effect.

Local Time Northern Hemisphere Southern Hemisphere
1730 hours (1830 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
1930 hours (2030 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
2130 hours (2230 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
2330 hours (0030 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
0130 hours (0230 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
0330 hours (0430 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
0530 hours (0630 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S

For More Information...

Credits

Much of this information can be found in this month's issue of your favourite amateur astronomy magazine available in your local bookshop. Another excellent source is the current edition of the Astronomical Calendar by Guy Ottewell and published by the Universal Workshop at Furman University.

The image of the Sun in the SkyEye banner is courtesy of the SOHO/EIT consortium. The composite image from May 1998 combines EIT images from three wavelengths (171Å, 195Å and 284Å) into one that reveals solar features unique to each wavelength. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

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