LISTEN to this week’s Sky Report
This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the week ending Wednesday, January 22, 2014. Here is what’s happening in the skies of Southern California:
The moon is full at precisely 8:52 p.m., PST on Wednesday, January 15. At 5:35 p.m., PST, the moon will be at its greatest distance from the earth for the month, the moon’s apogee. The centers of the earth and moon will then be 221,877 miles from each other. When the moon rises opposite the setting sun, at 5:06 p.m., it will appear about as small as it ever does, about 14-percent smaller than the so-called “super moon” when the full moon coincides with the perigee, the closest point of the moon’s orbit to us. Some are calling this week’s full moon the “mini moon”. See if you can see anything different at moonrise, or does the moon’s brilliance and placement when it rises still give you the feeling that it is gigantic when it is near the horizon? On following nights this week, the moon is waning gibbous, and will rise at 10:33 p.m. on the 22nd.
Planet Mercury, appearing as a bright star, can be found starting on the 18th. Use binoculars and look 5 degrees above the west-southwest horizon at about 5:30 p.m. For reference, your clenched fist viewed from arm’s length is about 10 degrees wide. Mercury’s height above the horizon will grow to about 12 degrees by month’s end.
Brilliant planet Jupiter, in Gemini the Twins, is visible above the east-northeast horizon at sunset and sets in the west-northwest at dawn. Jupiter is nearly overhead when it crosses the meridian at about 11:00 p.m. Jupiter and its four Galilean moons are featured through Griffith Observatory’s public telescopes on clear nights. Jupiter’s most famous feature, the storm called the Great Red Spot, can be observed through a telescope in the early evening from the Western United States on January 15, 16, 18, 20, and 21.
Orange Mars, in, Virgo the Maiden, is 4 degrees below and outshines Virgo’s brightest star, Spica. Through a telescope, Mars still appears tiny, measuring only 8 arcseconds wide. This is about half as large as it will look when it is nearest to earth in April. The moon will appear close to Mars on the mornings of the 22nd and 23rd. Mars rises in the east at about midnight, and reaches its highest point in the south at dawn.
Saturn, in Libra the Scales, is nearly equal to Mars in brightness, but has a golden hue. At dawn, Saturn is 34 degrees high in the southeast, and 31 degrees to the lower left of Mars. A telescope will show the planet’s ring system and several of its moons.
The brightest planet, Venus, becomes increasingly visible above the east-southeast horizon just before sunrise as the week progresses. Day by day, Venus will gain in elevation from 9 degrees to 16 degrees high at sunrise. Binoculars, if held steadily, should be a sufficient aid to see the crescent phase of Venus.
Free views of the sun during the day and of the moon, planets, and other celestial objects at night, are available to the public in clear weather through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes Tuesday-Sunday before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for our schedule. The next public star party on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Saturday, February 8.
From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.