It's along a diagonal from Saturn through Venus, about as far from Venus as Saturn is. That's about the width of your three middle fingers held together at arm's length. By Friday, the 22nd, find a clear view toward southeast and look 5° above the horizon. Your first good chance to spot Mercury before dawn comes later this week. (The fleetest of planets can do that, since it circles the Sun in just 88 days.) But it's been racing rapidly from evening to morning visibility. The fifth planet is Mercury, which was spotable low in the southwest after sunset just two weeks ago. Shift your gaze farther right to sweep up Mars, then the star Spica, and finally Jupiter. In between are four bright beacons: not far from Venus are Saturn and, below it, the star Antares. Way over to the right, on the southwestern side of the sky, is Jupiter. But Venus has no equal for brightness among the night's planets and stars. It's actually in decline, not nearly as high up as you saw it toward the end of 2015. Venus is obvious as it lingers above the southeastern horizon. With each passing day, Mercury will appear brighter and climb a little higher. Here's the view 45 minutes before sunrise as plotted for January 25th. This time of year, if you work or go to school, you're usually already up by then - maybe even well positioned to scan the predawn eastern horizon as you commute to work or head off to school. You'll need to be outside about 45 minutes before sunrise. Instead, I suggest that the last week of January and first week of February are your 'best bets' for success.) But realistically you're not going to see Mercury linger in the predawn sky for a whole month. Technically, that's true - in his book More Mathematical Morsels, celestial dynamicist Jean Meeus notes these dates. (You might see posts elsewhere that suggest this event runs from January 20th to February 20th. It's a real visual treat, so don't pass up the chance to see it. In fact, during the next two weeks you'll have a good chance to view five visible planets at once. (Did you catch last October's triple play involving Venus, Jupiter, and Mars?) Anchored by bright Venus and Jupiter, joined by Mars and Saturn, this planetary fab four has been dominating skywatchers' attention for months. Sure, with careful watching you could have spotted Saturn low in the southwest as late as November, and Mercury put in a brief appearance a few weeks ago.īut really all the action has been in the sky before sunrise. If you follow celestial comings and goings at all, you know that bright planets have been largely missing from the evening sky for a few months. Over the next two weeks, for the first time in more than a decade, you can see all of the naked-eye, visible planets - from Mercury to Saturn - together in the predawn sky.

For more information on sky events like this one, visit our Observing News section. See what else December’s issue has to offer.Note that the following article was for the celestial event in mid-January 2016. ’Tis the season to brave the elements and capture some stunning images.

Track down the craters named after the giants of lunar cartography. Winter’s mighty Hunter is a sight to behold.Ī fine year for meteor showers has a final hurrah.

Take charge of your scope’s design and make it perform better than ever.ĭownload Jimi Lowrey’s list of all 94 galaxies with a light-travel time of 1 billion years or more.įind out when 319 Leona will pass in front of Betelgeuse from your location. Scientists are second-guessing the role magnetic fields play in protecting planets. This Greek-French astronomer is perhaps history’s greatest visual planetary observer. Antoniadi: The Astronomer Who Decoded Mars Observe the farthest galaxies found visually in the NGC and IC catalogs.Į. The Andromeda Galaxy is a giant spiral like the Milky Way but has had a surprisingly different - and tumultuous - past. Also in this issue, learn about how magnetic fields can shield planets’ atmospheres - or perhaps hasten atmospheric loss. Andoniadi’s visual observations of Mars and other planets were truly in a league of their own. Careful observing can get you to the farthest reaches of the cosmos, but it can also bring you closer to home. In doing so, we discover our sibling has had a surprisingly different history! Dozens of other galaxies await your telescope, as we explore the faintest - but still accessible - targets in the most popular catalogs. In the December issue, dive into the Andromeda Galaxy’s past with an in-depth look at our galactic sister.

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