Night Sky Highlights for January-March 2016
Solar System
Quadrantid Meteor Shower
Peaking before dawn on January 4
This shower can produce up to 120 meteors per hour at its peak, so it is well worth watching. This year, the conditions are fairly good, with only a thin crescent Moon in the sky before dawn. The radiant of this shower is in northern Bootes.
Moon occults Aldebaran
Evening of January 19
Occultations of stars by the Moon no longer have any real scientific value, but they can still be interesting to watch, either with the naked eye or with optical aid. The exact timing depends on your location, but here in Connecticut, Aldebaran should disappear behind the dark side of the Moon just after 9:30pm, and reappear on the bright side about 10:45pm.
Mercury
The best chance to see Mercury this winter will be in late January and early February, when it is low in the eastern sky before dawn. From about February 11 to February 15, it will be about 4 degrees below the much brighter Venus, which will help in locating it.
Venus
Always very bright, Venus will be easy to see in the eastern sky before dawn, though it gets lower and closer to the Sun as the winter progresses.
Mars
Mars rises in the early morning hours in January, and just around midnight by March. It will be far from Earth, and so it will not show much in a typical amateur telescope. In fact, at the start of 2016, its angular size will be only slightly larger than that of the much more distant Uranus! It doubles in apparent size by the end of March.
Jupiter
The giant planet will rise in mid-evening during January and February. It reaches opposition (opposite the Sun) on March 7, so it then rises in the east just as the Sun sets in the west.
Saturn
Saturn joins Venus in the morning sky, and on January 9 the two planets will be about ½ degree apart, so they can be seen together through a low power eyepiece. As the winter progresses, Saturn rises earlier, and by the end of March it rises around midnight.
Deep Sky Objects
Listed here are just a small sample of the many fine deep-sky objects that can be seen in the winter months.
Messier 42 and 43, the Orion Nebula
Emission nebula in Orion
Dimly visible in the sword of Orion with the naked eye, this is a spectacular telescopic object. With large apertures, green and pink colors can be seen.
Messier 41
Open cluster in Canis Major
This bright and beautiful open cluster is just 4 degrees south of Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. At just over magnitude 4, it can be spotted with the naked eye as a small fuzzy patch, and it is easy to see through binoculars. It is a wonderful sight through a telescope with a low-power eyepiece.
Messier 81 and 82
Pair of galaxies in Ursa Major
As winter progresses, Ursa Major rises higher in the northeastern sky, making this a good time to view these two galaxies, which can be seen together with a low-power eyepiece. M81 (Bode’s Galaxy) is a spiral that has a distinct oval shape through a telescope, whereas M82 (the Cigar Galaxy) has a much more elongated shape.
Messier 97, the Owl Nebula
Planetary nebula in Ursa Major
This is a fairly large planetary nebula, but it is a little challenging to see because of its low surface brightness. But if Messier could see it through his very primitive telescope, you should be able to see it through a modern-day telescope if you have a clear dark sky.
Messier 108
Spiral galaxy in Ursa Major
The nearly edge-on spiral galaxy is less than 1 degree to the north-north-west of the Owl Nebula. It is easier to spot because of its greater surface brightness. Its oblong shape is obvious through most telescopes.
Messier 46
Open cluster in Puppis
This is a pretty cluster of about 150 stars, but adding to its interest is the small planetary nebula NGC 2438 that can be seen near the north edge of the cluster. NGC 2338 is probably not part of the cluster, and it may be a foreground object. Before hunting it down, check a picture of the cluster so you know where to look for the nebula:
http://www.messier-objects.com/messier-46/
Messier 47
Open cluster in Puppis
Just over 1 degree to the west of Messier 46 is another open cluster from Messier’s catalog. The two clusters have very different appearances. Whereas the stars of M46 are fairly uniform in brightness, M47 features some very bright stars along with much dimmer ones.