Starwatch Newsletter Minnesota Starwatch is a tape-recorded message describing the night sky in the Midwest, which can be called by telelphone number (612) 624-2001 It is updated montly, and is produced by the Department of Astronomy, University of Minnesota 116 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455

Hello, this is Minnesota Starwatch for January, 2001.

This month starts with the moon setting in the evening, with first quarter on the 2nd, full moon on the 9th, third quarter on the 16th, and a new moon on the 24th. The moon will be closest to the earth (perigee) on the 10th and furthest from the earth on the 24th.

Venus can be observed as the bright object in the west of the evening sky. Venus reaches maximum separation from the sun (elongation) on the 16th. On the 28th, the moon will be very close to Venus in the sky.

Jupiter and Saturn are both clearly visible in the evening sky all month. In the early evening if you are looking to the east, they will be the two bright objects, Jupiter on the left and Saturn on the right. Look for the Pleiades star cluster above Jupiter and to the left of Saturn. The moon will pass close to Saturn on the 5th and Jupiter on the 6th. Mars rises after midnight and will be only as bright as some of the brightest stars. We are quite far from Mars now, but starting to catch up to it in our orbit. In June, Mars will be four times closer and about 40 times brighter when we see it at conjunction. The moon will be within 4 degrees (that's 8 moon diameters) of Mars on the 17th.

Mercury is the one planet that is visible by the naked eye but difficult to find. Most people have never identified Mercury in the night sky, because Mercury is the closest planet to the sun and it is never more than 28 degrees away from it. Thus, it either rises just before the sun or sets just shortly after the sun. This month, Mercury reaches its maximum angular separation from the sun on the 28th. Near the end of the month, look for Mercury in the early evening sky, to the west-southwest, just above the horizon where the sun disappeared.

Friday night telescope viewing begins at 8pm. Please call 626-0034 for more information.

The Minneapolis Planetarium offers a wide variety of programs for all ages. For more information, call (612) 630-6150.

For those interested in the Minnesota Astronomical Society, call (651) 649-4861 for information on their upcoming events.

Minnesota Starwatch is available online at http://www.astro.umn.edu/Outreach/pub_out.html.

This has been Minnesota Starwatch, produced by the University of Minnesota Astronomy Department in cooperation with WCCO Weather Center.

Last Updated: Sun Mar 4 13:58:55 2001