{"id":41008,"date":"2023-01-22T08:01:03","date_gmt":"2023-01-22T08:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=115403"},"modified":"2023-01-22T08:32:29","modified_gmt":"2023-01-22T08:32:29","slug":"star-diary-23-to-29-january-2023","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/star-diary-23-to-29-january-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Diary: 23 to 29 January, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

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

Published: Sunday, 22 January 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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What\u2019s in the night sky of the week of 23 to 29 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 23 to 29 January. I\u2019m Ezzy Pearson, the magazine\u2019s features editor and I\u2019m joined on the podcast today by reviews editor Paul Money. Hello, Paul.<\/p>\n

Paul Money <\/strong>Hello, Ezzy. Wow. I can\u2019t believe we\u2019re dealing with the end of January already.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>I know. Time goes quickly.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>It\u2019s not fair, is it? However, now, last week we almost left you on a cliff-hanger because we had the conjunction of Venus<\/a> with Saturn. Literally the next day, so that was on Sunday, the next day, Monday 23rd, they\u2019re joined by the crescent Moon. The Moon is back in the evening sky. Now deep sky observers will probably go \u201cBoo!\u201d Because it does mean it\u2019ll get higher and higher and start to interfere with the night sky. But you\u2019re alright! I always say you\u2019re alright the first week until it gets the first quarter.after first quartet, then it interferes more. So on the 23rd you have this really thin crescent and this\u2019ll be to the left of Venus. Now Venus will now be slightly upper left of Saturn that\u2019s how much Venus moves. It was below left of Saturn at conjunction, it\u2019s now to the upper left of Saturn on 23rd. So the moon joins them and this will be a great photo opportunity, but it\u2019ll also be great in binoculars as well. So do get out, have a look in the evening twilight for this. This ephemeral moon with Venus and Saturn in the evening sky. you don\u2019t want to be looking towards really the southwestern horizon, I would say about 5:30. I always make sure you\u2019ve got to make sure the Sun set. You know, that\u2019s golden rule, isn\u2019t it Ezzy. Always, make sure the sun has sent out the way, but don\u2019t leave it too late because obviously they will set because they\u2019re in the twilight as well. So 5:30 UK time an ideal time to actually see them in the bright twilight and follow them down, setting. But you do have to have, we often say this, but a long plotted horizon. This is the problem with lots of the events. What we see do happen towards the horizon, don\u2019t they? But then that\u2019s because we\u2019re dealing with twilight planets.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Yeah. If you if you, if you\u2019re dealing with the planets, they do tend to be a bit lower in the night sky unfortunately because of the way that the Solar System works. But sometimes they get a bit higher in the night sky. Venus is going to be reasonably high in the night sky this year. So that\u2019s going to be a great chance to see that.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Yes, it\u2019s a great year for Venus, in actual fact. So, you know, that\u2019ll be great to watch that creep out and get higher because we tend to think of the twilight planets \u2013 Mercury<\/a>. Mercury always does linger in the evening twilight, whereas Venus always like\u2026 makes a break for it Ezzy. You know, \u201cI\u2019m going to get away from the twilight\u201d. It can be seen for several\u2026 I guess the point I can set four hours after the Sun. So that\u2019s in a dark sky and that\u2019s when it can be quite dazzling as well. So yes, we\u2019ll have some good views of Venus this year. Now, though, couple of days later and we\u2019re dealing with the moon again, But it makes a lovely triangle with Neptune<\/a> and Jupiter<\/a>. This is the 25 January. Look, a little bit later, about 6:30 sort of thing, you know, But he\u2019s high in the sky, so they will take a lot longer to actually set, but they\u2019re not too far from the Circlet of Pisces. This is an interesting asterism. We have the constellations, which are the traditional constellations, which we know as Pisces the Fishes, etc., Pegasus, the Flying Horse, etc.. Well, with Pisces, the end of the right hand of the fish is actually they call it a Circlet. Well, this is the oddest Circlet I\u2019ve ever seen, so definitely not a circlet as far as I\u2019m concerned. But it\u2019s an interesting sort of, you know, shaped feature. But we call it the circle of Pisces. Now, Neptune is sort of like, you know, not too far from that. And so all we\u2019ve got is we got Neptune, then a little bit higher up, we\u2019ve got this crescent Moon and you should still see some Earthshine<\/a>. But it will be diminishing because the crescent phase is getting thicker and then almost a bove and slightly to the left will be Jupiter. Now Jupiter is obvious, you know. It\u2019s very bright, other than Venus it\u2019s the brightest object in the night sky. But you\u2019ve got this lovely Moon forming this like, shallow triangle with Neptune and Jupiter. And because the distances are almost equal, you can give that as a guide to finding Neptune. Now, admittedly, you do need a small\u2026 Large binoculars or a small telescope and a good finder chart. And obviously we provide them in the magazine and online as well anyway. So, you know, it is well worth having look. Just I think photographically you can get them because Neptune will show up photographically quite well and you\u2019ll be able to identify using the star charts which dot of light is actually Neptune. You can get a picture of Jupiter, the Crescent Moon and Neptune all in one go at the same time. Obviously, you know, it\u2019s worth having no telescope on them. But you know, it\u2019s a nice it\u2019s nice to see it naked eye and then scan with binoculars and then home in with a telescope to each one.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Yes, because as you said, it does form a pretty perfect looking isosceles triangle with the moon at right at the tip. So if you are maybe looking to try and find Neptune for the first time and you want a bit of help and a bit of guidance, this could be a perfect week to to try and do that. Because Neptune, it is one of the trickier ones, it is not requiring binoculars or a telescope, unlike most of the planets which are just you look and they are there in the sky all big and bright and obvious. In fact most of the time, if you notice something bright in the night sky, it\u2019s probably a planet.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Yes. The number of times I\u2019ve been asked \u201cWhat\u2019s that bright star next to the moon?\u201d I\u2019ve often said, \u201cThat\u2019s no star, that\u2019s a planet.\u201d Cause that\u2019s usually the case as. But as we do note these stories, you know, the moon does pass some of the brightest stars as well. But, you know, it has some really good encounters with planets, which I always like, especially when they\u2019re really close. And of course, last December we had the occultation of Mars that was like not just a close one, it\u2019s a complete finish. So I want to finish this week. It\u2019s a bit of a long list, but we mentioned Comet C 2022\/E3 ZTF<\/a> and the ZTF is this Zenith Transit Facility. And they were the ones that discovered it. I mean, they get confusing down there with all these different surveys Leonis and all sorts of thing, you know, to actually find these. Panstarrs as well.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>\u00a0I think a lot of people are just referring to this one as Comet E3<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Yeah. Yeah.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>To make it a bit a bit more\u2026 less of a mouthful.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Exactly. Sort of thing. So E3. So it sounds like something you\u2019d find in a movie, a sci fi movie as well. It actually moves into being circumpolar and may brighten to naked eye visibility. Now binoculars should be enough to actually follow it. On 23rd it lies next to the star Iota Draconis. So they\u2019ll give you a if you\u2019ve got a star chart, you can find Iota. And in actual fact, it\u2019s the curvy part, curving between the two bears. So it\u2019s curving around Ursa Minor, and then the rest of Draco lies between the two bears, the great bear and the little bear. So this is a great.. I mean, you know, if you can find the pole stars, you can find the great bear, you should be able to home in on this region to find this comet, this new additional object to observe. So on 23rd lies close to Iota Draconis. We think it\u2019ll be about magnitude 5.6, +5.6.. Now that\u2019s technically naked eye. But you do need a dark sky, no light pollution. And ideally for that you should be really high as well. Well, it\u2019s getting up towards the pole star, so it\u2019s not doing too bad. So it\u2019s tracking now between the two bears. It\u2019ll be closer to the little bear, to be fair, but at least you\u2019ve got an idea of where to look. So on 27th, it lies just a few degrees away from the second brightest star in Ursa Minor. This is beta Ursa Minor, Kokab, so that\u2019s a key to look for it. And Kokab is a sort of yellow orangish stars, so they\u2019re nice coloured star for you to actually look at as well. Now by the time we get towards the end of the week, we hope the comet will have brightened to around a magnitude of 5.0, perhaps 4.8, we don\u2019t know. Comets are very fickle things Ezzy. You know, we\u2019ve had plenty of comets over the last few years where we had great expectations and you know, so them I think there\u2019s a book you could write called that. So anyway. The thing about it is they can often fizzle, you know. So we have great expectations, hoping they\u2019re going to be great and we can keep our fingers crossed for E3. It seems reasonably consistent, so fingers crossed that we can actually see it. And as it gets brighter than magnitude 5.0, so if it does get to 4.8.. but getting close to the sort of magnitude of the core of the Andromeda Galaxy<\/a>. So if you can see the Andromeda Galaxy, there is a good chance with a good sky, dark sky, you might see it as a little fuzzy haze. But don\u2019t get too excited, it\u2019ll be a fuzzy high. But binoculars and a small telescope should show it quite well. Now on\u00a0 29th. It will lie roughly on a line. If you take a line from the pointer stars to Polaris<\/a>. That\u2019s why they call the point stars. Not to be confused with the Pointer Sisters, which of course is a pop group. But the pointer stars is the Great Bear<\/a> point up towards Polaris. We often use them, that\u2019s why they called the pointer stars, because you can find north. You find the pole star, you\u2019re looking north. So this is a great way because you can follow the pointer stars. And if you sweep up with binoculars, there should only be one fuzzy blob. And I do look my fuzzy blobs in the night sky. But this will be really fuzzy because it\u2019s a comet. So there should only be one fuzzy blob on that line between the pointer stars and Polaris. So if we sweep around the area, you should find the comet. So we\u2019ve got great hopes. I hope we won\u2019t be disappointed because obviously we\u2019re doing this sort of thing a week before. Just fingers crossed it could happen. So, you know, this will be at its brightest. And it\u2019s high. And I mean, it\u2019s well placed, it\u2019s visible all night. You know, when you\u2019ve got an object in the vicinity of the pole star, you know, you\u2019re circumpolar. So you\u2019ve got all night if you wanted to observe. And if you do follow it all night, you will actually pick up the motion. You\u2019ll start to see it moving between individual stars themselves. So I always find that exciting as well, because you you get a sense of the Solar System in motion as well. We often sort of lose that because the sky looks fixed. So when you get an object that\u2019s moving quite quick across the sky, literally each day is in a different position, then you get a better sense. And if you can see it moving within, say, a few minutes with a telescope view. Then I think that\u2019s quite exciting. So gives you a real sense that you\u2019re in a\u00a0 working Solar System. It\u2019s operational.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>It\u2019s you do kind of forget that because these things \u2013 especially with something like a planet or an asteroid or the moon, which is something else that you can see drifting across the night sky \u2013 you kind of forget how fast these things are moving because it takes weeks to go a tiny distance across the night sky. Faster in the case of the Moon. But actually, these things are going to in the tens of thousands of kilometres per hour and the travelling, speeding around the Solar System.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>And they\u2019re just so far away. The apparent motion looks small to us, doesn\u2019t it? Sort of. And that\u2019s the problem. Yeah.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Exactly. It\u2019s the distances involved are rather large. But yes. And comets, as you said, are a great way to sort of see that motion across the Solar System. They\u2019re also one of the very few unpredictable things in astronomy. So much of this thing\u2019s so much more sort of we can predict, you know, decades, centuries and even in advance, whereas comets, it could be the day before. You don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen, which is why we have a running guide keeping track of the comet, Comet E3. So if you want to have really up to date view of what\u2019s going on with that comet. Be sure to head over to www.skyatnightmagazine.com. Link should be down in the show notes so you can go straight there if you want to find out more about the comet.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>So there we are is a great way to end the week. Go isn\u2019t it? With a comet. An extra visitor to visitor to our skies.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Yes, it does sound like it\u2019s been it\u2019s going to be a really good week starting on 23 January. We\u2019ve got Venus and Saturn will be close to each other, joined by the crescent moon in the evening sky. So a great time to see that. 25 January, the Moon, Neptune and Jupiter will be forming a lovely triangle, which is great opportunity to try and find Neptune if you\u2019ve never looked at it before. And they\u2019ll be hanging out near to the separate of Pisces. And throughout the week from 23rd, right the way through to 29th, going beyond hopefully Comet\/E3 will be in the night sky, perhaps maybe even getting up to the stage where you can see it with the naked eye, if you\u2019re lucky, in a good side. But you never know how these things are going to go. So hopefully there\u2019s lots in there that you can. So hopefully there\u2019s something in that that you\u2019ll be able to get up and see this week. Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us about all of those things.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Pleasure. And we\u2019ll see you next week.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>And if you\u2019ve enjoyed us running down all the things you can and if you enjoyed hearing running us down, all of the things that you can see in the night sky, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and maybe think about leaving us a review. It really does help us and make sure that we get out there to even more people. So thank you very much and we\u2019ll see you here next week.<\/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 <\/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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By Ezzy Pearson Published: Sunday, 22 January 2023 at 12:00 am What\u2019s in the night sky of the week of 23 to 29 January 2023 in our weekly stargazing guide. https:\/\/open.acast.com\/public\/streams\/61ba00841a8cbe40143cf08e\/episodes\/63c941069ae24b00118b8ecf.mp3 Chris Bramley Hello and welcome to Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. You can subscribe to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":41009,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"14"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/star-diary-23-to-29-january-2023.jpg",1500,1000,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/star-diary-23-to-29-january-2023-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/star-diary-23-to-29-january-2023-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/star-diary-23-to-29-january-2023-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/star-diary-23-to-29-january-2023-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/star-diary-23-to-29-january-2023.jpg",1500,1000,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/star-diary-23-to-29-january-2023.jpg",1500,1000,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Ezzy Pearson Published: Sunday, 22 January 2023 at 12:00 am What\u2019s in the night sky of the week of 23 to 29 January 2023 in our weekly stargazing guide. https:\/\/open.acast.com\/public\/streams\/61ba00841a8cbe40143cf08e\/episodes\/63c941069ae24b00118b8ecf.mp3 Chris Bramley Hello and welcome to Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. You can subscribe to the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/41008"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}