With some warmer nights ahead, it’s the perfect opportunity to observe the night sky.
Tim Yaworski, who is a member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, says that January is the perfect month for people to observe planets, with Jupiter in particular being observable throughout the month.
“Jupiter right now is very prominent in the night sky. It’s in what is known as opposition, where basically we’re right in the middle between Jupiter and the sun. Jupiter is visible throughout the entire night. As the evening starts, when you look to the east you will see the brightest looking star out there. That brightest looking star in the eastern sky is the planet Jupiter.”
Yaworski says that Jupiter’s Galilean moons will be visible with a pair of binoculars.
While the whole month will bring interesting night sky conditions, January 23rd will be a particularly good date to watch the sky as two planets will not be far from the moon.
“If you go out about an hour after sunset, what you’re going to see is our moon, a nice little crescent moon up in the sky. Directly below that moon, when you look at the next brightest star, what you’re actually seeing there is actually the planet Saturn. The moon will be at the top, Saturn will be the next brightest star below that and then hidden in between those two is the planet Neptune.”
Yaworski says that while Neptune will not be visible with the naked eye, you should be able to see it with a pair of binoculars or a low power telescope. It will be aquamarine coloured.
For anyone just getting into observing the night sky, Yaworski recommends reading some books, so you know what you’re looking for.
“There’s a beautiful book out there called ‘The Stars’ by H.A. Rey. It’s a great way to learn how to observe the constellations in the night sky. For people who got a pair of binoculars or a small telescope, maybe you got one for Christmas, another nice book to look at is a book called ‘Turn Left at Orion’.”
He also encourages any interested people to join the Royal Astronomical Society.
