The night skies in January are filled with some of the brightest stars and most spectacular constellations. Clear, cold winter nights are among the best times to stargaze, but they are also the coldest in the Northern parts of the country. Don't forget to layer your clothing and wear a hat and gloves to avoid frostbite if you are planning an observing session in cold weather.
The January night sky this year is filled with planets. Planets are fun to observe, and even from a light polluted area, you can see details on the surface through a small telescope.
Venus dominates the sky after sunset. It hangs low and large in the southwest. Venus is often mistaken for a UFO, especially on clear cold nights when the planet seems to twinkle and glitter (people think it is a UFO changing colors). Venus will be so bright this year that in March you will be able to spot it in the daytime.
Mars is fading fast. It still glows red in the southern sky after dark. Mars is more important this month due to the number of spacecraft approaching the Red Planet. The British Beagle 2 is expected to land in December, and begin transmitting information around Christmas day. The American rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, are due to land two weeks apart in January. As you watch the images sent back by these crafts, step outside and look at Mars yourself.
Saturn rises at sunset, and is the closest to us that it's been in thirty years. Saturn is an unmistakably bright object in the constellation, Gemini. If you are planning on viewing Saturn, wait until the planet rises higher in the sky; atmospheric turbulence will make viewing the planet's features difficult after sunset. Look at the position of the ring system. It changes yearly, and when observed for several years, you can chart these shifts.
Jupiter will rise around 10:30 P.M. early in January. It will be the brightest star-like object in the sky at that time. Jupiter is interesting to view even through binoculars; you can clearly see its four main moons--Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. These moons appear to move back and forth, lining up in different formations on either side of the planet.
Earth reaches perihelion, its nearest point to the sun, on January 4. We then are 91.4 million miles away from the Sun. But for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the earth is tilted away from the sun, which is why we experience the coldest weather now. The people in the Southern Hemisphere are tilted towards the sun, and enjoy summer and warm weather.
