{"id":40038,"date":"2023-01-08T08:05:14","date_gmt":"2023-01-08T08:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=114685"},"modified":"2023-01-08T09:32:28","modified_gmt":"2023-01-08T09:32:28","slug":"star-diary-9-to-15-january-2023","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/star-diary-9-to-15-january-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Diary: 9 to 15 January, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Ezzy Pearson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 08 January 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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What\u2019s in the night sky of the week of 9 to 15 January 2023 in our weekly stargazing guide<\/p>\n\n

Chris Bramley <\/strong>Hello and welcome to Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/a>. You can subscribe to the print edition of the magazine by visiting skyatnightmagazine.com<\/a> or digital edition by visiting on iTunes or Google Play.<\/p>\n

Ezzy Pearson <\/strong>Greetings listeners and welcome to Star Diary, a weekly guide to the best things to see in the Northern Hemisphere\u2019s night sky. As we are based here in the UK, all times are in GMT. In this episode we\u2019ll be covering the coming week from the 9 to 15 January. I\u2019m Ezzy Pearson, the magazine\u2019s features editor. I\u2019m joined on the podcast today by reviews editor Paul Money. Hello Paul.<\/p>\n

Paul Money <\/strong>Hello, Ezzy. Another interesting week and of course, I look forward to what\u2019s happening in the rest of the year as well.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Yeah, I\u2019m really excited to hear it. So come on Paul, tell us what\u2019s coming up this week and beyond.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Well, this week our Moon now lies in the morning sky. So if you like to watch things like the winter constellations<\/a>, the winter stars, Orion<\/a>, Taurus<\/a> and don\u2019t forget in Taurus, you\u2019ve got Mars lingering there as well, so you know really bright. And just a matter of interest, compare the red colour of Mars with Aldebaran<\/a>. Aldebaran is an orangey red star. So you compare the two colours whilst Mars is in the vicinity. You\u2019ve got things like Auriga<\/a>, and of course at the moment the brightest star in the night sky \u2013 and I do emphasise the night sky because I once said in the sky, and somebody pointed out the Sun was the brightest one \u2013 we have Sirius. So there\u2019s a lot to be seen. And of course, there\u2019s lots of details of what to see in the deep sky with binoculars and telescopes in the January issue Sky Guide as well. So we really ought to use that as a reference. However, I mentioned the Moon. Yes, it\u2019s in the morning sky. It lies near to Regulus, Alpha Leonis, on 10th and 11th, so it\u2019s effectively either side really as it moves past it. Then Porrima, which is Gamma Virginis on 13th and Spica on the 14th. So they\u2019re in the pre-dawn sky and I do like these encounters with stars sort of thing because people do notice them. They always say, What\u2019s that star next to the Moon? So, you know, we can tell them, just check the Star Diary podcast or go online and check the magazine website. Now Mars reaches what we call a stationary point<\/a> on 12th. Now, up until now, it\u2019s been moving west against the background stars. But after this, it takes over and does what we call normal prograde motion. So therefore it\u2019s the normal motion and therefore it\u2019s moving towards the east. So it looks strange and it must have been really weird to the ancients to see the planet, which means wandering star. It comes to a halt, stops \u2013 what\u2019s going on there, who\u2019s pull on the brakes there? \u2013 and then it starts moving the opposite direction again. So I must admit\u2026 We always have this happen in this particular station, stationary point always occurs after opposition. So of course opposition was on 8 December sort of thing. So we\u2019re well past that now. We\u2019re a month past that. So by the time we get into the second week of January, say around about 12th, it reaches a stationary point and as I say it\u2019s in Taurus as well. So that\u2019s where you want to compare it with Aldebaran. Now, looking ahead, Mars actually, it\u2019s one of those that it keeps ahead of the Sun. It\u2019s motion keeps it longer in the sky. So we actually keep it right up until July and then it\u2019ll be lost in the evening, twilight. In early July, we\u2019ll have a chance for to see close to Venus<\/a>. So that\u2019s worth looking at. They won\u2019t have a conjunction, they won\u2019t be very close, but they\u2019ll be a few degrees apart sort of thing. So as far as I\u2019m concerned, close enough that you should notice them in the twilight sky. After that, it\u2019ll actually move into the morning sky sort of thing, but is very low in the twilight. So I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll be seeing Mars after that. So the first half of the year, certainly into July, that\u2019s when we\u2019ll keep Mars. So we\u2019ll have had Mars for a long time in our sky, most of 2022. And now at least half in 2023 as well. Meanwhile, Saturn lies low in the evening sky, and after January, to be fair, it will be lost as it reaches conjunction in February on the 16th with the Sun. So, you know, that\u2019s it its gone. It takes a while to emerge, even though it emerges in March, but it very poorly placed. And the problem with March, because the nights are slowly getting lighter and so we find it sort of struggles against that. So it\u2019s really about\u2026 Saturn about\u2026 Late July onwards, that it\u2019ll start to really become more prominent. Opposition in August, 27 August. And after that it\u2019s in the evening sky. So it\u2019s more of a second half of the year planet at the moment, but is very slowly for us. Astrophotographers and planetary imagers. It is slowly creeping up the ecliptic. It takes time and it does have an orbit of 29 years. So it takes its time slightly, but it is improving.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>We have gone through a couple of years where the planets haven\u2019t been particularly well placed. So are they slowly improving and getting better across the board?<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Yes, they are. I mean, Jupiter\u2019s really improved. I mean, I remember back just two years ago, we were moaning about Jupiter being fairly close to Saturn. Round about 2020 they were quite close to Saturn. And they were in Sagittarius and they were at the lowest they could be. So they were awful because, well, from our latitude we\u2019re looking through a thicker part of the atmosphere. So it makes the image mushy so it\u2019s harder to see detail. But Jupiter, of course, has an orbital period of 12 years, so it\u2019s racing up the ecliptic now. So it\u2019s becoming really well placed to observe and in a high position in the sky. So astrophotographers are getting some great pictures of Jupiter now. In the case of the other planet, I say Saturn, it\u2019s crawling, but it is with each prog\u2026 For the good news is each year it\u2019s going to improve and it\u2019s going to get better. It just takes a lot longer, nearly twice as long as Jupiter. Neptune and Uranus are quite high up actually in the\u2026 along the ecliptic. So in actuality they are quite decently placed. Neptune lies in the evening sky but will be lost by February. And again, because it\u2019s a faint planet really needs binoculars or a small telescope. You\u2019re not going to really pick it up until just before, say, late July into August with opposition in September. And then after that it\u2019s in the evening sky as well. So again, it\u2019s more of an evening planet for the latter half of the year. Jupiter we mentioned, it\u2019s good to view in the evening until about late March then moves into the morning sky. It does actually reappear quite\u2026 Like Venus, it\u2019s bright, so it reappears quite quickly. Its opposition is November. So again, it\u2019s taken a time but we are morning sky. So it is gradually getting to be more of a late winter spring planet with Jupiter. But it is improving because it\u2019s getting higher in the sky. Uranus, well it\u2019s with us until around mid April in the evening. Sky and then conjunction with the Sun in May. So after that you have to wait, always until about July time with the opposition in November for it to become well placed to view. And although it\u2019s not a spectacular, we actually do have a partial lunar eclipse<\/a> and that\u2019s on October the 28th. Now\u2026 that really is partial.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>In it\u2019s something like 10% or something.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>But you know, I\u2019ve watched some of these. I will watch one, Lorraine and I set up, this was many years ago I had a review, telescope, it was a Vixen review telescope and we had one I think it\u2019s around the early mid 2000, early 2010 and we, we set off because it was rising in the evening\u2026 just going in and it was a little tiny piece. But the excitement as it rose, it was silly really. It was such a tiny percentage sort of thing. So, you know, I still get excited for that sort of thing. It\u2019ll be lovely to see it, actually in the sky as it goes through, but it is a small one.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>I will say this is for our listeners who are in the UK. We actually have a lot of listeners over in the US and you\u2019re going to have a bit more luck with eclipses this year. On the 14 October, there\u2019s going to be what\u2019s called an annular solar eclipse<\/a>. This is where there\u2019s a very thin ring of sunlight that\u2019s still visible around the outside of the ring. I\u2019ve never actually seen one, which I think that must be a very different experience to seeing a total solar eclipse, because I don\u2019t think you can see the corona like you can during a total solar eclipse, but it\u2019s still a very amazing things to see and I\u2019m sure there\u2019ll be lots of people going to experience that one because it\u2019s going to go right the way across the country, like the one back in 2017 that. So that\u2019s going to be super interesting. There\u2019s also a total solar eclipse on the 20th of April, but that\u2019s going to be visible from one very, very tiny corner from Australia I think is probably the only place where we have listeners that are going to be able to see it.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Hey, sounds like another holiday to me, both to America and to Australia. I need to raise more money. The annular eclipse is on my bucket list because I\u2019ve seen a total solar eclipse several times because I did various trips for them. But an annular one is on my bucket list because that\u2019s the one I haven\u2019t seen. And I gather it is just as a spectacular. But you\u2019re right, you don\u2019t get the corona because you still got this bright ring around it. But yes, I would still look to see something like that. You know, on me bucket list. It\u2019s like the green flash. You know, I\u2019ve not seen that. That\u2019s another one on the list. Something I must see the green flash. I\u2019m getting envious. I\u2019ve had a lot of friends say, oh yeah, I\u2019ve seen that. Grr.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>That one. You kind of have to get a bit lucky though, I think. That\u2019s just you have to be looking in the right place at the right time, and you can\u2019t really control when that\u2019s going to happen. Not that you can control anything of the night sky, but you can at least know when it\u2019s coming.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Exactly. Well Ezzy, that\u2019s the end of that round up for the year and for this week\u2019s observations. So, you know, I hope people get. A chance to see them, don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>It certainly sounds like there\u2019s a lot of great things that are going to be visible throughout the year. We will, of course, be covering them in the magazine, Sky at Night Magazine. So do be sure to subscribe to the magazine if you want to make sure that you\u2019re not going to miss out on any of the big events that are happening throughout the year and get your monthly sky guides delivered straight to your door.\u00a0 But this week, however, we\u2019ve got it\u2019s going to be a great week to see the winter constellations in the evening sky as the Moon is going to be right out of the way. And it\u2019s also a great opportunity, because Mars is going to be in Taurus. Maybe compare it to the other red star, Aldebaran. That\u2019s always a great thing to do. The moon is going to be next to several bright stars throughout the week, so keep an eye on that one. And then on 12 January, Mars is going to reach what\u2019s known as its stationary point, where it appears to change direction that it\u2019s moving across the night sky. So certainly a lot of things to look forward to, not just this week, but going forward through the rest of the year. So thank you very much Paul for taking us through them all.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>My pleasure.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>If you want to find out even more spectacular sites that will be gracing the night sky throughout the month, be sure to pick up a copy of BBC Sky at Night Magazine where we have a 16 page pull-out Sky guide with a full overview of everything worth looking up for. Whether you like to look at the moon, the planets, or the deep sky, whether you use binoculars, telescopes or neither, our sky guide has got you covered with the detailed star charts to help you track your way across the night sky. From all of us here at BBC Sky at Night Magazine. Goodbye.<\/p>\n

Chris Bramley <\/strong>Thank you for listening to this episode of the Star Diary podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. For more of our podcasts, visit our website at SkyatnightMagazine.com<\/a> or head to Acast, iTunes or Spotify.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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