JanFebMar2020

Night Sky Highlights for January-March 2020

Solar System

Quadrantid Meteor Shower
Peaking in the early morning hours of January 4
It’s hard to get out and observe meteors in January, but this is the best shower of the winter. The shower is predicted to peak around 3:00 am on January 4, when rates of 100 meteors per hour are possible. The radiant is in the northeast sky below the Big Dipper.

Mercury
The best chance to spot Mercury this winter will be in mid-February, when it will be low in the west right after sunset. It will be farthest from the Sun in the few days surrounding February 10.

Venus
Throughout the winter months, Venus will be very bright and unmistakable in the southwest during the evening hours. Through a telescope it will be in a gibbous phase during January, gradually changing to a half-lit appearance by the end of March.

Mars
Throughout the winter, Mars will be to the west of Jupiter in the predawn sky. To the naked eye, Mars will be reddish and fairly bright (first magnitude). It is far from Earth right now, and through a telescope it will shown only a tiny disk, even at high magnification.

Jupiter
In February and March, Jupiter shines brightly in the southern sky in the hours before dawn. It is the brightest object in the predawn sky.

Saturn
The ringed planet will be too close to the Sun to be seen in January and much of February, but by March it will be visible in the eastern sky in the predawn hours. 

Uranus and Neptune
It will still be possible to spot Uranus in the southwest after sunset in January and February, and on March 7 is will be about 2 degrees southwest of Venus. If you want to spot Neptune, try in January before it gets too close to the Sun later in the winter. To find these two gas giants you will need a go-to scope or a finder chart such as the one in this article from the Sky & Telescope website:

www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/planets/ice-giants-neptune-and-uranus/

Deep Sky Objects

Besides the most famous deep-sky targets in the winter sky, there are many more objects that are not viewed as often but are still well worth observing. Click on the link after each object to get a star-hopping chart with directions for finding it in the sky.

Messier 34
Open cluster in Perseus
This is a nice bright cluster of several dozen stars, some bright and some dim, about 1500 light years away. It is easy to spot in binoculars.  Star-hop chart

Messier 50
Open cluster in Monoceros
Messier 50 is a nice open cluster for telescopes of all sizes. Look carefully at the star colors. The cluster contains mainly white and blue-white stars, but a few red and yellow stars are visible as well.  Star-hop chart

Messier 40
Double star in Ursa Major
If you want to see the least impressive object on Messier’s list, this is probably it. Apparently Messier thought there was a hint of nebulosity around this double star, but there is not. However, with a medium to large scope, see if you can spot the oblong galaxy NGC 4290 just 1/5 degree to the east.  Star-hop chart

Messier 101
Galaxy in Ursa Major
This is a large but dim face-on spiral galaxy above the handle of the Big Dipper, about 23 million light years away. A small telescope will show its brighter nucleus, and with larger scopes some detail can be seen in its spiral arms. Star-hop chart

Messier 109
Galaxy in Ursa Major
This is another galaxy near the Big Dipper. This barred spiral is fairly easy to find because it is just 2/3 degree to the east-southeast of Phecda, the star at the bottom corner of the bowl of the Big Dipper. It is estimated to be about 82 million light years away.  Star-hop chart

Messier 93
Open cluster in Puppis
The Milky Way passes through the southerly constellation Puppis, and many open clusters can be found in this area. A nice bright one is Messier 93, which includes about 80 stars. Its densely packed center has a wedge shape. The cluster is about 3400 light years away. Star-hop chart

NGC 1514
Planetary nebula in Taurus
Here is a planetary nebula with a 10th magnitude central star that is quite easy to see through most telescopes. The surrounding nebula is dim, and through large telescopes it has a mottled appearance.  The perfectly centered star convinced William Herschel that this object was not an unresolved star cluster but was some type of faint “atmosphere” surrounding the star. Star-hop chart

NGC 1980
Open cluster and nebula in Orion
This loose cluster is easy to spot just below the famous Orion nebula (M42). It consists of iota Orionis and a handful of other stars that form the shape of a fish. The nebula shows up in photos but is hard to see visually. Star-hop chart

Sigma Orionis and Struve 761
Multiple star systems in Orion
If you want to observe some interesting multiple star systems, these two are easy to find just below the belt of Orion. Most telescopes will show the four bright stars that are the Sigma Orionis system. This group is about 1270 light years away, and all of these stars are larger and brighter than our Sun. Just to the west, in the same telescopic field of view, is the triple star Struve 761. Star-hop chart

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