Skywatching in January 2024 features the Quadrantid meteor shower, planetary combinations with the Moon, and the ever-changing star positions due to Earths orbit, with stars rising 4 minutes earlier each day. The third quarter moon will lighten up the eastern sky after midnight, however patient skywatchers may observe a couple of bright “fireball” meteors.January 8– Look for brilliant Venus rising with a slim crescent Moon in the southeast, in the hour before dawn. The presence of the very first quarter moon makes for fantastic viewing chances as you sweep across the sky: exploring the Moon, then Jupiter and its moons, the Pleiades, the Hyades, and the Orion Nebula.January 25– Full moonSky chart showing Venus with the Moon, as well as Mercury, in the January 8 early morning sky. The shower is active through around January 12th, so you might catch a fireball in the week after the peak when the Moon has moved out of the predawn sky.On January 8th, in the hour before dawn, look for dazzling Venus increasing with a slim crescent Moon in the southeast. The Moon will appear quite close to the red giant star Antares, the intense red heart of Scorpius, that early morning.
Skywatching in January 2024 includes the Quadrantid meteor shower, planetary conjunctions with the Moon, and the ever-changing star positions due to Earths orbit, with stars increasing four minutes earlier every day. Credit: SciTechDaily.comWhat are some skywatching highlights in January 2024? The year kicks off with the Quadrantid meteors, and some excellent Moon-planet pairings. Plus, did you know the stars shift in the sky by four minutes each day?WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Meteors and moving stars!The moderate Quadrantid meteor shower is active from December 28 to January 12, and peaks overnight on January 3. The Moon will rinse faint meteors, but the shower frequently produces brilliant fireball meteors. And while you have most likely noticed how the constellations shift over the seasons, did you understand that modification takes place at a rate of 4 minutes per day?January skywatching highlights: January 3– The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks over night and into the morning of the 4th. The 3rd quarter moon will lighten up the eastern sky after midnight, but client skywatchers may observe a couple of bright “fireball” meteors.January 8– Look for brilliant Venus increasing with a slim crescent Moon in the southeast, in the hour before daybreak. The Moon will appear really close to bright red star Antares, appearing to pass in front of the star for observers in parts of the Western U.S. Planet Mercury is also visible, low in the southeast, this morning.January 11– New moonJanuary 13 & & 14– See the crescent Moon together with Saturn. Find the set in the southwest for a number of hours following sunset on both nights.January 17 & & 18– The Moon pairs up with Jupiter, appearing high in the southwest, for two evenings.January 14-20– If you have access to a telescope or binoculars, this is an excellent week to pull them out. The existence of the first quarter moon produces fantastic seeing opportunities as you sweep throughout the sky: checking out the Moon, then Jupiter and its moons, the Pleiades, the Hyades, and the Orion Nebula.January 25– Full moonSky chart showing Venus with the Moon, along with Mercury, in the January 8 morning sky. Credit: NASA/JPL-CaltechVideo TranscriptWhats Up for January? Some moderate meteor activity, numerous fantastic pair-ups of the Moon and worlds, and how just four minutes a day can make a big distinction in your view of deep space … The year kicks off with the Quadrantid meteor shower, which peaks after midnight on January 4th. Light from the third-quarter moon will brighten the sky on the peak night, triggering fainter meteors to be lost from view. However the shower does produce a decent variety of brilliant meteors called fireballs, so it can still deserve your time. If seeing from a dark sky location, you might see 20-25 meteors per hour at the peak. You can capture a few meteors in the few days before or after, as well. In fact, the shower is active through around January 12th, so you may capture a fireball in the week after the peak when the Moon has moved out of the predawn sky.On January 8th, in the hour before dawn, search for dazzling Venus increasing with a slim crescent Moon in the southeast. Brilliant star Arcturus hangs high above them. The Moon will appear rather close to the red giant star Antares, the intense red heart of Scorpius, that early morning. And for observers in parts of the Western U.S., the Moon will actually occult, or pass in front of, Antares as the pair are increasing that early morning. And if you have a view of the horizon, this is also good morning to spot Mercury before the sky brightens. Its quite low, however increases above 10 degrees off the horizon as dawn warms the sky, and it will be shining even brighter than Arcturus.Next up, the crescent moon gos to Saturn on the 13th and 14th. Youll discover the pair in the southwest for a number of hours following sundown both nights. Then the Moon pair with Jupiter in the evening on the 18th and 17th. This is really an excellent week to pull out the telescope or binoculars, due to the fact that as quickly as its totally dark, you can work your way throughout the sky, starting with Jupiter and its moons, our own Moon, the Pleiades, Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster, and the Orion Nebula.One of the things that makes skywatching so intriguing is that the sky is always altering. The stars rise in the east and embeded in the west each night. The Moon gradually wanes and waxes as it goes through its regular monthly cycle. And most likely youve likewise noticed that which stars you can see on an offered night modifications gradually throughout the year. The brilliant stars and constellations we see on warm summer season nights are not the ones that fill the chilly sky in winter.This is because the stars rise 4 minutes previously every day, and it includes up with time. In just 1 week, an offered star will rise 28 minutes earlier than it does tonight. And in 1 month, the very same star will be rising about 2 hours earlier. So at 4 minutes daily, or 2 hours per month, after 6 months, the stars of summer are increasing a complete 12 hours previously than they did back in June, putting them high in the daytime sky. In their location, the night sky belongs to the stars of winter.This slow-motion cycle in the sky plays out every year as Earth moves in its orbit around the Sun. Our view outside into area throughout the night depends upon where Earth is in its orbit. At one part of the year, our view of area from Earths night side looks in one direction, and six months later on the view remains in the opposite instructions. And so our nighttime view of the universe changes over the course of the year, because the stars arent moving, we are! And that change occurs at a rate of 4 minutes per day.Here are the phases of the Moon for January. Stay up to date on NASAs missions checking out the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov. Im Preston Dyches from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and thats Whats Up for this month.