By Melanie McQuigg (Y12)
The January night sky is kicking off the year with some spectacular events. From rare alignments to the deep voids of interstellar space, this time offers great opportunities. Whether you are peering through telescopes or simply standing in your backyard, here are the dates you won’t want to miss.
Jupiter is closest to the Earth – 9th of January
On this night, Jupiter will reach its perigee, which is the point in its orbit where it will be closest to Earth. This year, the distance between Jupiter and the Earth will be 633 million kilometres. While that sounds like a considerable distance, in cosmic terms it’s super close. As the planet will appear closer, it will be brighter and larger than at any other time this year. You won’t need anything to view this planet, but if you use binoculars or a telescope, you’ll easily spot it’s four largest moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
Jupiter lies opposite to the sun in the sky – 10th of January
Jupiter is once again the star this night as it will reach opposition. An opposition is when the Earth passes between a planet and the Sun, creating a nearly straight line with the other two. Jupiter will rise in the East exactly as the Sun sets in the West. It will be visible to the naked eye all night, and it will reach its highest point in the sky at midnight. Look near the constellation Gemini to spot the cream-coloured planet that will be brighter than any nearby stars.
The Deep Sky Opens Up- 15th of January
The Moon will be in its waning crescent phase, which means that it will appear as a thin sliver of light that will rise very late. For this reason, the early and mid-evening skies will be almost perfectly dark and create the perfect night for deep-sky observing. The best things to see then will be the Orion Nebula, which will appear as the fuzzy part below Orion’s belt. This will also be a good night to see Jupiter’s cloud belts, as the dark sky will provide the high contrast needed to see the planet’s atmospheric bands.