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January 22: Explore the Rosette Nebula
The Moon passes 4° north of Saturn at 8 A.M. EST, then passes 4° north of Neptune at 11 A.M. EST. The trio stands in the southwestern sky this evening and remains visible for several hours after sunset. Around 6:30 P.M. local time, they are roughly 40° high — still far enough above the horizon that you have a good chance to catch Neptune before it sinks into the turbulent air near the ground.
First-magnitude Saturn is easy to spot below the crescent Moon — it’s brighter than any star in this part of the sky. The pair is lovely to observe by eye, but a telescope will show Saturn’s full beauty: its stunning ring system, stretching 37” from end to end and tilted just under 2° to our line of sight. Look also for Titan — the planet’s largest and brightest moon — shining around magnitude 8.5 some 1.7’ east of Saturn’s center and having moved from its position nearer the ringed world earlier this week.
Neptune — only visible in binoculars or a telescope — lies 2.2° northeast of Saturn, roughly ⅓ of the distance along a line drawn from the ringed planet toward the Moon. The faraway ice giant spans only 2” on the sky and shines at magnitude 7.8. It will appear as a “flat” bluish-gray star in the eyepiece.
Sunrise: 7:16 A.M.
Sunset: 5:09 P.M.
Moonrise: 9:43 A.M.
Moonset: 10:31 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (28%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location.
