Blue Ridge Astronomy Coming Events

Coming Sky Events - Blue Ridge Astronomy Club

January 2008

Jan 1st 6:30 AM: Venus low in the southeast, above Antares; Saturn high in the southwest, above Regulus; Mars about to set in the west. Arcturus high in the east, Vega low in the east, Deneb rising in the northeast, Regulus high in the west, Capella low in the northwest, Procyon very low in the west. Hercules with the Great Cluster (M13) well up in the east.

Jan 1st 9:00 PM: Mars high in the east, above Gemini; Saturn will rise in about an hour. Orion dominates the southeastern sky with bright stars Betelgeuse and Rigel and the Orion Nebula (M42). Canis Major with the brightest star, Sirius, below left of Orion. Capella high in the east. Pleiades and Taurus high in the south, Gemini with bright stars Castor and Pollux east of Orion. Deneb low in the west. Andromeda Galaxy (M31) high in the west. Double Cluster (NGC 869 and NGC 884) between Cassiopeia and Perseus high in the north. Comet 17P Holmes is near Perseus and still a good binocular target at magnitude 4.1. Comet 8P Tuttle is near Pisces at magnitude 5.7.

Jan 4th: Quadrantid meteors peak, approx. 2:00 AM EST.

Jan 5th: Blue Ridge Astronomy Club Star Party primary night.

Jan 8th: New Moon.

Jan 12th: Blue Ridge Astronomy Club Star Party secondary night.

Jan 15th: First Quarter Moon.

Jan 18th: Moon passes through Pleiades starting at 2:00 AM EST.

Jan 22nd: Full Moon. Mercury at greatest elongation from the Sun, after sunset.

Jan 30th: Last Quarter Moon.

Jan 31st: Blue Ridge Astronomy Club meeting, Forest Library, 7:00 PM.

Jan 31st 6:00 AM: Saturn low in the west, just above Regulus. Venus and Jupiter rising almost together in the southeast. Arcturus high in southern sky, Spica lower to the south, Antares in the southeast, Altair low in the east, Deneb low in the northeast, Vega higher between the two.

Jan 31st 9:00 PM: Mars almost directly overhead, forming a third horn for Taurus. Saturn rising in the east, below Regulus in Leo. Deneb low in the northwest; Orion, with Betelgeuse and Rigel, near its peak in the south; Pleiades very high; Aldebaran between Pleiades and Orion; Capella east of Aldebaran; Sirius well up in south; Procyon high in the southeast; Castor and Pollux nearly overhead. Andromeda Galaxy high in the west. This is a good time to view star clusters near Cassopeia: NGC 457, Stock 2, and the Double Cluster in Perseus (NGC 869 and NGC 884); all are visible through binoculars. Also look for star clusters M36, M37, and M38 in Auriga, directly overhead; these are binocular objects.