Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday January 6th through Sunday January 12th.
The moon is at first quarter on Monday January 6th and then we’ll have a waxing gibbous moon for the rest of the week.
Venus is visible in the west-southwest at sunset and is setting at 9:30 p.m. at midweek. A look at Venus in a telescope or good binoculars will show that it is now only 50% illuminated, but it continues to grow in angular size and brightness. Venus will reach its greatest elongation from the Sun on Thursday night and then will begin to move back towards the Sun from the Earth’s perspective.
Saturn is above and to the left of Venus and is setting at 10:05 p.m. Saturn and Venus will continue to move closer together over the next couple of weeks.
Jupiter is high in the east-southeast after sunset and is setting at 4:55 a.m. at midweek, so it is still visible for most of the night. Look for Jupiter near the moon on Friday night.
Mars is rising at 6:15 p.m. at midweek and will reach its closest point to the Earth for this orbit on Sunday when it will be magnitude -1.4 in brightness and 14.6 arcseconds in size. The orbits of Earth and Mars bring the two planets close to one another every 26 months, but how close the planets are will vary over roughly a 15-year cycle. This orbit’s close approach is the second most distant of the cycle at 96 million kilometers. The next minimum distance close approach will be in September 2035 when our two planets will be a little less than 57 million kilometers apart.
Mercury is rising about an hour and 15 minutes before the sun this week.
The Earth was at perihelion on Saturday January 4th when it was 147.1 million kilometers from the sun. Compare that to aphelion which occurs in July when the Earth will be 152 million kilometers from the Sun.
Spring semester viewing on UT campus telescope will resume soon. Please check back for details on starting dates and times.
Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers Report.
