Thursday, January 3
The Quadrantid meteor shower reaches its peak tonight. And with New Moon arriving in just two days, observers with clear weather will have ideal conditions. Astronomers expect the shower to peak around 9 p.m. EST. Unfortunately, the radiant — the point in the northern part of the constellation Boötes from which the meteors appear to originate — doesn’t climb high until the early morning hours. And rates drop dramatically from the peak. The Quadrantids can produce up to 120 meteors per hour at maximum, but that number drops to 30 just eight hours on either side. North American observers should see a good display, but the best views likely will come from Europe.
The waning crescent Moon appears 4° to the left of Jupiter this morning. Both objects rise shortly after 5 a.m. local time and climb about 10° high an hour before sunup. A telescope shows Jupiter’s 32"-diameter disk, but you likely won’t see much detail because the light has to travel through thick layers of turbulent air near the horizon.
Friday, January 4
Although people in the Northern Hemisphere experienced the shortest day of the year two weeks ago (at the winter solstice December 21), the Sun has continued to rise slightly later with each passing day. That trend stops this morning for those at 40° north latitude. Tomorrow’s sunrise will arrive at the same time as today’s, but the Sun will come up two seconds earlier Sunday morning. This turnover point depends on latitude. If you live farther north, the switch occurred a few days ago; closer to the equator, the change won’t happen until later in January.
Saturday, January 5
New Moon occurs at 8:28 p.m. EST. At its New phase, the Moon crosses the sky with the Sun and so remains hidden in our star’s glare. At least, it typically does. But if you live in the right area, you can watch the Moon pass in front of the Sun and cause a partial solar eclipse. Observers in southwestern Alaska, Japan, and eastern Asia can see the Moon partially eclipse the Sun. Maximum eclipse occurs in eastern Siberia, where our satellite covers 71 percent of the Sun’s disk. Remember that when viewing the Sun during a partial eclipse, protect your eyes by using a safe solar filter.
Sunday, January 6
Venus appears brilliant in the southeast before dawn. It reached greatest elongation late yesterday evening, when it was 47° west of the Sun, so it stands highest in this morning’s sky. The inner world shines at magnitude –4.6, more than 10 times brighter than the second-brightest planet, Jupiter. Venus rises nearly four hours before the Sun and stands 20° high in the southeast when twilight begins. The planet lies among the background stars of Libra, but it will move into Scorpius this coming week. If you point a telescope at Venus, you’ll see a disk that spans 25" and appears halflit.