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Mars at Opposition
MOON PHASES
IN HISTORY
Jan. 1, 1801 – Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi discovered the first known asteroid, Ceres, now classified as a dwarf planet.
January is the best month of 2010 to look at Mars.
The Red Planet reaches opposition on Jan. 29. That's when it's on the opposite side of Earth as the sun, rising approximately at sunset and setting about sunrise. That coincides with the time the two planets' orbits are about as close as they get. It happens about every 26 months. The distance between us and Mars varies considerably from opposition to opposition since our orbits are not circular. This time we'll be about 61.7 million miles apart. It can be as close as 34.6 million miles.
Still, Mars is considerably closer than its average distance of about 141 million miles, so grab your binoculars or scope and have a look. If viewing conditions are just right, you should be able to detect vague surface shadings and maybe even note their rotational shift after few hours.
Shining at magnitude minus 1, Mars moves from the constellation Leo into Cancer during the second week of January. The nearly full moon will hover nearby on the night of Jan. 2/3 and again on 29/30.
Though much farther distant than Mars, the giant planet Jupiter still outshines it at magnitude minus 2.1. You can find it ? it's hard to miss ? low in the west after sunset. It moves from Capricornus into Aquarius early in the month and sets earlier each night.
Evening twilight is a good time to view the planet's four Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, in a telescope. The dimly lit sky reduces the planet's brilliance, making the moons easier to view through the eyepiece.
Look for the waxing crescent moon nearby on the 17th and 18th.
Saturn (magnitude 0.9) is practically stationary in Virgo during January. It rises a little before midnight early in the month and about 9:45 p.m. by month's end. It's about a degree from the 4th-magnitude star Zaniah (Eta Virginis). It's rings are nearly edge-on as viewed from Earth, but you'll still be able to see them in a small telescope. The waning gibbous moon can be seen nearby during the predawn hours of the 6th.
Venus reaches superior conjunction on the 11th and remains out of view behind the sun.
Mercury reaches inferior conjunction on the 4th, but the speedy innermost planet will move far enough away from the sun to come into view during the second half of January. In fact, it reaches its greatest western elongation, 25 degrees from the sun, on the 26th. Look for it near the eastern horizon shortly before sunrise.
January frequently delivers one of the best meteor showers of the year.
The Quadrantids can produce 60 to 120 meteors per hour at its brief peak during the early morning of Jan. 4. Problem is it's cold outside, so the shower is perhaps the least viewed of the year. This year the waning gibbous moon will add to viewers' woes. If you happen to be outside anyhow, have a look. The radiant point will be in the northeast, near the boundaries of constellations Hercules, Boötes and Draco. Face away from the moon; block its light, if you can.
If you happen to be cruising on the Indian Ocean or somewhere near that latitude on the other side of the world on Jan. 15, you will be able to witness a partial solar eclipse. If you're near the event's centerline, you could see the longest annular eclipse until 3043, with a duration of up to 11 minutes, 8 seconds. The Western Hemisphere is shut out of this event.
Earth is closest to the sun (at perihelion) in its orbit on Jan. 2. Still relatively close 13 days later, the sun appears larger than the moon, so instead of a total eclipse, the outer edge of the sun shines past the moon, creating a bright ring or annulus.
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