Sky & Telescope - January 2023 - 46

JANUARY 2023 OBSERVING
Sun, Moon & Planets by Gary Seronik
To find out what's
visible in the sky from
your location, go to
skyandtelescope.org.
A Month of Remarkable Encounters
Venus brushes by Saturn, and the Moon meets Mars.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 1
Welcome to a new year - and to a wonderful,
celebratory celestial sight that
adorns this first evening of 2023. Leave
the binoculars and telescope behind,
step outside at dusk, and take in the
view of five bright solar system worlds
spanning 130° across the sky.
Low in the west-southwest and
brightest of all is the reigning Evening
Star, Venus. A beacon of magnitude
-3.9, Venus is in a class of its own and
likely the first " star " you see tonight. ( " I
wish I may, I wish I might . . . " ) Shift
your gaze 24° eastward, and the next
planet you encounter will be the relatively
subdued Saturn, glowing at magnitude
+0.8. That's still plenty bright,
but given the company it presently
keeps, that's not outstanding. Continuing
39° eastward, your eyes will next
land on Jupiter. Positioned due south,
the gas giant, gleaming at magnitude
-2.4, is bested only by Venus. Roughly
45° farther east you'll find the waxing
gibbous Moon, nearly 80% illuminated.
Although it's only days away from being
full, even the Moon isn't bright enough
to overwhelm nearby Mars, lying nearly
two dozen degrees to its left. The Red
Planet has lost a little of its opposition
luster but still shines brightly at
magnitude -1.2. If you're looking to
impress your non-astronomy neighbors
and friends with the splendors of the
night sky, you could do far worse than
by taking a moment to show them this
evening's array.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 3
Compared to the other solar system
objects with which it shares the sky, the
Moon moves relatively swiftly. Indeed,
every hour our nearest celestial neighbor
shifts slightly more than its own
diameter. So, just two evenings after
it occupied a no man's land between
Jupiter and Mars, it's now positioned
roughly 2½° left of the Red Planet. I say
" roughly " because the exact amount
depends on where you are and when
you look. If you live in New York, for
example, and view the pair as twilight
fades, the gap between the two is quite
a bit less than 2°. However, if you're
in Los Angeles, where nightfall comes
later, the Moon's motion has carried
it a little more than 3° east of Mars.
These scenes are drawn for near the middle of North America (latitude 40° north, longitude 90° west). European observers should move each
Moon symbol a quarter of the way toward the one for the previous date; in the Far East, move the Moon halfway. The blue 10° scale bar is about the
width of your fist at arm's length. For clarity, the Moon is shown three times its actual apparent size.
Jan 2- 4
shortly after dark
Pleiades
10°
Mars
Moon
Jan 3
TAURUS
Aldebaran
Moon
Jan 4
Mercury
SAGITTARIUS
Looking Southeast,
high in the sky
46
JANUARY 2023 * SKY & TELESCOPE
Looking Southeast
Moon
Jan 19
Moon
Jan 2
SERPENS CAUDA
Moon
Jan 18
Antares
Dawn, Jan 17-19
45 minutes before sunrise
OPHIUCHUS
Moon
Jan 17

http://www.skyandtelescope.org

Sky & Telescope - January 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - January 2023