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Starwatch NewsletterMinnesota Starwatch is a newsletter describing the night sky in the Midwest.
It is updated monthly, and is produced by the |
Minnesota Starwatch for January 2006
Although January is statistically the coldest month of the year, those brilliant winter skies also offer some of the best star-gazing there is. Here's your chance to welcome in the New Year in a stellar fashion. So bundle up and check out the dazzling heavenly display.
Chief among the planets this month is Saturn, which dominates the night sky all month long. Saturn won't appear this big and bright again until the year 2029. Although you'll need to use a telescope to observe the planet's distinctive rings, the planet appears as a brilliant star traveling across the night sky. Best viewing is after midnight, when the planet is high in the sky. On January 27th , you'll observe Saturn at opposition to the Sun, as it rises in the east-northeast sky just as the Sun sets.
As you gaze on Saturn, you might reflect that it was nearly 400 years ago that the great Italian astronomer Galileo first observed the planet's rings in 1610. Unfortunately, Galileo sighted the rings edge-on, so he failed to recognize them for what they were. He believed that he had instead discovered two new moons. It wasn't until the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens observed the same region of the sky with a vastly improved telescope in 1655 that the rings were correctly identified. For centuries, astronomers believed that Saturn had only three rings. Then, in 1979, the Pioneer 11 spacecraft mission discovered that the planet actually has six known rings, each composed of hundreds of distinct ringlets with intervening spaces. NASA describes the system as looking like the grooves on an old-fashioned vinyl record. The year 1610 was a year of wonders for Galileo and for astronomy. Although Galileo didn't turn the sights of his newly-perfected telescope to Saturn until summer of that year, the discoveries he made in January were even more important. In fact, some scientists say that the first weeks of January 1610 were the most important days in the history of observational astronomy. In that short period of days, Galileo observed the mountains of the Moon, discovered four moons of Jupiter and established that the Milky Way was made up of many individual stars. He published his findings a few months later in May 1610 in a short book known by the lovely title, The Starry Messenger. His little book caused a sensation in court circles, and Galileo became something of a 17th century celebrity. He achieved a degree of renown that modern astronomers might envy, but his fame brought with it new pitfalls. Galileo's ideas came into conflict with the established political wisdom of his era. When science and politics clashed then as now the results aren't always beneficial for the pursuit of truth.
The first "morning star" of this month is Mercury, which appears low on the southeastern horizon just before sunrise during the first week. Venus will be low in the southwest in the evening early in the month, but later on, Venus will take its place as the "morning star".
The clear, cold skies of January are a great time to observe the mighty constellation of Orion the Hunter. Look for the three stars of Orion's belt that point directly down to Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the heavens. Note also Betelgeuse, the reddish star that forms the point of Orion's right shoulder.
For fun Astronomy Outreach programs check out our Public Outreach link, or if you're interested in how you can help build the new Minnesota Planetarium, please call 612-630-6151 or visit http://www.mplanetarium.org.
Como Planetarium is offering fun family shows about astronomy on a limited basis; please call 651-293-5398 for more info!
This has been a Minnesota Starwatch produced by the University of Minnesota Astronomy Department.