Bob Doyle, Columnist
Late this month, the planet Mars is closest to the Earth (Jan. 27), rising as the sun sets and hanging in the sky all night long. This is not a very favorable approach (62 million miles) so Mars is only 1/3 as bright as it appeared during its closest approach in August 2003.
Telescopes and imaging devices have improved so much that the Earth views this month should equal those of 2003. There is a satellite now orbiting Mars that can capture detail the size of a house through Mars’ thin atmosphere. Look for Mars as a yellow, steady point of light in the mid-evening (9 p.m.) eastern sky, shining between the bright stars of Gemini and Leo.
In February, Orion, the year’s brightest star group, is highest in the South in mid evening. Orion’s trademark is his belt of three stars in a row. The belt points down and left to Sirius, the night’s brightest star. Sirius is also the closest night star seen by eye for most of the United States, China, Japan and Europe.
In March, Mars begins to fade as the ringed planet Saturn becomes prominent in the eastern evening sky. Saturn is closest to the Earth and opposite the sun on March 21. Turning to the west, the brilliant planet Venus starts to creep out of the twilight in March. Venus is brighter than any other planet or night star.
In early April, the planets Venus and Mercury appear close together. Venus is dozens of times brighter than Mercury so binoculars will be helpful in spotting this small sun baked world. Saturn is then high in the late evening, best for telescopic viewing of the ice rings of this giant world. Saturn’s rings are nearly in line with the Earth, so Saturn’s rings will then appear rather slender.
In May, Venus climbs higher into western dusk as its setting time has grown to two and a half hours after sunset. In the late evening hours, the planet Saturn peaks in the South. In late May, the planet Mercury reaches its greatest angle from the sun low in the eastern dawn in late May and early June, rising an hour ahead of the sun.
In June, Venus continues to dominate the southwestern early evening sky. The dimmer planet Saturn shines steadily in the south. The Milky Way on moonless evenings (early June), glows gently in the late evening sky. Look low in the South in the late evening for the J-shaped star group Scorpius.
In late July, the planet Mercury reappears low in the southeastern sky. One can begin to see the coming convergence of the planets Mars, Saturn and Venus in the western evening sky. Low in the southern evening sky shines the star group Sagittarius whose brightest stars form an old fashioned tea kettle.
Low in the western dusk, the planet Mercury can be seen in early August. On Aug. 7, the planet Saturn appears above the brilliant planet Venus. Then 11 days later, the planet Mars appears above Venus. Venus is now setting less than two hours after sunset due to its motion into the southern zodiac groups.
As Venus continues to drop lower in the dusk, the bright planet Jupiter appears low in the East evening sky in September. On Sept. 20, the very bright planet Jupiter and the dim planet Uranus rise as the sun sets. On Sept. 22, the Harvest Moon shines all through the night, offering extra evening moonlight the following four evenings. In late September the planet Mercury can be seen low in the eastern dawn sky.
In October, Jupiter dominates the evening sky with Venus and Saturn too close to the sun to be seen. The dull planet Mars is barely visible low in the West, setting a little over an hour after sunset. Once again, the moon is full on Oct. 22. This full moon is Hunters’ Moon, with extra evening moonlight for the next few nights.
Mercury can be seen in late November and early December, shining low in the southwest. On Nov. 20, the planets Mars and Mercury appear three moon widths apart. The Seven Sisters or Pleiades are striking in the eastern evening sky while Jupiter is high in the South in the late evening.
December is Orion’s month to reappear in the east. Orion’s belt points up to the bright star Aldebaran and beyond to the Seven Sisters star cluster.
The Frostburg State Planetarium will reopen on Jan. 10 with free public programs at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Our January feature is “Our Glorious Atmosphere,” covering the basics of our ocean of air, how it developed and its future.
The planetarium is in Tawes 302 near the middle of the Frostburg State campus near the Compton Science Center and the Performing Arts Center. Call (301) 687-7799 to request a free 2010 bookmark that has a small map showing the Planetarium and near by parking.
Readers are invited to make comments or submit questions to Dr. Doyle; email him at rdoyle@frostburg.edu .
