* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: January 2007

Blobrana · L

The night skies of late January and early February are dominated by the constellation of Orion. A constellation is a group of stars in a portion of the sky, usually portraying a mythical figure or an object. In the case of Orion, he is a mighty hunter.
Many constellations are of ancient origin. The early evening skies of winter have many bright stars. Clear and cold winter nights offer spectacular views.
Stars are the most numerous objects seen in the sky. The most obvious difference seen in the stars is their brightness. Some stars stand out while others are just barely visible.

Read more

Blobrana · L

The Quandrantid meteor shower is expected to have a sharp peak around 00:20 UT, on the 4th January. I is recommended that you start observing a few hours beforehand. The predicted rate is 100 ZHR, but a near Full Moon will make the fainter meteors difficult to observe.
With good viewing conditions, however, there is always the large bluish or yellow/green meteors that will shine through.
The radiant is in the constellation Boötes, which now covers the old constellation called Quadrans Muralis.

Blobrana · L

Jan ?? - Anik F-3 Proton M Launch

Jan ?? - NSS-8 Zenit 3SL Launch

Jan 01 - International Lunar Decade Begins

Jan 01 - Dwarf Planet Ceres Occults TYC 6388-00675-1 (11.6 Magnitude Star)

Jan 01 - Asteroid 5143 Heracles Closest Approach To Earth (0.380 AU)

Jan 02 - Comet P/2006 HR30 (Siding Spring) Perihelion (1.226 AU)

Jan 02 - Asteroid 2006 UQ17 Near-Earth Flyby (0.029 AU)

Jan 02 - Asteroid 2006 YD12 Near-Earth Flyby (0.092 AU)

Jan 03 - Earth At Perihelion (0.983 AU From Sun)

Jan 03 - Quadrantids Meteor Shower Peak

Jan 04 -

Full Moon, 13:57.4 UT

Jan 04 - Comet C/2005 EL173 (LONEOS) Closest Approach To Earth (3.310 AU)

Jan 04 - Asteroid 3 Juno Occults TYC 4972-00313-1 (10.6 Magnitude Star)

Jan 04 - Asteroid 2001 YE4 Near-Earth Flyby (0.033 AU)

Jan 04 - Asteroid 7853 Confucius Closest Approach To Earth (1.662 AU)

Jan 05 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Manoeuvre #87 (OTM-87)

Jan 05 - Asteroid 5641 McCleese Closest Approach To Earth (1.010 AU)

Jan 05 - Asteroid 6469 Armstrong Closest Approach To Earth (1.636 AU)

Jan 06 - Deep Impact Near-Mars Flyby (0.033 AU)

Jan 06 - Comet C/2006 E1 (McNaught) Perihelion (6.041 AU)

Jan 06 - Asteroid 5142 Okutama Occults HIP 9355 (7.4 Magnitude Star)

Jan 06 - Asteroid 253 Mathilde Occults 2UCAC 36428843 (12.0 Magnitude Star)

Jan 06 - Asteroid 4664 Hanner Closest Approach To Earth (2.012 AU)

Jan 06 - Asteroid 1886 Lowell Closest Approach To Earth (2.054 AU)

Jan 07 - Asteroid 1073 Gellivara Occults HIP 80587 (7.7 Magnitude Star)

Jan 07 - Asteroid 9249 Yen Closest Approach To Earth (1.485 AU)

Jan 08 - Comet P/1999 DN3 (Korlevic-Juric) Closest Approach To Earth (3.257 AU)

Jan 08 - Asteroid 1457 Ankara Occults HIP 65319 (7.9 Magnitude Star)

Jan 08 - 15th Anniversary (1992), Sakigake, Earth Flyby

Jan 08 - Stephen Hawking's 65th Birthday (1942)

Jan 08-09 - ESA/BNSC European Exploration Workshop, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Jan 09 - Asteroid 2006 XP4 Near-Earth Flyby (0.074 AU)

Jan 09 - Asteroid 1940 Whipple Closest Approach To Earth (1.878 AU)

Jan 09 - Asteroid 9250 Chamberlin Closest Approach To Earth (2.577 AU)

Jan 10 - Cartosat 2/ SRE-1/ Lapan-Tubsat/ PSLV Launch

Jan 10 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Manoeuvre #88 (OTM-88)

Jan 10 - Asteroid 2006 QQ56 Near-Earth Flyby (0.052 AU)

Jan 10 - Asteroid 2865 Laurel Closest Approach To Earth (1.746 AU)

Jan 10 - Asteroid 12104 Chesley Closest Approach To Earth (2.084 AU)

Jan 10-12 - Meeting: Neutrino Mass Measurements (NUMMI '07), Durham, United Kingdom

Jan 11 - Asteroid 5703 Hevelius Closest Approach To Earth (1.407 AU)

Jan 11-12 - 3rd Meeting of the Venus Exploration and Analysis Group (VEXAG), Arlington, Virginia

Jan 12 -

Last quarter Moon, 12:44.6 UT

Jan 12 - Demosat (DARPA/Air Force) Falcon 1 Launch

Jan 12 - Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) Perihelion (0.171 AU)

Jan 12 - Asteroid 684 Hildburg Occults HIP 70078 (7.8 Magnitude Star)

Jan 12 - Asteroid 2874 Jim Young Closest Approach To Earth (1.145 AU)

Jan 12 - Sergel Pavlovich Korolev's 100th Birthday (1907)

Jan 13 - Cassini, Titan Flyby

Jan 13 - Asteroid 2006 YH14 Near-Earth Flyby (0.099 AU)

Jan 14 - Comet Kowal 1 Perihelion (4.719 AU)

Jan 14 - Asteroid 840 Zenobia Occults HIP 29196 (5.9 Magnitude Star)

Jan 14 - Asteroid 6377 Cagney Closest Approach To Earth (1.886 AU)

Jan 14 - Asteroid 6456 Golombek Closest Approach To Earth (2.097 AU)

Jan 15 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Manoeuvre #89 (OTM-89)

Jan 15 - Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (0.818 AU)

Jan 15-17 - 2007 Gravitational Microlensing Workshop, Daejeon, Republic of Korea

Jan 15-19 - Workshop: Computational Cosmology, Leiden, The Netherlands

Jan 16 - Egyptsat 1/ Saudisat 3/Saudicomsat 3-7/ AKS 1 & 2/ N-Cube 1 Dnepr 1 Launch

Jan 16 - Asteroid 5050 Doctorwatson Closest Approach To Earth (1.316 AU)

Jan 16 - Asteroid 719 Albert Closest Approach To Earth (2.430 AU)

Jan 16-17 - Workshop on SMART-1 Technology Demonstrations, Noordwijk, The Netherlands

Jan 17 - Asteroid 3242 Bakhchisaraj Occults HIP 41043 (7.9 Magnitude Star)

Jan 18 - Progress M-59 Launch (International Space Station 24P)

Jan 18 - Comet P/2006 U5 (Christensen) Perihelion (2.326 AU)

Jan 18 - Asteroid 5288 Nankichi Occults HIP 34540 (7.8 Magnitude Star)

Jan 18 - Asteroid 4523 MIT Occults HIP 41688 (7.0 Magnitude Star)

Jan 19 -

New moon, 4:00.7 UT

Jan 19 - Asteroid 118401 LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (2.218 AU)

Jan 20 - Comet 176P/LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (2.218 AU)

Jan 20 - Asteroid 433 Eros Occults TYC 6791-02310-2 (10.2 Magnitude Star)

Jan 21 - STEREO B, 2nd Moon Flyby

Jan 21 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Manoeuvre #90 (OTM-90)

Jan 21 - Comet P/2005 S3 (Read) Closest Approach To Earth (2.719 AU)

Jan 21 - Asteroid 1796 Riga Occults HIP 22701 (4.4 Magnitude Star)

Jan 21 - Asteroid 7341 (1991 VK) Near-Earth Flyby (0.068 AU)

Jan 22 - Comet P/2006 HR30 (Siding Spring) Closest Approach To Earth (0.749 AU)

Jan 22 - Comet C/2005 G1 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (4.708 AU)

Jan 22-26 - Workshop: Metallicity Calibrations for Gaseous Nebulae, Manoa, Hawaii

Jan 22-26 - Asian Radio Astronomy Winter School 2007, Tokyo, Japan

Jan 22-26 - 3rd International Workshop (POLinSAR 2007), Frascati, Italy

Jan 23 - Comet C/2006 Y2 (Gibbs) Closest Approach To Earth (0.987 AU)

Jan 23 - Comet C/2006 GZ2 (Spacewatch) Closest Approach To Earth (2.649 AU)

Jan 23 - Asteroid 2000 WP19 Near-Venus Flyby (0.046 AU)

Jan 23 - Asteroid 9618 Johncleese Closest Approach To Earth (1.623 AU)

Jan 23 - Asteroid 1198 Atlantis Closest Approach To Earth (1.771 AU)

Jan 23-25 - Astronet Symposium: A Science Vision for European Astronomy, Poitiers, France

Jan 23-26 - 2007 ESO Instrument Calibration Workshop, Garching, Germany

Jan 24 - Asteroid 4957 Brucemurray Closest Approach To Earth (1.139 AU)

Jan 24 - Asteroid 7861 Messenger Closest Approach To Earth (1.872 AU)

Jan 25 - Astro/NextSat-CSC/STS-Sat 1/NP-Sat 1/CFE-Sat/Midsar1/ Falconsat 3/ MEPSI 4A & 4B Atlas 5 Launch

Jan 25 - Asteroid 25143 Itokawa Closest Approach To Earth (0.447 AU)

Jan 26 -

First quarter moon, 23:01.4 UT

Jan 26 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Manoeuvre #91 (OTM-91)

Jan 26 - Asteroid 3623 Chaplin Closest Approach To Earth (2.024 AU)

Jan 27 - The Moon occults the Pleiades, 17:00 UT.

Jan 27 - Asteroid 1996 AW1 Near-Venus Flyby (0.023 AU)

Jan 27 - Asteroid 3255 Tholen Closest Approach To Earth (0.977 AU)

Jan 27 - 4th Annual Galway Astronomy Festival, Galway, Ireland

Jan 27 - 40th Anniversary (1967), Apollo 1 Fire (Gus Grissom, Edward White & Roger Chaffee)

Jan 28 - Asteroid 9134 Encke Closest Approach To Earth (2.013 AU)

Jan 29 - Cassini, Titan Flyby

Jan 29 - Asteroid 8734 Warner Closest Approach To Earth (1.908 AU)

Jan 30 - Genesis 2 Dnepr 1 Launch

Jan 30 - Asteroid 7359 Messier Closest Approach To Earth (2.063 AU)

Jan 31 - Deadline To Submit Name to Selene

Jan 31 - Asteroid 2006 CJ Near-Earth Flyby (0.026 AU)

Blobrana · L

Blobrana · L

Mercury: starts the month in the constellation Sagittarius and is at superior conjunction on January 7, and moves into the evening sky. . At magnitude -1.0, The planet is low in the evening sky and difficult to see.
(On January 23rd, RA=21h08m01s Dec=-18°23.8' (J2000) Distance=1.293AU Elongation= 11° Phase=93% Diameter=5.2")

Venus: is an evening morning star of magnitude -3.9, The planet is in constellation Sagittarius at the start of the month. The planet is low in the evening sky and difficult to locate. It is best seen from 16.7h -17.1h UT. On January 20th, the planet will be about 1° from the crescent Moon.
(On January 1st, RA=19h56m25s Dec=-22°07.3' (J2000) Distance=1.620AU Elongation= 16° Phase=96% Diameter=10.3")

Earth: is at perihelion, only 147,093,630 kilometres from the Sun, on January 3, 20:00 UT.
The Moon is at apogee, subtending 29'33" from a distance of 404,334 km, on the 10th of January, 16:25.3 UT, and at perigee subtending 32'34" from a distance of 366,927 km on the 22nd of January, 12:30.8 UT. On the 4th, the Moon is 8° from the Beehive and 7° from Pollux. On the 27th, the Moon occults the Pleiades, (visible from northern Europe) at 17:00 UT.

Mars: at magnitude 1.5 starts the month in the constellation Ophiuchus. The planet is best seen from 7.0h - 7.7h UT. Mars is close to Jupiter in the morning sky this month. On the 16th the Moon is 7° from Mars.
(On January 1st, RA=17h08m05s Dec=-23°12.2' (J2000) Distance=2.385AU Elongation= 22° Phase=98% Diameter=3.9")

Jupiter: is still bright at magnitude 1.8 in the constellation Ophiuchus and close to the bright star, Antares. The planet is best seen from 6.1h - 7.7h UT
Jupiter at magnitude -1.7, apparent diameter 40 arcsec, is low in the south-west at nightfall. On the 15th, the Moon is 7° from Jupiter and 3° from Antares.
(On January 1st, RA=16h25m32s Dec=-20°57.5' (J2000) Distance=6.178AU Elongation= 32°)

Saturn: at magnitude 0.2 sits in the constellation Leo.
Worth a look with binoculars. On the 5th Saturn is 4.9 degrees from the star Regulus at 19:42 UT.
Best seen from 19.9h - 7.7h UT. The Moon is 1° from Saturn on the 6th.
(On January 1st, RA= 9h48m11s Dec=+14°33.0' (J2000) Distance=8.441AU Elongation=136°)

Uranus: is in Aquarius, near Lambda Aquarii, magnitude 3.7. Uranus at magnitude 5.9, has a bluish-green hue and appears 3.7 arcseconds wide. The planet is best seen from 17.4h -19.6h UT.
(On January 1st, RA=22h52m46s Dec= -7°57.7' (J2000) Distance=20.550AU Elongation= 61°)

Neptune: in the constellation Capricornus near to the 4.3 mag star Iota Capricornii. A telescope will show a tiny bluish dot, only 2.5 arcseconds wide (mag +7.8). On the 20th, the planet is 2.0 degrees north of the Moon at 13:00 UT.
(On November 1st, RA=21h17m50s Dec=-15°58.0' (J2000) Distance=29.900AU Elongation= 98°)

Pluto: is in the constellation Sagittarius (mag 14) is not visible in the southern sky this month. Normally, a finder chart is necessary to help in identifying the 0.1" diameter planet. Pluto was in conjunction with the Sun on December 18.
(On September 1st, RA=21h21m01.22s Dec=-15°42'59.1"(J2000) Distance=29.1113AU )

The Sun enters the zodiac sign Capricorn on the 20th January, 11:01 UT.