This Week's Sky at a Glance for January 7 – 15.

This Week's Sky at a Glance

Some daily events in the changing sky for January 7 – 15.

by Alan M. MacRobert

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Friday, January 7

This is the coldest time of year on average (for northern latitudes). But look low in the east-northeast after 9 or 9:30 p.m. and there you'll see Regulus and the Sickle of Leo already on the rise — a distant foreshadowing of the coming of spring.

The waxing Moon currently passes well north of Jupiter. (These scenes are drawn for the middle of North America. European observers: move each Moon symbol a quarter of the way toward the one for the previous date. For clarity, the Moon is shown three times its actual apparent size.)

Sky & Telescope diagram

Saturday, January 8

The waxing crescent Moon is closing in on Jupiter day by day, as shown in the mid-evening (9 p.m.) view here.

Venus is at greatest eastern elongation, 47° west of the Sun in the morning sky — the bright "Morning Star" in the southeast. Mercury too is at greatest morning elongation (23° west of the Sun) just one day later. Look for Mercury far to Venus's lower left; don't confuse it with Antares closer below Venus. See the scene under "This Week's Planet Roundup" below.

Sunday, January 9

The crescent Moon shines to the right or lower right of Jupiter, as shown here. Jupiter is positioned nearly on the ecliptic, but the Moon is currently traveling 5° north of the ecliptic, which is why it misses Jupiter by such a wide margin.

In a telescope, Jupiter's Great Red Spot crosses the planet's central meridian around 8:34 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

A little later, Jupiter's satellites Callisto and Europa are both in front of Jupiter's face (and thus hard to see, if not invisible) from 7:49 to 8:13 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (9:49 to 10:13 p.m. Central Standard Time).

Monday, January 10

The waxing Moon is now above or upper right of Jupiter.

Tuesday, January 11

A small telescope will show Jupiter's moon Europa gradually reappearing out of eclipse from Jupiter's shadow around 8:05 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, just east of the planet. For a complete listing of all of Jupiter's satellite events this month, good worldwide, see the January Sky & Telescope, page 40.

Wednesday, January 12

First-quarter Moon (exact at 6:31 a.m. EST on this date). Look above the Moon this evening for the little constellation Aries.

Thursday, January 13

Aries is now to the right of the Moon.

Friday, January 14

In this coldest time of the year, the Little Dipper hangs straight down from Polaris after dinnertime as if (per Leslie Peltier) from a nail on the cold north wall of the sky.

Jupiter's Great Red Spot crosses the planet's central meridian around 7:44 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Saturday, January 15

The gibbous Moon shines between Aldebaran and the Pleiades, high above Orion in early evening. Look below Orion for Sirius.