What's up: The Second and Third week of January 2022

What’s Up This Second Week of January

2022 has been giving us some pretty cloudy night skies and some bone-chilling temperatures. There are a few clear nights that may come this week so be sure to take full advantage of these rare opportunities. On these nights, dress extremely warm and maybe even have a car nearby so you can intermittently warm up inside. With windchill, the nighttime temperatures will be dropping to around 15°. Sunset this week is right around 5:30 PM. Already the sunsets are getting noticeably later. Be ready to start stargazing by 6:30 PM. During the few clear nights, be on the lookout for craters on the moon, neighboring Saturn and Mercury, the outer arms of the Milky Way, and the brightest star in the night sky.

The first-quarter moon occurred Sunday, January 9th, and the full moon is set to occur this upcoming Monday, January 17th. As the moon continues to brighten through this cycle in its orbit, it will wash out many stars and deep-sky objects. So instead of hunting for those, try hunting for craters and ancient lava seas on the moon.

Around 45 minutes after sunset anytime this week, look low near the western horizon to spot Mercury and Saturn sitting near each other. They may look just a few degrees apart in the sky, but Mercury is 83 million miles from the earth while Saturn is a whopping one billion miles from the earth! A pair of binoculars or a telescope will reveal more details about these two planets. But most impressive are Saturn’s rings – Mercury will still appear just to be a bright “dot”.

Mercury and Saturn will dance in the evening twilight this week.

The late summer is usually the ideal time to observe the Milky Way since the core (the brightest and most dense region) is high in the southern skies. But the Milky Way never fully sets (since we are in the middle of it). During the winter we are facing a different direction than in the summer, so we are only able to see the outer regions of our galaxy. If you make it to a dark-sky location (say, the John Glenn Astronomy Park), you will see the faint outer arms stretching from east to west through the constellations of Cassiopeia and Orion (just above Orion’s head).

Next week, when the moon has not yet risen, see if you can spot the faint fall and winter Milky-Way.

Around 7:30 PM look near the east-southeast horizon (just below the Orion constellation) to find the brightest star in the night sky – Sirius. This star shines at magnitude -1.42 which is twice as bright as any other star in the night sky. If you were to travel just 8.5 light-years to get to Sirus (it is the fifth-closest star to us), you will find it actually shines 23 times brighter than our sun and is roughly twice as big!

Sirius is the >second< brightest star in the sky. You’re familiar with the brightest. .

Hopefully, there are more clear skies this week so we can all enjoy the winter skies for a little longer before spring arrives. Make sure to dress warm and let your telescopes and binoculars cool down to the outside temperature to help prevent frost from forming on the lens and ruining your night of stargazing. Explore the cosmos and get lost in the sea of stars all while looking for geographical features on the moon, some planetary neighbors, the outer arms of our home galaxy, and the brightest star in the sky.

Clear Skies!