Skywatch Line for Friday, January 3, through Sunday, January 5, written by Sam Salem
This is Dudley Observatory’s Skywatch Line for Friday, January 3, through Sunday, January 5, written by Sam Salem.
On Friday, Sun rises at 7:26am and sets at 4:34pm; Moon rises at 10:07am and sets at 8:51pm.
The waxing crescent Moon will lie between Venus and Saturn about 2 hours after sunset on Friday. The Moon moves closer to Saturn on Saturday. The bright, loneliest star, Fomalhaut sits nearby. They’ll set mid-to-late evening. Look for the light reflected from Earth on the unlit portion of the Moon.
On Friday afternoon the Moon and Venus pairing presents a fine time to spot Venus in the daytime with naked eyes. The trick is landing on Venus’ exact location in the blue sky. Once you’ve spotted the Moon, move the pale crescent to the left side of your Binoculars field of view. Venus lies near the right edge. Now look at that spot without the binoculars. The planet is easy to see once your eyes land right on it.
On Sunday, the growing waxing crescent Moon will lie above Venus and Saturn in the western evening sky. They’ll set late in the evening.
Earth’s closest point to the Sun For 2025 comes at 6 am on Saturday. At that time, Earth will be 91,405,993 miles from the Sun.
Look for Mercury, magnitude –0.4, low in the southeast about 60 minutes before sunrise.
Venus, magnitude –4.5, near the Capricornus-Aquarius border, shines high and bright as the “Evening Star” in the southwest during twilight. It’s now high enough to remain up for 2½ hours after dark before setting. It forms a big triangle with Saturn to its upper left and Fomalhaut more directly left or lower left. Venus appears very close to half-lit. Venus is enlarging as it swings toward Earth.
Mars, magnitude –1.2 in the constellation of Cancer, rises in the east-northeast around the end of twilight, below Castor and Pollux. Once Mars is high up, use binoculars to look for M44, the Beehive star cluster, 5° to 8° below it. Mars shows best in a telescope when very high toward the southeast or south by midnight.
Jupiter shines at a bright magnitude –2.7 in the constellation of Taurus. It dominates the high east to southeast during evening, with fainter orange Aldebaran to its right and the Pleiades higher above them. Jupiter is at its telescopic best once it’s very high by 8 pm.
Saturn, magnitude +1.0 in the constellation of Aquarius, glows in the southwest after dark, upper left of Venus. Saturn is 14° from Venus on Friday. Watch them continue to approach each other toward their conjunction on January 18th, when they will pass each other by 2.2°. This week the two still form a big triangle with Venus and with Fomalhaut below Saturn. Watch the triangle change shape from night to night.