股票重组一般要多久:This Week's Sky at a Glance for December 31 – January 8

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This Week's Sky at a Glance

Some daily events in the changing sky for December 31 – January 8.

by Alan M. MacRobert

Thewaning Moon passes Venus, Antares, and low Mercury in the dawn. (Thesescenes are drawn for the middle of North America. European observers:move each Moon symbol a quarter of the way toward the one for theprevious date. For clarity, the Moon is shown three times actual size.)Sky & Telescope diagramFriday, December 31

  • The eclipsing variable starAlgol in Perseus is at its minimum light, magnitude 3.4 instead of itsusual 2.1, for a couple hours centered on 6:47 p.m. EST. It takesseveral more hours to rebrighten.
  • After the noise andrevelry at the turning of midnight, step outside into the silent, colddark. If the sky is clear, Sirius will be shining at its highest duesouth. To its upper right, Orion is just beginning to tilt westward. ToSirius's upper left shines Procyon. And (if you're near latitude 39°north) Capella and the Castor-Pollux pair straddle the zenith. You'reseeing a preview of how the stars will be arranged at nightfall towardwinter's end.
  • At dawn on the morning of January 1st(are you really going to be up then?) look far below Venus in thesoutheast for the thin crescent Moon. Antares and Mercury are also inthe scene, as shown here.

    Saturday, January 1

  • Sirius, the Dog Star,sparkles low in the east-southeast after dinnertime. Procyon, the LittleDog Star, shines in the east about two fist-widths at arm's length toSirius's left. If you live around latitude 30° (Tijuana, New Orleans,Jacksonville), the two canine stars will be at the same height aboveyour horizon soon after they rise. If you're north of that latitude,Procyon will be higher. If you're south of there, Sirius will be thehigher one.
  • At dawn Sunday morning, look for very thinwaning crescent Moon lower right of Mercury low in the southeast, asshown above. Binoculars will become necessary as dawn brightens.

    Sunday, January 2

  • Uranus (magnitude 5.9) iswithin ½° of Jupiter this evening through Wednesday evening. It's justabove or upper right of Jupiter as seen with binoculars frommid-northern latitudes. Don't confuse it with the 5.5-magnitude star 20Piscium to Jupiter's lower right. Can you see a hint of aquamarine-greencolor in Uranus?

    Lepus, the Hare, eternally crouches below Orion's feet.Sky & Telescope diagramMonday, January 3

  • South of the feet of brightOrion, the Hunter, crouches dim Lepus, the Hare, quarry that Orion seemsto be completely overlooking. Unlike many constellations, Lepus looksjust like what it's supposed to represent. The Hare has a bunched-upbody, long ears below Rigel, and a pointy nose aimed west. Undermoderate to serious light pollution only his two neck stars are visible,but you can find the rest with binoculars. Just remember that Lepus isquite a bit larger than a binocular's field of view.
  • The Quadrantid meteor shower may be visible tonight, depending on yourlocation. Best chances are early Tuesday morning from Europe throughCentral Asia; also possible Monday evening for eastern North America.For more info see the January Sky & Telescope, page 40.
  • Earth passes through perihelion, its closest to the Sun for the year (just 3.4% closer than at aphelion in July).

    Tuesday, January 4

  • Bright Vega is gettinglow now in the northwest after dark. Above it shines Deneb, the head ofthe Northern Cross — which has turned nearly upright as it heads down toplant itself in the northwestern horizon (as seen from mid-northernlatitudes).
  • New Moon (exact at 4:03 a.m. EST). The new Moon partially eclipses the Sun for a large region of Africa, Eastern Europe, and Southwest Asia; see maps and other info. You can watch a webcast of the partial eclipse here, here, or here.

    Wednesday, January 5

  • By 8 p.m. the WinterTriangle is well up in the east-southeast. It consists of Betelgeuse inOrion's leftmost corner, bright Sirius far below, and Procyon to theleft of these two. It's altogether nicer than the more famous SummerTriangle — brighter, more colorful, and equilateral!

    Scorpiushas begun its slow trek from dawn backward through the night to becomean evening constellation of summer. (The blue 10° scale as about thewidth of your fist held at arm's length.)Sky & Telescope diagramThursday, January 6

  • The two inner planets,Venus and Mercury, continue shining in the southeast at dawn almostunchanged since the beginning of the week, as shown at right fortomorrow morning. But notice that Antares and the rest of the starrybackground have slid a little higher toward Venus: the season marcheson.

    Friday, January 7

  • This week is the coldestof the year on average. But look low in the east-northeast after 9 or9:30 p.m. and there you'll see Regulus and the Sickle of Leo already onthe rise — a distant foreshadowing of the coming of spring.

    Saturday, January 8

  • Venus is at greatest elongation, 47° west of the Sun in the morning sky. This is nearly when Venus appears half-lit, or at dichotomy,in a telescope. In the coming weeks and months Venus will grow thicklygibbous while shrinking in apparent diameter; it's pulling far ahead ofEarth in its faster orbit and is beginning to swing around to the farside of the Sun.


    • This Week's Sky at a Glance for December 31 – January 8 This Week's Sky at a Glance for January 7 – 15. This Week's Sky at a Glance for January 14 – 22 This Week's Sky at a Glance for January 21 – 29 This Week's Sky at a Glance for January 28 – February 5 This Week's Sky at a Glance for April 8 – 16 This Week's Sky at a Glance for September 8 – 17 This Week's Sky at a Glance for February 4 – 12 This Week's Sky at a Glance for February 18 – 26. This Week's Sky at a Glance for March 4 – 12 This Week's Sky at a Glance for March 18 – 26 This Week's Sky at a Glance for March 25 – April 2. This Week's Sky at a Glance for April 15 – 23 This Week's Sky at a Glance for April 22 –30 This Week's Sky at a Glance for May 20 – 28 This Week's Sky at a Glance for May 27 – June 4. This Week's Sky at a Glance for June 3 – 6 This Week's Sky at a Glance for June 17 – 25 This Week's Sky at a Glance for July 29 – August 6 This Week's Sky at a Glance for September 16 – 24 This Week's Sky at a Glance for June 24 - July 2 This Week's Sky at a Glance - SkyandTelescope.com This Week's Sky at a Glance February 25 – March 5. This Week's Sky at a Glance April 1 – 9