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While it may be the coldest time of year, there are lots of reasons to poke your head out for a look at the night sky as 2023 opens. Venus shines low in the southwest at dusk but gains altitude and gets easier to see as the month rolls along. On Jan. 22, it will be in close conjunction with Saturn, a sight best visible in binoculars. Bonus: a paper-thin crescent moon joins the scene at the same time.
Mars slowly fades from magnitude -1.2 (a little fainter than Sirius, the brightest star) to -0.3, similar to Vega, as the faster Earth leaves it behind, and the distance between the two planets increases. Before Mars dims too much, it has a very close conjunction with the moon on Jan. 30 . Jupiter’s still a beacon in the southwestern sky at nightfall, but Saturn's sinking fast and disappears in the twilight glow by month’s end.
Comet ZTF (C/2022 E3) , named for the Zwicky Transient Facility , the automated telescopic sky survey that first found it, brightens to binocular and possibly naked-eye visibility during the latter part of January. Passing through the Little Dipper it will be in view all night.
Events
Jan. 3: Waxing gibbous moon shines near Mars tonight.
Jan. 4 before dawn: Maximum of the annual Quadrantid meteor shower. Under ideal conditions, the “Quads” can produce around 100 meteors per hour, but the peak is just six hours long, and this year the nearly full moon will mask all but the brightest, reducing their number to about a dozen per hour. Best viewing time will be during the two hours before dawn from about 4-6 a.m. local time. Face southeast or north. Shower members stream from beneath the Big Dipper’s handle from the now obsolete constellation Quadrans Muralis (Mural Quadrant), named for an instrument once used to measure star positions.
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Jan. 6: Full Wolf Moon. For your local moonrise time, go to www.timeanddate.com/moon.
Jan. 14: Last-quarter moon.
Jan. 18 early dawn: Crescent moon shines 2° to the left of Antares, brightest star in Scorpius.
Jan. 21: New moon.
Jan. 21-23: Venus and Saturn conjunction. Look low in the southwestern sky 45 minutes to an hour after sunset to spot Venus. On Jan. 21, Saturn will shine 1° above it. Venus should be easy to spot, but you might need binoculars to pick out the ringed planet. One night later, on Jan. 22, they’ll be closest at less than 1/2° apart. If you have an unobstructed horizon look for the super-thin crescent moon directly below the duo. On Jan. 23, the view will be almost as pretty, with a fingernail moon to the upper left of the pair.
Jan. 25: Crescent moon and Jupiter in conjunction. Look southwest during the early evening hours.
Jan. 28: First-quarter moon.
Jan. 25-31: Comet ZTF will cross the Little Dipper during the final week of the month. It’s expected to get bright enough to see in binoculars even from outer suburban areas. I’ll post details including finder maps in upcoming Astro Bob blogs. Just Google "Astro Bob."
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Jan. 30: Waxing gibbous moon passes very close to Mars! From the Midwest they’ll be about one-third of a moon-diameter apart when closest around 11:30 p.m. Central Standard Time. From parts of the southern U.S. (including much of Florida and sections of Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico and California), the moon will cover up the planet. I’ll have additional information in upcoming blog posts.
