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Home -> Astronomy News -> Events -> January 2008
Post Info TOPIC: January 2008
Blobrana


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RE: January 2008
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Mercury: at magnitude -0.8, starts the month in the constellation of Sagittarius, moving into Capricornus on January 9. Mercury may just be visible in the evening twilight around the middle of the month. Best seen from 5.7h - 6.5h.
(On January 6th, RA=19h59m51s Dec=-22°44.0' (J2000) Distance=1.303AU Elongation= 12° Phase k=92% Diameter=5.2")

Venus: is a morning star of magnitude -4.1, The planet is in constellation Libra at the start of the month. On the 3rd Venus crosses into Scorpius and into Ophiuchus on January 7; the planet enters into Sagittarius on January 22. It is best seen from 5.3h -13.6h. Venus is close to Antares (6.4deg) on the 8th.
(On January 2nd, RA=16h04m58s Dec=-18°46.4' (J2000) Distance=1.158AU Elongation= 38° Phase k=76% Diameter=14.4")

spacer.gif Moon Phase Now!

Moon Phase Now!

Earth: The planet is at Perihelion (0.983 AU From Sun) at 13:00 on January 3. The distance is 0.9832801 AU, which is 147,096,600 km.

The Moon is at Perigee on the 19th January 10:21 UT, (distance to earth center: 366454.5 km) and at apogee on the 3rd, at 08:10.8 UT (distance to earth center: 405296.8 km). The Moon is 1° from Mars on the 19th.

Mars: at magnitude -1.5 starts the month in the constellation Taurus. Mars fades to 0.6 by the end of the month. The planet is best seen from 16.6h - 7.7h. Mars made its closest approach to Earth on December 19th. The planet continues to dazzle throughout January. Look for the bright planet in the northeastern sky after sunset. The nearly full moon passes close to Mars on the evening of the 19th.
(On January 1st, RA= 5h57m20s Dec=+26°57.0' (J2000) Distance=0.610AU Elongation=168° Phase k=99% Diameter=15.3")
Jupiter: is still bright at magnitude -1.8 in the constellation Sagittarius.
Jupiter will be visible in the morning sky for all but the start of the month. The planet is best seen from 8.0h - 8.4h.
(On January 2nd, RA=18h13m59s Dec=-23°13.9' (J2000) Distance=6.219AU Elongation= 8°)
The planet Jupiter is a source of huge radio storms. Click the link to hear the live audio stream.
The radio outbursts are in the frequency range 18 - 32 MHz. Sensitive receivers translate Jupiter's radio waves to audio sounds.
Click! For alternative listening site.
click here! for Great RedSpot Transit times.
Click! Check forum for Satellite predictions.

Saturn: at magnitude 0.6 sits in the constellation Leo. The planet emerges is a morning object this month, rising in the eastern skies just after midnight. The planet is best seen from 21.2h - 7.7h.
(On January 1st, RA=10h42m17s Dec=+10°01.6' (J2000) Distance=8.701AU Elongation=123°)
click here! for interactive Saturn moon calculator .

Uranus is in the constellation Aquarius, near Lambda Aquarii, magnitude 3.7. Uranus at magnitude 5.8, has a bluish-green hue and appears 3.7 arcseconds wide. The planet is visible now in southern skies during early evening.; this very dim object can be seen in binoculars or better still, small telescope, as a very blue-green starlike object. The planet is best seen from 17.3h -23.3h.
(On January 2nd, RA=23h07m05s Dec= -6°29.1' (J2000) Distance=20.511AU Elongation= 64°)

Neptune: in the constellation Capricornus less than 3 degrees northeast of the 4.3 mag star Iota Capricornii. The planet is low in the southwestern sky during early evening. A telescope will usually show a tiny bluish dot, only 2.5 arcseconds wide (mag 7.9). Neptune is best seen from 18.6h -19.6h. .
(On November 1st, RA=21h26m36s Dec=-15°21.4' (J2000) Distance=29.851AU Elongation=100°)

Pluto is in the constellation Sagittarius (mag 13.9) is not visible in the southern sky this month. Normally, a finder chart is necessary to help in identifying the 0.1" diameter dwarf planet. The dwarf planet is best seen from 18.1h - 6.2h.
(On January 1st, RA=17h56m07s Dec=-17°09.1' (J2000) Distance=32.351AU Elongation= 13°)

The Sun enters the zodiac sign Aquarius on the 20th January.



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Blobrana


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Objects in orbit that are predicted to decay and re-enter the Earths atmosphere on the date indicated:

Catalogue Number Name International
Designator		 Country
 		Decay
Date		 RCS
31479 FENGYUN 1C DEB 1999-025BVT PRC 2008-01-04 0.02
31872 CBERS 1 DEB 1999-057PX CHBZ 2008-01-06


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Position of Jupiter's satellites

JupSatjan08

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Position of Saturn's  satellites

SatSatjan08

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Jan ?? - STS-122 Launch, Space Shuttle Atlantis, ESA's Columbus Laboratory (ISS 1E)
Jan ?? - FSW-23 CZ-2D Launch (China)
Jan ?? - Cosmos-Parus/ Orbcomm-CDS 3/ Sterkh 1 (Cospas 11) Cosmos 3M Launch
Jan ?? - PW-Sat PSLV Launch (India)
Jan ?? - Feng Yun 3A/Small Multimission Spacecraft CZ-4B Launch (China)
Jan ?? - Cosmos-Persona N1 Soyuz 2-1b Launch
Jan ?? - Mesbah 1 Shahab 4 Launch (Iran)
Jan 01 - The Moon is 5° from Spica.
Jan 01 - Comet 8P/Tuttle Near-Earth Flyby (0.253 AU)
Jan 01 - Asteroid 434 Hungaria Occults TYC 5963-01049-1 (10.1 Magnitude Star)
Jan 01 - Asteroid 838 Seraphina Occults HIP 64218 (6.8 Magnitude Star)
Jan 01 - Asteroid 2003 FY6 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.018 AU)
Jan 02 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #142 (OTM-142)
Jan 02 - Asteroid 1862 Apollo Closest Approach To Earth (1.038 AU)
Jan 03 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Dione, Pallene, Janus, Prometheus & Pandora
Jan 03 - Earth is at Perihelion (0.983 AU From Sun)
Jan 03 - Quadrantids Meteor Shower Peak
Jan 03 - Comet C/2007 U1 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (2.975 AU)
Jan 03 - Asteroid 9219 (1995 WO8) Occults HIP 42353 (6.5 Magnitude Star)
Jan 03 - Asteroid 137805 (1999 YK5) Near-Mercury Flyby (0.036 AU)
Jan 03 - Asteroid 1913 Sekanina Closest Approach To Earth (1.798 AU)
Jan 03-05 - 11th Young Astronomers' Meeting (YAM 2008), Kottayam, Kerala, India
Jan 04 - The Moon is 8° from Venus and 6° from Antares.
Jan 04 - Asteroid 2007 VN243 Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)
Jan 05 - The Moon is 6° from Antares.
Jan 05 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
Jan 05 - Comet 194P/LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (0.865 AU)
Jan 05 - Asteroid 19274 (1995 XA1) Occults HIP 73473 (5.0 Magnitude Star)
Jan 06 - The Moon is 8° from Jupiter.
Jan 06 - 10th Anniversary (1998), Lunar Prospector Launch (Moon Orbiter)
Jan 06 - 40th Anniversary (1968), Surveyor 7 Launch (Moon Lander)
Jan 07 - The Moon is 8° from the Sun and 7° from Jupiter
Jan 07 - Asteroid 17640 Mount Stromlo Closest Approach To Earth (1.217 AU)
Jan 07-09 - 9th International Symposium Computational Physics, Trieste, Italy
Jan 07-10 - International Workshop, Ringberg Castle, Bavaria, Germany
Jan 07-10 - 46th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, Nevada
Jan 07-12 - International Workshop On Standard Model And LHC Era, Valparaiso, Chile
Jan 08 - The Moon is 6° from the Sun and 9° from Mercury, Venus is close to Antares (6.4deg)
Jan 08 - New Moon, 11:37.2 UT
Jan 08 - Asteroid 1219 Britta Occults HIP 65420 (5.8 Magnitude Star)
Jan 08 - Asteroid 1877 Marsden Closest Approach To Earth (3.811 AU)
Jan 08 - 35th Anniversary (1973), Luna 21 Launch (USSR Moon Lander/Rover)
Jan 08-11 - Workshop: Accretion and Outflow in Astrophysics (KJYAM), Kyoto, Japan
Jan 08-13 - 5th JETSET School High Performance Computing in Astrophysics, Galway, Ireland
Jan 09 - Asteroid 434 Hungaria Closest Approach To Earth (1.218 AU)
Jan 09-11 - The ASSERTive Days, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Jan 10 - Asteroid 15 Eunomia At Opposition (8.2 Magnitude)
Jan 10 - Asteroid 2005 WJ56 Near-Earth Flyby (0.028 AU)
Jan 10 - Asteroid 7225 Huntress Closest Approach To Earth (0.884 AU)
Jan 11 - Comet C/2006 S5 (Hill) Closest Approach To Earth (1.673 AU)
Jan 12 - Asteroid 2001 FZ57 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.037 AU)
Jan 12 - Asteroid 520 Franziska Occults HIP 4559 (6.7 Magnitude Star)
Jan 13 - Comet 108P/Ciffreo Closest Approach To Earth (1.484 AU)
Jan 13 - Comet P/2007 C2 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (2.881 AU)
Jan 14 - MESSENGER, 1st Mercury Flyby
Jan 14 - Ulysses, Maximum North Solar Latitude (79.8 Degrees)
Jan 14 - Thuraya 3 Zenit 3SL Launch
Jan 14-15 - JETSET Board & Science Meetings, Galway, Ireland
Jan 14-16 - 1st Meeting of the IPEWG, Okinawa, Japan
Jan 15 - Moon at first quarter (19:46 UT)
Jan 15 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #143 (OTM-143)
Jan 15 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Methone & Pandora
Jan 15 - Comet C/2005 L3 (McNaught) Perihelion (5.593 AU)
Jan 15 - Comet Shoemaker-Holt 2 Near-Jupiter Flyby (0.255 AU)
Jan 15 - NSTA Web Seminar: Nanoscale Science: Activities for Grades 6-12
Jan 16 - Comet C/2007 T6 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (1.598 AU)
Jan 16 - Comet Mueller 5 Closest Approach To Earth (3.267 AU)
Jan 16-17 - 3rd Grid and eCollaboration Workshop for the Earth Science Community, Frascati, Italy
Jan 17 - The Moon is 6° from the Pleiades.
Jan 18 - The Moon is 9° from the Pleiades.
Jan 19 - The Moon is 1° from Mars
Jan 19 - Asteroid 10792 Ecuador Closest Approach To Earth (2.278 AU)
Jan 19-Feb 01 - 8th COSPAR Capacity Building Workshop: Alexandria, Egypt
Jan 20 - Theos Dnepr 1 Launch
Jan 20 - Asteroid 5231 Verne Closest Approach To Earth (1.492 AU)
Jan 20 - Asteroid 4255 Spacewatch Closest Approach To Earth (3.447 AU)
Jan 20-25 - Gordon Research Conference: Origin of Life, Ventura, California
Jan 21 - The Moon is 4° from Pollux.
Jan 21 - Asteroid 7336 Saunders Closest Approach To Earth (1.760 AU)
Jan 21-23 - Workshop: Astronomy in Europe - An Evolving Collaboration, Leiden, Netherlands
Jan 21-25 - Conference: From SCUBA to ALMA, Santiago, Chile
Jan 21-25 - Manchester Microlensing Conference (M2C): Manchester, United Kingdom
Jan 21-25 - SAR Oceanography from the ENVISAT and ERS Missions, Frascati, Italy
Jan 22 - Full Moon, 13:35 UT
Jan 22 - The Moon is less than 1° from the Beehive (occultation possible).
Jan 22 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Titan
Jan 22 - Mercury At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (19 Degrees)
Jan 22 - Asteroid 9007 James Bond Closest Approach To Earth (1.516 AU)
Jan 22 - Asteroid 2866 Hardy Closest Approach To Earth (2.335 AU)
Jan 22 - 40th Anniversary (1968), Apollo 5 Launch
Jan 22-25 - Conference on the Solar Wind Interaction with Mars, San Diego, California
Jan 22-25 - International Conference on Terrestrial Planets: Ahmedabad, India
Jan 23 - The Moon is 9° from Regulus.
Jan 24 - The Moon is 4° from Saturn and 5° from Regulus.
Jan 24 - Asteroid 2007 PS9 Near-Earth Flyby (0.091 AU)
Jan 24 - Asteroid 13070 Seanconnery Closest Approach To Earth (1.980 AU)
Jan 25 - Cartosat 2-A/ Polaris (TechSAR)/ Can X-2/ AAU-Cubsat 2/ Cute 1.7/APD-2/ Compass 1/ Delfi C3/Seeds 2 PSLVA-CA Launch
Jan 25 - Comet C/2007 T5 (Gibbs) Closest Approach To Earth (3.206 AU)
Jan 25 - Asteroid 3409 Abramov Occults HIP 41319 (6.1 Magnitude Star)
Jan 25 - Asteroid 2006 VX2 Near-Venus Flyby (0.016 AU)
Jan 25 - Asteroid 63163 Jerusalem Closest Approach To Earth (0.848 AU)
Jan 25 - Asteroid 1772 Gagarin Closest Approach To Earth (1.392 AU)
Jan 25 - 5th Annual 'Expanding Canada's Frontiers': Lunar Exploration, Toronto, Canada
Jan 25 - Galway Astronomy Festival 2008, Ireland
Jan 25 - 25th Anniversary (1983), IRAS Launch
Jan 26 - Comet C/2007 D3 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (4.590 AU)
Jan 26 - Asteroid 341 California Closest Approach To Earth (1.624 AU)
Jan 26 - 30th Anniversary (1978), IUE Launch
Jan 27 - Jupiter is 5° from Venus.
Jan 27 - Express AM-33 Proton M-Briz M Launch
Jan 27 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Titan, Atlas, Epimetheus, Prometheus & Pandora
Jan 27 - Comet 8P/Tuttle Perihelion (1.027 AU)
Jan 27 - 100th Anniversary (1908), Philibert Melotte's Discovery of Jupiter Moon Pasiphae
Jan 27-31 - 2008 AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting , Galveston, Texas
Jan 28 - The Moon is 3° from Spica. Jupiter is 4° from Venus.
Jan 28 - Asteroid 143 Adria Occults HIP 47779 (6.7 Magnitude Star)
Jan 28 - Asteroid 17898 Scottsheppard Closest Approach To Earth (1.271 AU)
Jan 28 - Asteroid 13926 Berners-Lee Closest Approach To Earth (1.781 AU)
Jan 28-29 - Meeting: Cosmology Meets Condensed Matter, London, United Kingdom
Jan 28-Feb 01 - Meeting: Magnetic Fields in the Universe II , Cozumel, Mexico
Jan 29 - Jupiter is 3° from Venus.
Jan 29 - Comet C/2007 S2 (Lemmon) Closest Approach To Earth (4.710 AU)
Jan 29 - Asteroid 2007 TU24 Near-Earth Flyby (0.004 AU)
Jan 29 - Asteroid 79896 Billhaley Closest Approach To Earth (1.383 AU)
Jan 29-31 - Workshop: Hubble Space Telescope after Servicing Mission 4, Bologna, Italy
Jan 30 - Moon at last quarter (05:03 UT)
Jan 30 - Jupiter is 2° from Venus.
Jan 30 - Asteroid 2007 WD5 Near-Mars Flyby (Potential Impact)
Jan 30 - Asteroid 2347 Vinata Occults HIP 14893 (5.8 Magnitude Star)
Jan 30 - 140th Anniversary (1868), Pultusk Meteorite Shower in Poland
Jan 31 - Asteroid 3329 Golay Occults HIP 45058 (6.0 Magnitude Star)
Jan 31 - Asteroid 2710 Veverka Closest Approach To Earth (1.223 AU)
Jan 31 - The Moon is 10° from Antares. Jupiter is less than 1° from Venus
Jan 31 - 50th Anniversary (1958), Explorer 1 Launch (1st US Satellite)

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Asteroid 15 Eunomia is at Opposition (8.2 Magnitude) on January  10th, 2008.

Position(2000): RA= 7h25m49.7s  Dec= +23°11'26"   (in constellation Gemini/Gem)

Distance to Sun=2.460AU  Distance to Earth=1.476AU
hourly motion: dRA=-39.7"/h  dDec= -7.6"/h 

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planet08jane3

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PlanetdiaJan08

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One of the most paying themes of  international tourism is the Be the first to see the first sunrise of the New Year. Of all the places in the world, South East Asia and the Pacific Ocean areas are supposed to be the first place, where one can see the first sunrise of the New Year.
This has set in lot of conflicting claims by different nations and daggers drawn in race to the New Year dawn and it is interesting to consider the various norms each country adopts to get the honour.

What is the first point of land where the sun rises on January 1, local time?
The first place is in Antarctica, west of the International Date Line where the sun will rise on January 1 2008, is on the headland between the Dibble Glacier (134° 37 E) and Victor Bay (135° 53 E) a place so cold that tourists have not thought of going there!

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Ring in the new year with planets fading, dazzling and dancing: Mars appears less bright in the evening, and Venus and Jupiter sashay across the morning sky.
Mars can be seen after sunset in the east-northeast, low and near the horizon. Currently, it is squeezed between the constellations Taurus and Gemini. At mid-evening, if you are facing south, Mars is above the raised arm of Orion, and it is positioned above the star Betelgeuse. Right now, the red-tinted planet is about negative 1.5 magnitude (bright) but fades to a zero-magnitude (less bright) appearance. Throughout January, our red neighbouring planet moves closer to the constellation Taurus.

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