The Dudley Observatory

For several weeks, astronomers, both professional and amateur, have been watching two naked-eye comets, Comet Holmes and Comet Tuttle, passing through our night sky. Recently the exciting news was reported that another object was rapidly approaching the Earth. The Goldstone Radio Telescope had picked up and measured the intruder as a roughly 800 foot diameter asteroid which would whiz by the Earth on the evening of Monday, January 28. This sizable chunk of rock, designated as Asteroid 2007 TU24, was calculated to reach its nearest approach to Earth about 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. At that point it was about 340,000 miles away, a bit farther out than the Moon. While it was known that the asteroid posed no imminent danger to the Earth, it is still considered a near miss for an object that size. The asteroid was predicted to show a magnitude (brightness) of about 11, too faint for eyes or binoculars, but visible in a good backyard telescope. The challenge was to find this faint, rapidly moving object against the thousands of faint background stars. Several intrepid amateurs did just that and their reports and images can be found at the website: www.skyandtelescope.com.

Three to four billion years ago, when the Earth was young, the inner Solar System was loaded with debris which frequently smashed into the Earth, the Moon and other planets. The Earth with its atmosphere and eroding weather has largely erased the signs of these collisions, but on the airless Moon, the ancient scars and craters are still obvious. Over the millennia, the debris has largely been incorporated into the larger bodies or flung by gravitational forces out of the inner Solar System, but occasional collisions still occur. On average once a year, the Earth undergoes a collision, usually in the oceans, that releases the energy of a small nuclear warhead. About once in a century, we sustain a collision that releases the energy of a large (megaton sized) hydrogen bomb. In fact, the last such collision occurred just 100 years ago in Tunguska, Siberia, when a small comet or asteroid collided and exploded in an air burst. The blast leveled a forest over a 20 mile radius in a (fortunately) uninhabited area. On average, once in a million years, a collision occurs which releases enough energy to have global consequences.

This is the Skywatch Line for Monday and Tuesday, January 28th and 29th.
by Joe Slomka

The Sun sets at 5:02 PM, with night falling at 6:40. Dawn breaks at 5:35 AM, ending with sunrise at 7:13.

At sunset, Mars is bright and high in the southeast. Mars is best observed about 9 PM. The Red Planet is stationary on Tuesday night. For months, it has been moving westward against the stars. Now it stops, and resumes a planet’s normal eastward movement. This is a result of Earth catching up with and passing Mars, which is on a slower orbit.

Saturn rises shortly after nightfall, shining brightly beneath Leo. It is best observed after 2 AM. Any telescope shows its glorious rings. Higher powers reveal a system of several rings and gaps.

The Last Quarter Moon rises after Midnight and glows between the bright stars Spica and Zuben Elgenubi, in Libra. This star was once part of Scorpius, but detached in ancient times.

Many constellations are ancient, generated by Babylonian, Greek and Egyptian legends. Leo , Cancer, Orion, are prime examples. Not all constellations have existed so long, or remain unchanged. Some undergo modification. Scorpius once possessed a large set of claws; Julius Caesar reportedly cut them off to create the constellation Libra. There once was the large constellation Argo Navis, which celebrated the Greek legend of Jason, his ship and crew, who made fantastic voyages in search of the Golden Fleece. Alas, Argo is no more. The ship was broken up into its constituents: Carina , the Keel; Puppis , the Stern; and Vela, the Sail. They can be seen in early spring. Others disappear completely. The astronomer La Lande conceived Quadrans out of the space between Hercules, Bootes, and Draco. His invention did not catch on; however, the annual January meteor shower is still called "The Quandrantids," because it originates from this barren area. Other made-up constellations did take. As explorers ventured to the New World and the Orient, they named new asterisms for the high technology of the era: Antlia, the Air Pump; Circinus, the Compass; and Sextans, the Sextant. Most of these "new" constellations lie in southern skies, not visible from the Capital District.

This is Dudley Observatory's Skywatch Line for Friday, January 25, through Sunday, January 27, written by Alan French.

The Moon was full early this past Tuesday, so their will be a waning gibbous Moon in the weekend skies. The Sun sets at 5:00 PM, with the last vestiges of evening twilight gone by 6:30 PM., and the skies will be nice and dark between then and moonrise. The Moon rises at 8:44 Friday evening, 9:50 on Saturday, and not until 10:54 on Sunday night.

Astronomers watch for and track near Earth objects. Recently the NASA/JPL Near Earth Asteroid Program office announced that Near Earth Asteroid 2007 TU24 will speed by Earth this coming January 29. At its closest, at 3:33 in the morning, it will be a little less than half again as far away from us as the Moon – a distance of 334,000 miles. Aside from many avid amateur astronomers watching and photographing the asteroid as it moves rapidly against the stars, and professional astronomers studying it and examining it by various means, including radar, the asteroid will have no effect on our planet.

The asteroid is expected to be bright enough to be seen in amateur telescopes of three inches aperture or larger. It will be moving rapidly against the stars, and its motion should be obvious in just a few minutes through a suitable telescope. A chart of its path can be found at http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news157.html

(Note that you have to subject five hours from Universal Time [UT] to get Eastern Standard Time.) Because the asteroid will be close, different locations on the Earth will see its position somewhat shifted against the background stars. At the web site you can generate a ephemeris for your location, and then plot the asteroid's path against a good star chart.

Although TU24 posses no threat to Earth, there are some strange claims showing up on the internet. For further discussion about the asteroid and some of these bizarre stories, visit http://www.badastronomy.com

There are several celestial close approaches that are interesting to view this week. Tonight, Wednesday, the innermost planet Mercury will be visible low in the southwest about 45 minutes after sunset. It is currently at its farthest from the Sun in our sky and easiest to find, shining brighter than zero magnitude. The real challenge is to find the ice giant Neptune, a little to the left of Mercury. Although they appear close together in the sky, Neptune is actually 24 times farther away than Mercury with less than one-thousandth its brightness. You will need binoculars or a telescope, and a very clear atmosphere, to find Neptune, looking like a tiny pale-blue dot in the fading twilight.

Skywatch Line for Monday and Tuesday, January 21 and 22:
by Joe Slomka

The Sun sets at 4:54 PM, with night falling at 6:32. Dawn breaks at 5:39 and ends with sunrise at 7:19.

At sunset, three bright objects attract our attention. Mercury blazes low in the southwest and sets before nightfall. Mercury is at its greatest elongation from the Sun, which means that it is best observed tonight.

Mercury is slightly brighter than Mars, which glows high in the southeast. Mars inhabits the corner of Gemini, Auriga and Taurus. Pentagon-shaped Auriga is home to several binocular star clusters. Mars sets shortly before Dawn.

The Moon hovers over the southeastern horizon. Monday night finds it just below the star Pollux, in Gemini; Tuesday night sees it in Cancer. The Moon turns “Full” Tuesday morning; so both Monday and Tuesday nights have a not-quite Full Moon.

Saturn lies beneath Leo, the Lion. Its pale yellow light outshines all stars in the constellation.

At Dawn, Venus rises low in the southeast. Its brilliance cannot be missed. At eighty-two percent illuminated, it contrasts with the full disks of Mars and Saturn, as seen in telescopes.

Jupiter joins Venus in pre-dawn skies, with about ten degrees between them. This is half the distance they were on New Year’s Day; they grow closer daily, with the closest approach on February First.

With Venus so prominent, let us examine her in greater detail. Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is almost an Earth twin, about the same size and mass. Early telescopic observers noted its cloud cover and speculated a lush, tropical planet. As science obtained better instruments, rude shocks came. Venus did not rotate in 24 hours like Earth, but 243 earth-days. Russian and US probes landed on Venus, and showed a rock filled wasteland. In addition, they recorded a toxic atmosphere with true acid rain. Temperatures approached the melting point of lead. Most observers now think that Venus is an example of uncontrolled global warming. The one advantage to this environment is a highly reflective cloud cover. When Venus closely approaches Earth, it can cause people to confuse it with aircraft landing lights.

This is Dudley Observatory's Skywatch Line for Friday, January 18, through Sunday, January 20, written by Alan French.

The Moon was at first quarter this past Tuesday and will be Full this coming Tuesday, so a bright waxing gibbous Moon will dominate much of the night over the weekend.

On Saturday evening the Moon will be very close to Mars. This close pairing will provide a great opportunity to see if you can spot Mars in the daytime sky. The Sun will set at 4:51 PM, so look for the Moon in the east-northeastern sky around 4:00 PM. Mars will be just below the Moon and a bit more than one Moon diameter away. It should be easy to spot in binoculars, but see if you can glimpse it with your eye alone. If not, look again as the Sun is setting. Can you spot Mars before the Sun is completely below the horizon?

As darkness falls Saturday, the Moon and Mars will make a lovely pair. The Moon's eastward motion among the stars will slowly bring it a little closer to Mars, and the pair will be closest around 5:30 PM when they will be less than one Moon diameter apart. Watch as the Moon's motion moves it farther away from the Red Planet. The change should be obvious after about 30 minutes – and you may well notice it in less time.

The MESSENGER spacecraft passed close to Mercury on January 14 and took some high resolution photographs of the innermost planet. As revealed by Mariner 10 in 1974, Mercury has a cratered surface very much like our Moon. The new photographs show the cratered terrain in stunning detail. MESSENGER will make two more close passes by Mercury, and then settle into orbit around the planet in 2011.

Mercury, orbiting close to the Sun, never rises high in the night sky and is only well seen for brief periods just after sunset or just before sunrise. Starting this Saturday night, January 19, through next Saturday night, January 26, you'll have a good chance to see Mercury just after sunset. You'll need a good view to the southwest by west - midway between southwest and west southwest. Look between 5:20 PM and 5:35 PM. At 5:20 Mercury will be just over nine degrees above the horizon. (For reference, keep in mind that a fist held at arms length spans ten degrees across the knuckles.) By 5:35 PM it will be only seven degrees above the horizon, but the darker skies may make it easier to spot. If the skies are nice and clear down near the horizon, Mercury should be easy to spot with the unaided eye, and will be the brightest “star” in the area.

Our next, and somewhat better chance to see Mercury in the evening sky will be in October. Its best appearance in the morning sky will be in May.

The Sun sets at 4:54 PM, with night falling at 6:32. Dawn breaks at 5:39 and ends with sunrise at 7:19.

At sunset, three bright objects attract our attention. Mercury blazes low in the southwest and sets before nightfall. Mercury is at its greatest elongation from the Sun, which means that it is best observed tonight.

Mercury is slightly brighter than Mars, which glows high in the southeast. Mars inhabits the corner of Gemini, Auriga and Taurus. Pentagon-shaped Auriga is home to several binocular star clusters. Mars sets shortly before Dawn.

The Moon hovers over the southeastern horizon. Monday night finds it just below the star Pollux, in Gemini; Tuesday night sees it in Cancer. The Moon turns “Full” Tuesday morning; so both Monday and Tuesday nights have a not-quite Full Moon.

Saturn lies beneath Leo, the Lion. Its pale yellow light outshines all stars in the constellation.

At Dawn, Venus rises low in the southeast. Its brilliance cannot be missed. At eighty-two percent illuminated, it contrasts with the full disks of Mars and Saturn, as seen in telescopes.

Jupiter joins Venus in pre-dawn skies, with about ten degrees between them. This is half the distance they were on New Year’s Day; they grow closer daily, with the closest approach on February First.

With Venus so prominent, let us examine her in greater detail. Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is almost an Earth twin, about the same size and mass. Early telescopic observers noted its cloud cover and speculated a lush, tropical planet. As science obtained better instruments, rude shocks came. Venus did not rotate in 24 hours like Earth, but 243 earth-days. Russian and US probes landed on Venus, and showed a rock filled wasteland. In addition, they recorded a toxic atmosphere with true acid rain. Temperatures approached the melting point of lead. Most observers now think that Venus is an example of uncontrolled global warming. The one advantage to this environment is a highly reflective cloud cover. When Venus closely approaches Earth, it can cause people to confuse it with aircraft landing lights.

If you are listening to (or reading) this message, you are interested in the night sky … the night sky of stars, galaxies, meteors, comets and aurora. The short days of winter mean that darkness comes early and stays late. We have the opportunity to observe the night sky during normal waking hours. For this reason, it is also the time of year that man-made illumination is most noticeable. Outdoor nighttime lighting was not a present when Galileo, or Messier was alive. It was not much concern when the great telescopes at Mount Wilson Observatory and Lick Observatory were used by Hubble and Barnard 100 years ago.

Today, our view of the night sky is threatened by artificial light. Satellite photos of the earth at night clearly show outlines of continents, with brilliant big cities prominent and interconnected by the bright spider work of smaller towns. All this illumination is man-made and all of it is wasted. Outdoor lights should not shine upward and illuminate space, they should be aimed downward to address the task intended.

Outdoor lighting that is aimed sideways or horizontal is even more destructive of our nighttime view. This is because of two factors. First, there is the distracting glare from the light beam that reduces the eye’s ability to detect contrast. Second, a horizontal beam travels a longer path through the air, resulting in a greater amount of scattering from airborne particulates, thus contributing more to sky glow than a vertical upward beam does.

In addition to the light itself being wasted, the electricity generated to produce the light is wasted. To be sure, there is the economic saving to be had from reducing wasted electricity. But there is also the wasted fuel used in the generation of electrical power. This wasted fuel is still burned and results in carbon emission that contributes to global warming.

Reducing light pollution starts by considering outdoor lighting and the task for which it is intended. Shine the right amount of light only where it is needed. Properly aiming an out door flood light, or adding a shade or a shield to an outdoor fixture will prevent light rays from extending beyond your property. When the ground is covered with white winter snow, the shadow line formed by a well-aimed, well-shielded, fixture is easily apparent. Shielding will most likely reduce glare and prevent light trespass as well. Proper reflective shielding may even allow a lower power bulb to be used. Saving the night sky is done one fixture at time, so start by checking your own home. Then make plans to implement changes when the weather warms. Your fellow astronomers will appreciate your effort.

Here’s hoping that some day soon, the Milky Way will visible from a street corner near you.

This is the Skywatch Line for Monday and Tuesday, January 14 and 15.
By Joe Slomka

The Sun sets at 4:42 PM, with night falling at 6:25. Dawn breaks at 5:42 AM and ends with sunrise at 7:23.

At sunset, two bright objects attract attention. The Moon blazes halfway up the southern sky.

The elusive planet Mercury shines low in the southwest. Mercury is so low that hills or trees may hide it. Mercury sets after 6 PM, so the observer should act quickly after sunset. Mercury will most likely be in the news this week. For the first time since the 1970’s, a space probe named “Messenger” will flyby and photograph the closest planet to the Sun. Previous missions revealed a moon-like surface. Messenger’s mission is to update the photographs and study the planet’s structure. Expect to see articles about Messenger’s arrival and expectations.

At nightfall, Mars glows high in the East. The Red Planet, while still quite bright, appears smaller and dimmer than a month ago.

Saturn maintains station beneath Leo. It is best observed between midnight and dawn.

Most people imagine stars as shining constantly. This is not totally true. Even our own Sun varies its output. This past December, the Sun began a new cycle. Sunspots will gradually increase in number and then decline. This sequence lasts approximately eleven years. Other stars vary also. At 6:21 Tuesday night, the star Algol will dim, as it does every 2.9 days. Algol is the brightest star in the short leg of Perseus. We now know that a dimmer body circles Algol and diminishes its light when it gets between Earth and Algol. Another class of stars changes because of internal processes. Mira, in Cetus, is the prototype of this class. About every 332 days, Mira dims dramatically; these events caused the ancients to call “Mira” “wonderful” in Latin. Just as an engine sputters to stop when out of fuel, astronomers think that Mira is an old star, running out of fuel. Unlike Algol, which can be predicted with accuracy, Mira does not keep a timetable. Sometime within the coming two or three weeks, Mira will hit bottom and then rebound for nearly a year.

This is Dudley Observatory's Skywatch Line for Friday, January 11, through Sunday, January 13, written by Alan French.

The Moon was new last Tuesday so a waxing crescent Moon will be visible in the early evening sky. Look for the Moon low in the south-southwest on Friday evening just after nightfall. Each following night over the weekend will find more of the sunlit side of the Moon facing toward us, fattening the crescent, and it will be higher and more toward the southwest. Moonset on Friday is at 8:16 PM. On Saturday night it will set at 9:27, and by Sunday night it will not vanish below the horizon until 10:38. With the relatively early moonsets, most hours of darkness over the weekend will free of moonlight.

Although it is now moving away from Earth and fading, Mars still dominates the night sky, appearing as bright as the brightest stars. Look for bright reddish Mars in the east just after sunset. Mars will be highest and due south at 10:05, and telescopic observations will be most rewarding between 9:00 and 11:00 PM. Mars is never an easy object to observe, but most telescopes should show some of the darker markings on the planet's surface. The best observing “window” for Mars will close in late February when the planet's apparent diameter shrinks below 10 arcseconds. Watch Mars during the coming weeks as it gradually fades as its distance from Earth increases.

Jupiter is slowly moving back into the night sky, and can be spotted low toward the southeast around 6:45 AM. First, look for brilliant Venus directly to the southeast. If you imagine Venus as the center of a clock, Jupiter will be between seven and eight o'clock, and just above the horizon. The two planets will be separated by twenty degrees (remember that a fist held at arm's length spans ten degrees across the knuckles). Also look for reddish Antares to the right of Venus.

The Albany Area Amateur Astronomers will meet at 7:30 PM on Tuesday night, January 15, at the Schenectady Museum. A panel of newcomers to amateur astronomy will talk about their experiences – what got them interested in the hobby, how they've been learning about it, and what their interests are. The meeting is free and open to everyone.

You can now see all five bright planets in the course of one night. Mars is the easiest planet to find and follow through the night. At nightfall, it is high in the east and reaches its highest point in the southern sky by 10:30 p.m. At this high altitude, it is well above the turbulence near the horizon and shows surface markings in a telescope. It still rivals Sirius in brightness at magnitude minus 1.5, and presents a large disk of 15 arc-seconds. It is located between the two bright stars marking the ends of the horns of Taurus the Bull.

Yesterday at 6:30 a.m. the Moon was New, passing between the Earth and the Sun. Tonight (Wednesday) shortly after sunset, it will be visible very low in the west-southwest as a razor-thin crescent. If you have a clear view of the western horizon, you should find it easily with binoculars. If you do, you should see a bright, starlike object just below and to the right of the Moon. This is the planet Mercury, which is just beginning a favorable evening apparition. It will appear a bit higher each night after sunset for the next two weeks, after which it will begin dropping back toward the Sun.

Early risers have been watching the brilliant planet Venus, rising about 5 a.m. near the bright reddish supergiant star Antares in the constellation Scorpius. Venus can help you find the fifth bright planet, the gas giant Jupiter, just reappearing as a morning star after passing behind the Sun. Tomorrow morning, at 6:45, a half hour before sunrise, bright Jupiter will be just above the southeastern horizon, about 25 degrees below and to the left of Venus. All through January, Jupiter will rise 4 minutes earlier each day as it climbs slowly higher, while Venus continues to drop toward the Sun. The two planets will approach each other, closing at about one degree per day. On February 1, they will form a spectacular pairing as they slip past one another about one Moon-width apart, a beautiful target for binoculars, or wide field telescope.

This is the Skywatch Line for Monday and Tuesday, January seventh and eighth.
by Joe Slomka

The Sun sets at 4:36 PM, with night falling at 6:18. Dawn breaks at 5:43 AM and ends with sunrise at 7:25. The Moon turns “New” on Tuesday night, and is not observable.

Mars and Mercury occupy opposite ends of the twilight sky. Mars is bright red and moderately high. It is slightly dimmed and smaller than its December opposition. Mars is at its northernmost and highest – which will not reoccur until the year 2040. Mars also lies midway between M35, a star cluster in Gemini, and M1, the Crab Nebula, in Taurus. Mercury is bright, but very low on the southwest, and sets rapidly. Be patient if you do not see Mercury; it improves during January.

Tuesday is the Christian feast of the Epiphany, otherwise known as “Three Kings Day.” Who were these “kings?” Most likely they were Magi from the eastern empire of Babylon. The Babylonians were famous for their astronomical skill. They identified all five visible planets, the major constellations, the zodiac and the Saros cycle of eclipses. These priest-astrologers were powerful and respected throughout the known world.

These dedicated sky watchers would certainly have noticed any new event in the night sky. While some think that a comet or supernova may have been the “Christmas Star.” The prevailing opinion is that it may have been an astrological event - most likely a triple conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter during the year 7 BC. Jupiter appears to: chase Saturn, catch up with it, pass it, turn around, draw near and pass Saturn again, and finally approach Saturn one more time before sailing eastward past it. These startling events happened in Pisces, a significant constellation. While we now know planets to be worlds like our own Earth, to the ancients stars and planets were messengers from the gods. When two planets, associated with the most powerful gods, keep meeting, the Magi knew something noteworthy was about to happen. These scholars were also familiar with their neighbors. A search of Jewish documents provided the inspiration to set off for that distant land and a possible meeting with a new god-king.

This is Dudley Observatory's Skywatch Line for Friday, January 4, through Sunday, January 6, written by Alan French.

The Moon will be new next Tuesday morning, so the night sky over the weekend will be almost entirely dark and moonless. On Saturday morning a crescent old Moon will rise at 5:22 in the southeast, and will make a pretty sight close to Antares and Venus at 6:30. The slender Moon will be just eight degrees above the horizon. Reddish Antares will be just above the Moon, and Venus will be shining brightly above the pair.

By Sunday morning the Moon will be even slimmer, rise later, and you'll need good timing and a clear view to the southeast horizon to spot it. Look for it at 7:00 AM a little over four degrees above the southeastern horizon.

When you see a slender crescent Moon in the sky notice how you can usually see the “unlit” portion of the Moon. This is known as Earthshine. If you were standing on the Moon you would see a bright, nearly full Earth in the sky. It is the light of the Earth that illuminates and allows us to see the part of the Moon that is in night, out of direct sunlight.

Two comets now grace the night sky. Comet Holmes is still visible to the unaided eye, and Comet Tuttle can be seen with binoculars from dark, rural skies. It is unusual to have two comets so easily seen at one time.

Comet Holmes is now three degrees north-northwest of Alpha Persei, also known as Algol. It forms a fairly nice right triangle with Alpha and Kappa Persei. Through binoculars it appears as slightly cigar shaped and is surrounded by a fainter halo. To the eye it appears as a hazy cloud.

Comet Temple can be located by starting at the constellation Aries, the Ram. For a finder chart visit www.skyandtelescope.com <http://www.skyandtelescope.com/>. Click on “Observing Highlights” on the left side of their home page, and then look for the article “The Other Bright Comet of 2007/2008.” It includes a link to a finder chart.

Brilliant Mars continues to dominate the night sky, and its brightness and reddish hue make it obvious toward the east just after sunset. The Red Planet will be highest and best placed for telescopic observation between 9:30 and midnight. The darker markings on the planet's surface are visible in a modest sized telescope, especially when the air is steady and the image still.

Skywatch line for Wed. and Thurs., January 2 and 3, 2008
by Ray Bogucki

The first meteor shower of the year, the Quandrantids, occurs Thursday night, January 3, into Friday morning. Organized meteor showers occur when the Earth plunges through the debris left in our orbit by comets that pass through, or close to, our orbit. These meteor streams can usually be assigned to specific comets by noting that the orbital path followed by the meteor stream is very close to that of a specific comet. All of the meteors in a particular meteor shower appear to originate from a specific point, or small area in the sky known as the radiant. The shower is named after the constellation in which the radiant resides. For example, the radiant of the Perseids lies in the constellation Perseus, and the Leonids originate in Leo the Lion.

The Quandrantids are unusual in two respects. The orbital elements which describe the orbital path of the meteor stream are not related to any known comet which could have generated the shower. Possibly in times past, the comet struck a planet or asteroid and was destroyed. Alternatively it may have passed too close to Jupiter or one of the other large planets and been torn apart by the planet's gravitational field, or, perhaps we have simply not yet discovered the parent. While it has long been assumed that the parent comet is gone, a paper by astronomer Peter Jenniskens suggests that a recently discovered, near-earth asteroid, designated 2003EH1, may be the parent of the Quadrantids. Calculations are being done to check this possibility.

The second oddity is that this meteor shower is named after the constellation Quadrans Muralis, but you will not find it on any recent star atlas. Many years ago the constellation Quadrans was declared obsolete and abandoned. The stars forming the constellation have been incorporated into the constellation Bootes, the Herdsman. So, the Quadrantids is a meteor shower without a proven parent, named after an obsolete constellation.
For the best viewing, go out late Thursday evening, January 3, dressed for polar conditions, and recline facing the largest patch of unobstructed sky at your site. The peak display is expected at about 2 a.m., when you might see 60 or more meteors per hour. Many of the meteors are bluish in color and leave long trains in the sky. Only the Perseids and Geminids are comparable in richness.

While you are out, don't fail to notice the brilliance of the Red Planet, Mars, shining in the constellation, Gemini, high in the southern sky. Its nearness and high position in the sky provide the opportunity to get clear views of detail on the Martian surface with a telescope. It won't be this close again for many years.

The Sun sets at 4:30 PM; night falls at
6:13. Dawn breaks at 5:45 AM, ending with sunrise at
7:26.

Two bright planets occupy opposite sectors of the twilight sky. Mercury begins an appearance in the southwest. It is quite low and not easily seen. It achieves greatest elongation this week; Mercury sets at 5 PM, so an observer should move quickly.

Mars rises shortly before sunset and remains up most of the night. Mars continues westward until January’s end, and blazes off of Castor’s foot. The Red Planet lies about three and a half degrees from the binocular star cluster M35 and seven degrees from the telescopic supernova remnant M1.

By midnight Saturn joins Mars and both act as bright beacons. Saturn remains under Leo’s belly. It is best viewed after Midnight until Dawn.

Pre-dawn skies are very active. Mars is low in the West. Saturn lies high in the South. The Last Quarter Moon rises at 1:20 AM, very close to the bright star Spica in Virgo. Wednesday morning finds a slimmer Moon midway between Virgo and Libra. Venus rises just above Scorpius, competing with the red star Antares for attention. Finally, Jupiter rises after daybreak.
It is found low in the southeast. In all, half of the Solar System’s planets are seen between 5:45 and 7:25 AM.

Tuesday is, of course, New Year’s Day. Other cultures celebrate different days. For some, it is the spring equinox, others the winter solstice. Ancient Egyptians marked the rising of the star Sirius. Western calendars begin on January First – thanks to Julius Caesar. The Roman calendar was a mess; it contained 354 days. Extra months had to be inserted to keep in step with the Sun. While Caesar courted Cleopatra, he met her astronomer, Sosigenes, who recommended calendar reform. Caesar adopted those suggestions. On January First 45 BC, the new calendar became effective. It called for 365 days and twelve months. A leap year would be added every four years, to keep the calendar in sync with the Sun. With minor changes, this is the calendar we now use.