The three bright stars that make up Orion’s belt are in a perfect row and jump right out at you. I call them “Orion and his gang.” Orion is the brightest of the gang.Īt first glance the mighty hunter looks like a crooked bowtie, but without too much imagination you can see how that bowtie resembles the torso of a very big man. There’s a barrage of bright stars that make up the wonderful winter constellations.
Throughout January the absolute best stargazing in the early evening will be in the east-southeast. Since Venus’s orbit around the sun is inside the Earth’s orbit, it goes through phases just like our moon. It will appear as a blinding oval-ish disk, resembling a gibbous moon. As bright as it is, Venus isn’t that great of a telescope target. It’s less than 90 million miles away this month and is shrouded in a very reflective cloud cover. Venus is so bright that it can actually cast a faint shadow in the super dark countryside. As January progresses, it will start the evening higher and higher in the southwest.
Venus will be the brightest star-like object in the sky in January, beaming away in the low southwest in the early evening. The moon will hardly darken at all as it will only be in the lighter part of Earth’s shadow. Unfortunately, we won’t see it around here, but that’s no great loss.
Starry night constellation adventure full#
The full moon this month is on the 10th, and on that same night there’s going to be what’s known as a penumbral lunar eclipse. Away from heavy light pollution you may see over 20 meteors or “shooting stars” an hour! The timing couldn’t be better this year because the moon will set around midnight, making for darker skies. We start the month with the Quadrantids, one of the better meteor showers of the year. In this stargazer’s opinion, it’s the best of the year! Bundle up and you’ll be treated to a great celestial show. Just about everywhere nights are cold to downright frigid. Welcome to stargazing in 2020! January nights are the best of times, but also the worst of times.
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