The night sky – January 2013

On Christmas Eve as seen from south America the giant planet Jupiter was occulted by the Moon. This was a very rare occurrence, and we are lucky to have tracked down this video which shows it very well indeed.

Rafael Defavari focused his high-powered telescope on the heavens just in time to film the largest planet in our solar system disappear behind the crater strewn lunar surface.

Mr Defavari’s video, filmed from São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, shows the rarely seen event unfold five times faster than real time.

In January the planet Jupiter is on prominent display high in the night sky shinning at magnitude –2.7, and is a fine sight in binoculars or a small telescope looking rather like brilliant ‘yellow’ star. The planet’s horizontal cloud belts, and four Galilean moons can be seen quite easily.

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MONDAY 7th January at Midnight:  The Sky at Night    Reaching for the Stars. For more than half a century Sir Patrick Moore encouraged people to look up at the wonders of the night skies. Fittingly in this programme, recorded just before his death, he and his team offer advice to those who are discovering astronomy for the very first time. How should they set up their new telescopes and what should they seek out in the winter skies as they begin to share Sir Patrick Moore’s passion for the stars.

STARGAZING LIVE SERIES 3 with Professor Brian Cox and Dara O Britain begins on Tuesday 8th January at 8:00 pm on BBC 2

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At the beginning of the month sun rise is at 08:17 AM and sets at 15:59 PM. At the end of January sun rise is at 07:49 AM and sets at 16:47 PM so that the days are now beginning to get longer.

A good photo opportunity occurs on the night of January 22nd when Jupiter lies midway between the gibbous Moon and the Pleiades open cluster, M45, in Taurus (the Bull).

The Winter constellations are now on prominent display in the southern sky after sunset with their luminous stars. Orion (The Hunter), Taurus (The Bull), Gemini (The Twins), Aurigae (The Charioteer), and Canis Major (The Greater Dog) which is low in the south-east.

In Orion look out for the three main stars that make up the Hunter’s belt, and just below is a misty patch which is plainly visible in binoculars. This is M42, the Orion nebula, a star forming region.

There are many star clusters on view in and around Aurigae which are visible in binoculars, while the lovely open cluster, M35, in Gemini is also a splendid sight.

In the northern sky, the Great Bear is now standing upon his tail in the NE., with the pointers in the upper part of the bowl asterism showing the way across the sky to Polaris (The Pole Star), and then the ‘W’ of the constellation of Cassiopeia in the NW. The long meandering star pattern of Draco (The Dragon) lies in the region of sky above the northern horizon.

By Richard Pearson