The Sky Above You, January 2012

By Duncan Lunan

The Moon is Full on January 9th, New on January 23rd.   On January 2nd, 29th and 30th the Moon is near Jupiter, near Mars on the 13th/14th, below Saturn on the 17th, and near Venus as a crescent on the 26th.
  
In the UK the planet Mercury is still visible in the morning sky, low in the southeast before sunrise.      

Venus is very bright in the evening sky until May, setting three hours after the Sun by New Year, and passing one degree from Neptune in the early evenings  (before 19.30 hrs)  of the 12th and 13th, when it will be above Venus and then to upper right.

Mars is in the evening sky in Leo, below the main stars of the constellation, rising at 22.00 hrs at the beginning of the month and 20.30 hrs by the end, and coming to its stationary point among the stars on January 25th.        

Jupiter is between Aries and Pisces, setting soon after 02.00 hrs in early January and soon after midnight by the end of the month.

Saturn in Virgo is still in the morning sky, rising about 01.00 hrs in mid-month and soon after midnight by the end.  

Uranus is in Pisces, setting about 22.30 hrs in January.

Neptune is in Aquarius, setting around 19.30 hrs, near Venus on the 12th and 13th, as above.

The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks on the night of 3rd/4th January, coming from a now obsolete constellation at the top of Boötes, and the meteors will be seen better after the Moon sets around 03.30 hrs.

Unfortunately the other object expected to fall to Earth this month is the Russian Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, which was intended to return our first samples from the inner moon of Mars.  The probe has been trapped in low Earth orbit since its upper stages failed to fire, and only flickers of communication have been achieved because the antennae are masked by the fuel tanks which have failed to separate.   It may fall in Afghanistan on January 14th, though there’s big uncertainty about that.  

The good news is that, despite scare stories on the internet, Phobos-Grunt does not have onboard nuclear batteries like the USA’s Curiosity rover, now successfully heading for Mars.  Space expert Jim Oberg has been correlating reports of Russia’s Mars-96 failure and has concluded that it may not have fallen in the Pacific, but come down on land in the Andes.   That would be worrying because Mars-96 did have sixteen batteries powered by radioactive isotopes, which could be used to make a dirty bomb if retrieved by the wrong people.   But even if Phobos-Grunt does come down in Afghanistan, it’s a lot less likely to do any serious harm.  

 

The Sky Above You, February 2012

By Duncan Lunan

The Moon is Full on February 7th, and new on the 21st.   On February 3rd the Moon occults the Crab Nebula in Taurus, for southern England and Europe.   With the line-up of planets we have below, it passes Mars on February 9/10th, Saturn on the 12/13th, Jupiter and Venus on the 25th and 26th, with recurring encounters thereafter in each lunar month, though Jupiter is behind the Sun in May.  

The planet Mercury is in the evening sky at the end of February, at greatest elongation on March 5th.

Venus is very bright in the evening sky, setting as late at 22.00 by the end of February.

Mars is in the evening sky in Leo, below the main stars of the constellation, reaching opposition, nearest Earth and due south at midnight, on March 3rd.           

Jupiter is in Aries, setting near 23.00 by the end of the month.

Saturn in Virgo reaches the evening sky in early February, rising at 22.00 by the end of the month.

Uranus is in Pisces, near Venus half a degree to the left on February 9th, but out of sight thereafter until morning in June.

Neptune is in Aquarius, behind the Sun until May.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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