astronomical calendar 2014

AstronomicalCalendar

2014

cov14.qxd 13/10/2013 17:45

2 Astronomical Calendar 2014

AQUARIUS

AQUARIUS

CAPRICORNUS

CAPRICORNUS

LIBRALIBRA

PISCESPISCES

SAGITTARIUSSAGITTARIUS

SCO

RP

IUS

SCO

RP

IUS

VIRGOVIRGO

Fomalhaut

AntaresAntares

SpicaSpicaJanJan

FebFeb

MarMar SepSepOctOct

NovNovDecDec

ecliptic longitudeecliptic longitude

eclip

tic la

titud

eec

liptic

latit

ude

-10-10˚

0˚

+10+10˚360360˚ 345345˚ 330330˚ 315315˚ 300300˚ 285285˚ 270270˚ 255255˚ 240240˚ 225225˚ 210210˚ 195195˚ 180180˚

+10+10˚

0˚

-10-10˚ 0h 1 2 h

1 3 h 1 4 h

1 5 h 1 6 h 1 7 h 1 8 h 1 9 h 2 0 h

2 1h

2 2h

2 3h

- 1 0 o

- 2 0o

- 3 0o

e q u a t o r e q u a t o re c l i p t i c

Mi

l ky

Wa

y

Coordinates of 2014Coordinates of 2014

Mercury

AprApr

AQUARIUS

AQUARIUS

CAPRICORNUS

CAPRICORNUS

LIBRALIBRA

PISCESPISCES


SCORPIUSSCORPIUS

VIRGOVIRGO

Fomalhaut

AntaresAntaresSpicaSpica

JanJanFebFeb

MarMarAprApr

OctOctNovNov

DecDec


eclip

tic la

titud

eec

liptic

latit

ude

-10-10˚

0˚

+10+10˚360360˚ 345345˚ 330330˚ 315315˚ 300300˚ 285285˚ 270270˚ 255255˚ 240240˚ 225225˚ 210210˚ 195195˚ 180180˚

+10+10˚

0˚

-10-10˚ 0h 1 2 h

1 3 h 1 4 h

1 5 h 1 6 h 1 7 h 1 8 h 1 9 h 2 0 h

2 1h

2 2h

2 3h

- 1 0 o

- 2 0o - 3 0 o

e q u a t o re q u a t o r

e c l i p t i c

Mi

l ky

Wa

y


VenusOPHIUCHUSOPHIUCHUS

AQUARIUS

AQUARIUS

CAPRICORNUS

CAPRICORNUS

LIBRALIBRA

SAGITTARIUSSAGITTARIUS SCORPIUSSCORPIUS

VIRGOVIRGO

Altair

Fomalhaut

AntaresAntaresSpicaSpica

20132013JanJanFebFeb

MarMar AprApr May

May

JunJunJulJulAugAugSepSepOctOctNovNovDecDec

Aug 25Aug 25SaturnSaturn

Nov 11Nov 11PlutoPluto


eclip

tic la

titud

eec

liptic

latit

ude

-15-15˚

-10-10˚

-5-5˚

0˚

+ 5+ 5˚

+10+10˚

+15+15˚330330˚ 315315˚ 300300˚ 285285˚ 270270˚ 255255˚ 240240˚ 225225˚ 210210˚ 195195˚ 180180˚

+15+15˚

+10+10˚

+ 5+ 5˚

0˚

-5-5˚

-10-10˚

-15-15˚ 1 2 h

1 3 h 1 4 h 1 5 h 1 6 h 1 7 h 1 8 h 1 9 h

2 0 h

2 1h

2 2h

+ 1 0 o 0o

- 1 0o

- 2 0o

- 3 0o

e q u a t o r

e c l i p t i c

Mi

lk

y

Wa

y


Marsopposition Apr 8

GEMINIGEMINI NGC2266NGC2266

hPropuPropus

k

mTejatTejat

n

gAlmeisan or Alhena

e MebsutaMebsutaw

zMekbudaMekbuda

t

l

dWasatWasat

iu

s

k

bPolluxPolluxf

w

c

m

y

z

y

c

l

f1

u1

q

h

g

dAsellusAsellusAustralis

Australiso

aAcubAcubens

n

k

x

p

w

lAlterf

xo

yn

20152015

Jan 1Jan 1 Feb 1Feb 1Mar 1Mar 1

Apr 1Apr 1May 1May 1Jun 1Jun 1Jul 1Jul 1

Aug 1Aug 1

Sep 1Sep 1

Oct 1Oct 1Nov 1Nov 1Dec 1Dec 1

Aug 2Aug 2Mercury Mercury

Aug 18Aug 18VenusVenus


eclip

tic la

titud

eec

liptic

latit

ude

-4-4˚

-2-2˚

0˚

+ 2+ 2˚

+ 4+ 4˚

144144˚ 140140˚ 135135˚ 130130˚ 125125˚ 120120˚ 115115˚ 110110˚ 105105˚ 100100˚ 9696˚

3 0 m 7 h 3 0 m 8 h 3 0 m 9 h 3 0 m

+ 2 5 o

+ 2 0 o

+ 1 5 o

+ 1 0 o

e c l i p t i c


Jupiter

20132013Jul 24 Jan 5opposition

CANCERCANCERLEOLEO

BeehiveBeehive

AsellusAsellusBorealis

Borealis

Sun-conjunction

LIBRALIBRA

SCORPIUSSCORPIUS

m

aZubenelgenubi

Zubenelgenubi

x1

x2

n

i

z

g

k

h

l

q

dDschubba

bGraffiasGraffias

w1w2

nJabbahJabbah

o

y

r

c

f

w

JanJanFebFeb

MarMar AprApr JunJun JulJul

AugAugSepSepOctOctNov 1Nov 1Dec 1Dec 1


eclip

tic la

titud

eec

liptic

latit

ude

-1-1˚

0˚

+ 1+ 1˚

+ 2+ 2˚

+ 3+ 3˚

+ 4+ 4˚

+ 5+ 5˚

248248˚ 245245˚ 240240˚ 235235˚ 230230˚ 225225˚ 224224˚

1 5 h 3 0 m 1 6 h

- 1 5 o

- 2 0 o

e c l i p t i c


Saturn

Sun-conjunctionNov 18

opposition May 10

opposition2015 May 23 2013

CHARTS OF YEAR-LONG PATHS

AQUARIUS

ARIES

CANCER

CAPRICORNUS

GEMINILEO

LIBRA

PISCES

PISCES

SAGITTARIUSSCORPIUS

TAURUSVIRGO

OPHIUCHUS

CETUS

ORION

AURIGA

HYDRA

SEXTANS

CRATERCORVUS

SCUTUM

PEGASUS

Altair

Capella

Arcturus

Sirius

Procyon

Canopus

Deneb

Achernar

CastorPollux

Regulus

Vega

Rigel

Betelgeuse

FomalhautAntares

Aldeba

ran

Spica

Pleiades

Hyades

M35Beehive

right ascension

decl

inat

ion

-40˚

-30˚

-20˚

-10˚

0˚

+10˚

+20˚

+30˚

+40˚24h 21h 18h 15h 12h 9h 6h 3h 0h

+40˚

+30˚

+20˚

+10˚

0˚

-10˚

-20˚

-30˚

-40˚

e c l i p t i c

e q u a t o r

Jan 1

Jan 16

Jan 30

Feb 14Mar 1

Mar 16

Mar 30

New

Apr 15

Apr 29

May 14

May 28

Jun 13

Jun 27

Jul 12

Jul 26

Aug 10

Aug 25

Sep 9

Sep 24 Oct 8

Oct 23

Nov 6

Nov 22

Dec 6

Dec 22

FullFull

totallunar

eclipse

totallunareclipse

annularsolareclipse

partialsolar

eclipse

Charts for the major planets are plotted in ecliptic latitude and longitude. (Plotted equa-torially they would take up much more vertical space.) The more familiar grid of equato-rial coordinates (right ascension and declination) is also shown, curving in relation to theecliptic system. The ecliptic itself is marked by dashes 2° long. Ticks mark the planets’positions at the 1st, 11th, and 21st of each month. At the 1st is an open circle, sized formagnitude (brightness), so that the planet can be compared with the stars. On the scalesof the maps, the planets’ disks would be only a few hundredths of a millimeter wide. Theplanets’ paths are black when in the evening sky (east of the Sun, left as seen from thenorthern hemisphere), gray in the morning sky (west or right of the Sun). Transition fromblack to gray is at conjunction with the Sun (for Mercury and Venus, inferior conjunc-tion); transition from gray to black is at opposition (for Mercury and Venus, superior con-junction). For some of the planets, parts of the tracks for the neighboring years areincluded (in blue).

The Moon each year travels 13.4 times around the sky,from west to east (right to left), through the 12 constella-tions of the zodiac, also Ophiuchus (it can touch Cetus,Orion, Auriga, Hydra, Sextans, Crater, Corvus, Scutum,Pegasus). The two nodes, where the path crosses theecliptic, shift gradually westward. We show only the pathsfor January (thick line) and December (thin). The Moonitself is shown at the instants when it is New (black) andFull (white), at 5 times its true size. In each synodicmonth or lunation (29.5 days) the Moon goes from a Newposition all around the sky and on to the next New posi-tion; in each calendar month of 30 or 31 days its journeyoverlaps by a bit more. Eclipses happen at those New andFull Moons (the 6th or sometimes 5th of each kind) whichare near enough to one of the nodes.

Mercury and Venus stay near the Sun; so they start andend each year near its winter position in Sagittarius.

Astronomical Calendar 2014 3

e71

7373

77777777

e

z86868686

8888 20132013

20152015 JanJan1

FebFeb1

MarMar1

AprApr1

MayMay1

JunJun1

JulJul1

1AugAug

1SepSep

1OctOct

1NovNov

1DecDec

Apr 14Apr 14Mercury Mercury

May 15May 15VenusVenus


eclip

tic la

titud

eec

liptic

latit

ude

-2-2˚

-1-1˚

0˚

2020˚ 1919˚ 1818˚ 1717˚ 1616˚ 1515˚ 1414˚ 1313˚ 1212˚ 1111˚ 1010˚ 9˚ 8˚

3 0m

4 0m 5 0

m

1h 1 0

m

+ 8o

+ 6o

+ 4o + 2

o

e c l i p t i c


Uranus

0h

Sun-conjunctionApr 2

Oct 7opposition

PISCES

CETUS

e

4242

45

5858

6767

70

l7373

7878

2013201320152015

JanJan1

FebFeb1

MarMar1

AprApr1

MayMay1

JunJun1

1JulJul

1AugAug

1SepSep

1OctOct

1NovNov

1 Dec1 Dec

Mar 22Mar 22MercuryMercury

Apr 12Apr 12Venus Venus


eclip

tic la

titud

eec

liptic

latit

ude

-2-2˚

-1-1˚

0˚

+ 1+ 1˚342342˚ 341341˚ 340340˚ 339339˚ 338338˚ 337337˚ 336336˚ 335335˚ 334334˚ 333333˚ 332332˚ 331331˚ 330330˚

1 0m

2 0m

3 0m

4 0m

5 0m

- 8o

- 1 0o

- 1 2o

e c l i p t i c


Neptune 2 2

h

2 2 h

AQUARIU

S

Sun-conjunctionFeb 23

Aug 29opposition


NGC6716NGC6716clustercluster

26

28

YZ

2929

30

BB SgrBB Sgr

3333

n1 32n2 35

x1 3636

x2

o 39

p 4141

26

28

29 Sgr29 Sgr

Ross 154

30

33 Sgr33 Sgr

n1 32n2 35

x1or 36 Sgror 36 Sgr

x2

or 37 Sgror 37 Sgr

o 39

p 4141

JanJanFebFebMarMarApr

Apr MayMayJunJun

JulJul AugAugSepSep

OctOctNovNovDecDec

20132013

20152015

right ascensionright ascension

decl

inat

ion

decl

inat

ion

-21-21˚30'30'

-21-21˚15'15'

-21-21˚

-20-20˚45'45'

-20-20˚30'30'

-20-20˚15'15'

-20-20˚

-19-19˚45'45'

-19-19˚30'30'7m7m 5m5m 19h19h 55m55m 50m50m 45m45m 40m40m 18h37m18h37m

-19-19˚30'30'

-19-19˚45'45'

-20-20˚

-20-20˚15'15'

-20-20˚30'30'

-20-20˚45'45'

-21-21˚

-21-21˚15'15'

-21-21˚30'30'Coo r d i n a t e s o f 2 0 0 0

6

7891011121314m

ag

ni

tu

de

s open cluster

nebula

planetary nebula

globular cluster

galaxy

Pluto

----------

oppositionJul 4

Sun-onjunctionJan 1

SAGITTARIUS

The chart for dwarf planet Pluto is in equatorial coor-dinates, at scale 3 cm to 1°. Opposition falls in themiddle of each retrograde loop, only about 1 or 2

days later each year. Plotted in blue are stars fromthe Tycho catalogue of the Hipparcos mission, whichcan be as faint as magnitude 11.5; those also plotted

in black are in the 9-times-smaller Hipparcos cata-logue itself. Pluto’s magnitude is no higher than 14.1,so it is dimmer than the faintest stars on the chart.

ARIESARIES

CANCERCANCER

GEMINIGEMINI

PISCESPISCES

TAURUSTAURUS

Capella

Procyon Mira

CastorCastorPolluxPollux

RegulusRegulus

Betelgeuse

Algol

AldebaranAldebaranAprApr

MayMay

JunJun

JulJul

zzzz

-10-10˚

0˚

+10+10˚180180˚ 165165˚ 150150˚ 135135˚ 120120˚ 105105˚ 9090˚ 7575˚ 6060˚ 4545˚ 3030˚ 1515˚ 0˚

+10+10˚

0˚

-10-10˚ 1h

2h

3h

4 h 5 h 6 h 7 h 8 h 9 h 1 0 h

1 1 h

1 2 h + 3 0 o+ 2 0 o+ 1 0 o


e c l i p t i c

Mi

l ky

Wa

y

PleiadesPleiades

Mercury

ARIESARIES

CANCERCANCER

GEMINIGEMINI

PISCESPISCES

TAURUSTAURUS

Capella

Procyon Mira


RegulusRegulus

Betelgeuse

Algol

AldebaranAldebaran MayMayJunJun

JulJulAugAugSepSep

-10-10˚

0˚

+10+10˚180180˚ 165165˚ 150150˚ 135135˚ 120120˚ 105105˚ 9090˚ 7575˚ 6060˚ 4545˚ 3030˚ 1515˚ 0˚

+10+10˚

0˚

-10-10˚ 1h

2h

3h

4 h 5 h 6 h 7 h 8 h 9 h 1 0 h

1 1 h

1 2 h

+ 3 0 o+ 2 0 o+ 1 0 o


e c l i p t i cM

il k

y

Wa

y

PleiadesPleiades

BeehiveBeehive Venus

HyadesHyades

AQUARIUSAQUARIUS

ARIESARIES

CANCERCANCER

CAPRICORNUSCAPRICORNUS

GEMINIGEMINILEOLEO

LIBRALIBRA

PISCESPISCES

PISCESPISCES

SAGITTARIUSSAGITTARIUSSCORPIUSSCORPIUS

TAURUSTAURUSVIRGOVIRGO

OPHIUCHUSOPHIUCHUS

CETUSCETUS

ORIONORION

AURIGAAURIGA

HYDRAHYDRA

SEXTANSSEXTANS

CRATERCRATERCORVUSCORVUS

SCUTUMSCUTUM

PEGASUSPEGASUS

AltairAltair

CapellaCapella

ArcturusArcturus

SiriusSirius

ProcyonProcyon

Canopus

DenebDeneb

Achernar


RegulusRegulus

VegaVega

RigelRigel

BetelgeuseBetelgeuse

FomalhautFomalhautAntaresAntares

Aldeba

ran

Aldeba

ran

SpicaSpica

PleiadesPleiades

HyadesHyades

M35M35BeehiveBeehive

right ascensionright ascension

decl

inat

ion

decl

inat

ion

-40-40˚

-30-30˚

-20-20˚

-10-10˚

0˚

+10+10˚

+20+20˚

+30+30˚

+40+40˚24h24h 21h21h 18h18h 15h15h 12h12h 9h9h 6h6h 3h3h 0h0h

+40+40˚

+30+30˚

+20+20˚

+10+10˚

0˚

-10-10˚

-20-20˚

-30-30˚

-40-40˚

e c l i p t i c

e q u a t o r

Jan 1Jan 1

Jan 16Jan 16

Jan 30Jan 30

Feb 14Feb 14

Mar 1Mar 1

Mar 16Mar 16

Mar 30Mar 30

NewNew

Apr 15Apr 15

Apr 29Apr 29

May 14May 14

May 28May 28

Jun 13Jun 13

Jun 27Jun 27

Jul 12Jul 12

Jul 26Jul 26

Aug 10Aug 10

Aug 25Aug 25

Sep 9Sep 9

Sep 24Sep 24 Oct 8Oct 8

Oct 23Oct 23

Nov 6Nov 6

Nov 22Nov 22

Dec 6Dec 6

Dec 22Dec 22

FullFullFullFull

totaltotallunarlunar

eclipseeclipse

totaltotallunarlunareclipseeclipse

annularannularsolarsolareclipseeclipse

partialpartialsolarsolar

eclipseeclipse


1 P H a l l e y

1 P H a l l e y

E CL I P T I C P L ANE

--

10

AU--

e q u a t o r

equator

e c l i p t i c

ec

li

pt

ic

M a r s

Ju

pi t e r

S a t u r n

U r a n u s

Ne

pt u

ne

P l u t o

1

Ce r e s

1 P H a l l e y

19871987

19821982

opp Oct

7

opposition Aug 29

opposition Jul 4

opposition May 10

oppJan 5

v e r n a le q u i n ox d i r e c t i on

e c l i p t i c

ecliptic

e qua t o r

equator

AQUAR I US

AR I E S

CANCE R

CAPR I CORNUS

GE M I N I

L EO

LIBRA

P I S CE S

SAGITTARIUS

SCOR

PI

US

T AURUS

VIRGO

E a r t h

M a r s

M e r c u r y

Ve

n

us

SunSunJan

Feb

MarJan

Feb

MarMar

Jan

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

MayApr

OctNov

Dec

Feb

v e r n a l e q u i n ox

d i r e c t i on

Jan

Aug

Jul

JunMay

Oct

Nov

Dec

2012 Mar 3

2010 Jan 29

2014

Apr 8

2016

May 22

2018 Jul 27

2005Nov 7

2003Aug 28

2007Dec 24

2014

Apr 1

4

E CL I P T I CP L ANE

ecliptic

north p

ole

Earth rotational

north pole

Mar

s ro

tatio

nal

nort

h po

le

oppo

sitio

n

neare

st

2007Dec 24

Spatial view of the four inner planets (Mercury andVenus for only the first three months of the year).On an imaginary sphere, 2 AU out, are shown theplanes of the equator and ecliptic, and the bound-aries of the zodiacal constellations. Globes for theplanets at the start of each month are exaggerated500 times in size; the Sun only 5 times. The pathfor a planet is drawn thicker when it is north of theecliptic plane; gray when it is in the morning sky.

Blue circles show the mean distances of theplanets. Arrows from Earth to Mars are at thedates of several successive oppositions.

PLANET SPHERE-PICTURES

The planets from Earth (smallestellipse) outward. Trajectories for thisyear are black (with stalks to the eclip-tic plane at monthly intervals), wholeorbits blue (stalks yearly). Each dashor gap in the opposition lines is 0.5 AUlong. Ceres, Pluto, and Comet Halleyare samples of the thousands of minorbodies that could be in the picture.

about 10 PM at the5th of the month,9 PM at the20th

open cluster

nebula

planetary nebula

globular cluster

galaxy

—1

0

1

2 3 4 5m

ag

ni

tu

de

s

1 hour before sunrise


JANUARY

Pre-dawn skyfor 40° north

Midnight skyfor 40° north

Evening skyfor latitude 40° north

siderealtime 5h

Salt Lake City, Denver,Peoria, Philadelphia,

Madrid,NaphThessaloniki,

Ankara, Beijing

open cluster

nebula

planetary nebula

globular cluster

galaxy

—1

0

1

2 3 4 5m

ag

ni

tu

de

s

r

is

in

g s

ettin

g

ri

si

ng

se

tt

in

g

r i s i n g s e t t i n g

r i s i ng s e t t i ng

0h

0h

0h

0h

1h

1h

1h

1h

2h

2h

2h

2h

3h

3h

3h

3h

4 h 4 h 4 h 4 h

5 h 5 h 5 h 5 h 6 h 6 h 6 h 6 h

7 h 7 h 7 h 7 h

8 h 8 h 8 h 8 h

9 h 9 h 9 h 9 h

10 h 10 h 10 h 10 h

1 1 h

1 1 h

1 1 h

1 1 h

2 3h

2 3h

2 3h

2 3h

-2 0 o- 2 0 o-2 0 o- 2 0 o

- 4 0 o- 4 0 o- 4 0 o- 4 0 o

+20o

+20o

+20o

+ 2 0o

+ 2 0 o+ 2 0 o+ 2 0 o+ 2 0 o

+2

0o

+2

0o

+2

0o

+2

0o

+20o

+20o

+20o

+ 2 0o

+ 40o

+4 0o

+4 0o

+ 40o

+ 4 0 o+ 4 0 o+ 4 0 o+ 4 0 o

+4

0o

+4

0o

+4

0o

+4

0o

+ 40o

+4 0o

+4 0o

+ 40o

+6

0o

+6

0o

+6

0o

+6

0o

+ 6 0 o+ 6 0 o+ 6 0 o+ 6 0 o

+6

0o

+6

0o

+6

0o

+6

0o

+60o +60o +60o +60o

+6

0o

+6

0o

+6

0o

+6

0o

+8

0o

+8

0o

+8

0o

+8

0o

+ 8 0 o+ 8 0 o+ 8 0 o+ 8 0 o

+8

0o

+8

0o

+8

0o

+8

0o

+80o +80o +80o +80o

+8

0o

+8

0o

+8

0o

+8

0o

ZE

N I TH

AND

ROM

EDA

ARIES

AURIGA

CAELUM

CAMELOPARDALIS

CANCER

CA

NES

VEN

ATIC

I

CANIS

MAJOR

CANISMINOR

CASSIOPEIA

CEP

HEU

S

CETUS

COLUMBA

DRACO

ERIDANUS

FORNAX

GEMINI

HYDRA

LAC

ERTA

LEO

LEO

MIN

OR

LEPUS

LYNX

MONOCEROS ORION

PEG

ASU

S

PERSEUS

PISCES

PUPPIS

SEXTANS

TAURUS

TRIANGULUM

URSA

MA

JOR

URSA

MINOR

Gr e a

t Squar e

of

Pe

ga

su

s

Bi

g

Di

pp

er

Litt

le D

ippe

r

T h r e e L e ap s o f t he Gaze l l e

Pleiades

Hyades

Beehive

Andro

meda

Galaxy

M33

Capella

Sirius

Procyon

Mira

Den

eb

CastorPollux

Regulus

Rigel

Betelgeuse

Algol

Aldebaran

Polaris

M

ilk

y W

ay

M

ilk

y W

ay

e c l i p t i c

c e l e s t i a l e q u a t o r


(movement of skyin 1 hour)(movement of sky

in 1 hour)

Nath

radiant of

Quadrantid m

eteors

we

st

north

north

westnortheast

ea

st

s ou t he a s t

s ou t h

s ou t hwe s t

ho

ri

zo

n

the C

i rc l e

t

JupiterJupiter UranusUranusJan 8Jan 8First Quarter

First QuarterJan 16Jan 16

FullFull

Com

etC

omet

C/2012 S1 ISO

NC

/2012 S1 ISON

Crab

AN

DR

OM

ED

A

AN

DR

OM

ED

A

ARIESARIES

AURIGAAURIGA

BO

BO

ÖTESTES

CANCERCANCER

CANISCANISMAJORMAJOR

CA

SSIO

PEIA

CA

SSIO

PEIA

ERIDANUSERIDANUS

GEMINIGEMINI

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Evening skyfor latitude 35° south

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mid Chile, Buenos Aires,Uruguay, Cape Town,

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Ecuador, mouth of Amazon,Gabon, Uganda, Kenya,

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aphelionaphelionperihelionperihelionnodenodeoppositionoppositiongreatest elongationgreatest elongationconjunction with Sunconjunction with Sunconjunction of planetsconjunction of planets (in longitude) (in longitude)

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aphelionaphelionperihelionperihelionnodenodeoppositionoppositiongreatest elongationgreatest elongationconjunction with Sunconjunction with Sunconjunction of planetsconjunction of planets (in longitude) (in longitude)

The SOLAR-SYSTEM PLANS are views from the north ecliptic pole. The coursesof the four inner planets are shown by curving arrows. (Lines point to the outerplanets, which are much too far away to show at this scale.) Where a planet is in ornorth of the ecliptic plane its arrow is thicker. The rest of each orbit is indicated bydots 5 days apart (black where the planet has already passed in this year). TheMoon’s illuminated side—hugely exaggerated in size and distance from Earth—isshown at its New and Full positions. The Sun is also vastly too large.

The white side of the diagram is the sky toward which we face about 10 p.m. inthe middle of the month. Around the edge are the directions to the zodiacal constel-lations as seen from Earth, not Sun, at the middle of the month. Some markedevents are explained in the key underneath, and at their dates in the calendar.

The wide sky in JanuaryThe Milky Way on January evenings crosses overhead diagonally from southeast tonorthwest. (As seen from mid-northern latitudes of the Earth, that is.) We call thisreach of it the Winter Milky Way, though more correctly it’s the north-hemisphere’s win-ter early-night Milky Way.

(Rivers are divided into “reaches,” such as the Greenwich Reach of the Thames.Many cultures have seen the Milky Way as a river.)

What is now above the horizon is the outer half of the Milky Way. The directionstraight outward from our galaxy’s center is just east of the star Nath (Beta Tauri), nearthe zenith at this time. Because we are looking through the galaxy’s disk toward thenearest part of its rim, we see the narrowest and dimmest part of the band. The hazeof stars is thinner than in the opposite direction.

Yet this part of the band is the richest in very bright individual stars! The reason isthat we are looking out through the nearest spiral arm, on whose inner edge we are,and in which the birth of massive stars is going on. Seven of these heroic stars formthe most famous constellation, Orion, now confronting us on the meridian, the nave ofthe sky. This is the Orion Hour (“The Heavens by Hours,” Astronomical Calendar2012, page 76)

January is a month when nights start early (good for stargazing) but are coldest;when the Milky Way is highest, yet glows dimmest, yet so obviously glitters with starsthat it is probably the month when non-stargazers are most often struck by them.

SOLAR SYSTEMPLAN

The SKY DOMES are what you see as you lie on your back with your feet pointingsouth. For more positions of the Moon and planets, see the <Zodiac charts>.z

1 hour before sunrise


FEBRUARY

Pre-dawn skyfor 40° north

Midnight skyfor 40° north


siderealtime 7h

Salt Lake City, Denver,Peoria, Philadelphia,

Madrid,NaphThessaloniki,

Ankara, Beijing

open cluster

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planetary nebula

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5h

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6 h 6 h 6 h 6 h

7 h 7 h 7 h 7 h 8 h 8 h 8 h 8 h

9 h 9 h 9 h 9 h

10 h 10 h 10 h 10 h

1 1 h 1 1 h 1 1 h 1 1 h

12 h 12 h 12 h 12 h

13 h

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Feb 22Feb 22Last QuarterLast Quarter

Feb 16

SKY DOMES

Januarius (or more fully Januarius mensis) was themonth of Janus, Roman god of beginnings and of door-ways. Statues showed him with another face on theback of his head.

Pre-Christian England had its own month-names.According to the scholarly monk Bede in his DeTemporum Ratione, “On the Reckoning of Times,” 725AD, December and January were covered by one name,Giuli. This must be related to “Yule” (geol in Anglo-Saxon, similar words in other Germanic languages, ori-gin unknown), a 12-day festival, later transformed intothe Twelve Days of Christmas.

Christianity, with literature written in Latin, brought inthe names used by the Romans; in medieval Englishthese took on variant forms, often influenced by French.

Some such forms survive in dialects, such as Janiveerand Janwar. Since the Renaissance we have returnedto anglicized forms of the Latin names.

The calendar now used in most of the world is called theGregorian. In 1582 (or later in many countries) itreplaced the Julian calendar, which added a leap day atthe end of February in every 4th year. This was slightlytoo many, so that the average year was slightly too long.The two calendars are now out of step by 13 days, sothat Julian Jan. 1 falls on our Jan. 14. The divergencewill next be increased by the Julian leap day in 2100, sothat Julian 2101 Jan. 1 will fall on Gregorian Jan. 15.

The Julian calendar is still used for some religiouspurposes. Even the dates of the old Roman calendarare given in some almanacs: this Julian Jan. 1 is the first

day of the Romanyear 2767 A.U.C. or aburbe condita, “from thecity founded”—fromthe legendary date ofthe founding of Romein perhaps 753 BC.

Jan. 7, which is 13days after Dec. 25, isChristmas for theEastern Orthodoxchurch, or at least for “Old Calendarists” still using theJulian calendar. In the 19th century it fell 12 days afterChristmas, on Jan. 6, so there is some confusion withthe Twelve Days of Christmas, ending on Epiphany, Jan.6, the Adoration of the Magi.


Earth

the dot is the

barycenter

Moon

Earth and Moon are drawn at true scale for their distance apart. The barycen-ter, or center of mass, of the Earth-Moon system is about 4640 kilometersfrom the center of the 6378-km-radius Earth. It keeps moving through thesolid matter of the rotating Earth. It takes a smooth orbit around the Sun.Earth and Moon revolve around their barycenter. So Earth is pushed slightlyoutward at New Moon, forward at First Quarter, inward at Full Moon, back-ward at Last Quarter. So the truer orbit of Earth itself is a slightly wavy ellipse.

Earth and Sun in JanuaryIn January our planet is traveling around the part of its orbit which, seen fromthe Sun, is in the direction of the constellations Taurus and Gemini. So wesee the Sun in the opposite direction, in Sagittarius and Capricornus. Facingoutward at midnight, we see in the middle of the sky the stars of Taurus andGemini, and around them their neighbors such as Orion and Auriga.

This part of Earth’s orbit is the closest in toward the Sun, though not bymuch. And Earth’s north pole is still tilted away from the Sun, nearly as muchas it was in December, so the northern hemisphere is receiving sunlight forless time and at lower angles.

equa t or

Tr opi c of Cancer

Tr opi c of Capr i cor n

Ar ct i c Ci rcle

2014 Jan. 415:00 UT

Sun overhead

The Sun’s journey in January, plotted ecliptically. The black line is theSun’s track, keeping to the ecliptic. The Sun itself is shown at true scaleat 0h Universal Time of each day, and at twice scale on each 10th day.

E a r t h

Sun

solsticeDec 21

solsticeJun 21

equinoxSep 22

equinoxMar 20

Earth at the four cardinal points in its orbit, the solstices andequinoxes. The Sun’s size is exaggerated 20 times, the Earth’s 1500times. At the December solstice the north pole is tipped at its max-imum angle of 23.4° away from the Sun; in January it is startingtoward the March situation of being tipped sideways instead of away.

Earth on Jan. 4 (at 15h Universal Time, whichis 3 PM for Britain, 10 AM for eastern NorthAmerica, 9 AM for the Central time zone, 7AM for California). The thick arrow is a“rail” along which the planet is riding in itsorbit at its speed of about 2,574,000 km perday; each visible piece of the arrow is a dis-tance the Earth advances in one minute(around 1,800 km). An arrow above theequator shows how far Earth rotates in onehour (15°) around its axis (shown by a pole atthe north pole). A trident represents the ver-tical beam of sunlight, striking where the Sunis at the zenith at noon—now slightly northof the Tropic of Capricorn. In January, north-ern latitudes are beginning to have slightlylonger days with slightly less-low sunlight; thenorth pole still never gets in view of the Sun.

The Sun enters Capricornus on Jan. 19. That is, itcrosses the Sagittarius-Capricornus boundary as official-ly defined in astronomy. (These elaborate lines, givingdefinition to the traditional areas of the 88 constellations,were partly worked out by Benjamin Gould in 1875 andcompleted by Eugène Delporte in 1930.)

Because of precession—the shifting westward, atabout 14° per thousand years, of the point where theSun is at the March equinox—the longitudes of theseconstellation-boundary-crossing-points from the equinoxpoint slowly increase; so their dates become, each year,a few hours later.

According to the ancient system still used by astrol-ogy, which divides the circle of the sky into 12 equal 30°-wide “signs,” fixed in relation to the moving March equi-nox, the Sun enters, on Jan. 20, the sign Aquarius, sinceits longitude is 300°. This system is now about twothousand years out of date with respect to the Sun’sactual direction among the stars. Astronomically theSun has only just entered the next constellation back.

Winter already waning? The solstice—shortest day for Earth’s northern hemisphere, longest for thesouthern—was on 2013 Dec. 21. However, in another sense midwinter passed even earlier than that.

For places at latitude 40° north, the earliest sunset was on Dec. 7, and the latest sunrise comeson Jan. 4. (For higher latitudes these dates get closer to the solstice, and vice versa; for example atlatitude 60° north they are Dec. 16 and Dec. 27.)

Why do earliest sunset and latest sunrise not coincide with the shortest day? They do, if wemeasure hours from true solar midnight and noon. But our clocks use mean solar time, as if noonswere a fixed distance apart; which they are not, because of the slightlychanging speed of Earth in its elliptical orbit.

Because most of us are asleep at sunrise but up whenthe Sun sets, days seem to start getting longer after theearliest-sunset date (though only by seconds, till midJanuary). In this sense winter seems already halfover—a cheerful thought, even though thecoldest weather is probably yet to come!

Earth is at perihelion, the innermostpoint of its slightly elliptical orbit aroundhêlios, the Sun, on Jan. 4.

The average distance between thecenters of Sun and Earth (known as theastronomical unit or AU) is 149,597,871kilometers (92,955,807 miles). Theeccentricity of the orbit is only 0.017.This means that at perihelion the Sun-Earth distance is 1.7 percent less, orabout 0.983 AU.

Mainly because of the swinging ofEarth and Moon around their barycenter orcommon center of mass, the minimum Sun-Earth distance varies: up to about 0.00005 AUor 7,500 km greater (near New Moon) or smaller(near Full Moon). This year it is 0.983,335 AU(about 147,104,800 km).

And the date of perihelion varies, from about Jan.1 22h near Last Quarter Moon (when the Moon is ahead ofus) as in 1989, to Jan. 5 8h near First Quarter as in 2020.

The relatively slight variation in distance from the Sun has littleeffect on warmth and is not the cause of our seasons. Indeed, we hap-pen to be nearest to the Sun in the middle of our north-hemisphere win-ter. Contrast the effect on Mars (Jan. 3).

SunSun

Earth a

tEarth a

t

aphelio

n

aphelio

n

Jul 4

Jul 4

Earth a

tEarth a

t

perih

elio

n

perih

elio

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Jan 4

Jan 4

Circle with radius 1 AUcentered on the Sun, blue;slightly elliptical orbit ofEarth, black. The dot forthe Sun is true to scale;the dot for Earth is exag-gerated 100 times in size!

CAPRICORNUS

CAPRICORNUS


ecliptic longitudeecliptic longitude340˚ 330330˚ 300300˚ 270270˚ 260˚

Jan 1Jan 1e c l i p t i c

111121213131

AQUARIUSAQUARIUS

Sun

January


The planets in JanuaryStarting from the Sun and scanning eastward (leftward,in our northern hemisphere), we find the planetsarranged as follows. <Zodiac charts>

Mercury is at first much too close to the Sun to be seen,then climbs to easternmost elongation on Jan. 31.

This smallest and fastest-moving major planet (only1.4 times wider than the Moon) orbits the Sun 4.15 timesa year, but from our moving viewpoint it appears to goaround only 3.15 times. Each year it makes 3 or 3-and-a-bit swings into our morning sky and as many into theevening sky. These “apparitions” are of markedlyunequal characters, because of Mercury’s eccentric orbitand the varying angles at which we view it from differentparts of our own orbit, and from different latitudes on theEarth.

This year’s first excursion is a fairly favorable oneinto the evening sky. Mercury passed behind the Sun(was at superior conjunction) on 2013 Dec. 29; so at thefirst sunsets of January it is still down at the horizon,deep in Sun-glare. But, contrary to Venus, it is climbingupward from day to day, and by about Jan. 12 its tinyspark may become findable. On Jan. 31 it reaches itsgreatest angular distance (elongation) from the Sun, of18.4°. And since, for our northern latitudes, it is posi-tioned not too far from vertically above the Sun, it reach-es a respectable altitude of about 16° above the sunsethorizon. Not the greatest, because it is in a part of itsorbit rather near in to the Sun (perihelion comes on Feb.3).

Farther up into the evening sky are Neptune andUranus, in Aquarius and Pisces; remote planets that arenot for finding with the naked eye. Telescopic hunting forthem is best left till nearer the times of their oppositions,in August and October.

Then Jupiter, high north in Gemini, in the midnight sky,at opposition on Jan. 5. This is Jupiter’s month.

“Opposition” is when a moving body is in the direc-tion opposite to that of the Sun—outward for us at mid-night. It is about at its highest and longest in the sky,about at its nearest to us, thus appearing largest andbrightest. The best weeks or months for observing it arecentered on its opposition. During this time, because wein our shorter orbit are overtaking it on the inside, theplanet appears to move backward: its motion across thestarry background is retrograde—westward. or right-

ward as seen from our northern hemisphere—instead ofits usual direct or eastward motion.

Jupiter takes 12 years to go around the Sun (moreexactly 11.86). This is its sidereal (“starry”) period, thetime it takes to come back to the same place on thecelestial map. So each year it advances about 30°,spending roughly a year in each of the 12 zodiacal con-stellations.

So the Earth takes a bit more than 13 months tocatch up and again pass Jupiter. This is the planet’ssynodic (“conjunctional”) or seen-from-Earth period. Theoppositions of Jupiter advance from January to Februaryand so on, also moving later in each month, until amonth is skipped; and the time comes when a year isskipped. 2013 was one of those oppositionless years,so now the cycle starts again with opposition in earlyJanuary.

It has to take place in Gemini, opposite to the Sun’sdown-south January home in Sagittarius. December andJanuary oppositions have the advantage (for north-hemi-sphere people) that they are in the northernmost part ofthe planet’s 12-year journey.

Jupiter at this opposition is just over 4 AU from us.Actually the instant of nearest approach is 27 hours earli-er than the instant of opposition, because of the slightoutward curvature of this part of the orbit, and the Earth-Jupiter distance is 4.21 AU (629,800,000 km). This isnot the very nearest the planet can be to us; it was justunder 4 AU away at the oppositions of 2010 Sep. and2011 Oct. It can be nearly 4.5 AU away, as in 2005 Apr.

It shines at a peak magnitude of —2.7, and its equa-torial diameter in the telescope is 45″. Moon-glare doesnot spoil the sky (the Moon being New 4½ days beforeopposition. Now is the best time to examine the greatplanet, looking for its cloud bands and its satellites.

Then Mars, over on the morning side and half way downtoward the sunrise.

Mars is at west quadrature on Jan. 3. This meansthat it is 90° west of the Sun (as seen from Earth), in themiddle of the morning sky. It rises about midnight, andyou’d have to train your telescope on it between thenand dawn. It is in Virgo, northwest of the bright starSpica.

At quadrature, the shadowed area on the western(right) side of the planet’s disk is at its relative widest.The disk is as yet small, slightly wider than its averagesize: Mars is drawing nearer, toward its opposition inApril. <Mars disk diagrams>

At virtually the same instant as west quadrature (13minutes later!) Mars is at aphelion. It’s only a coinci-

dence that these events (one geocentric and the otherheliocentric) are, this year, close together, and also closeto the Jan. 4 perihelion of Earth.

Earth’s perihelion and aphelion have little climaticeffect; contrast the effect on Mars at its solstice on Feb.15.

Usually Mars in its 2.13-year orbit has only one ofthese “helia” events in a year, but because the aphelionis so early in this year, perihelion will fit in before the endof the year, on Dec. 12.

Then Saturn, lower again toward the Sun and risingbetween 4 and 5½ hours before it.

Pluto starts the year behind the Sun (3° north of it),moving into the morning sky. It didn’t experience thisSun-conjunction event at all in 2013, because the lasttime was on 2012 Dec. 30.

Venus is at inferior conjunction with the Sun on Jan.11.

On the first few evenings of the year, Venus may bediscerned low over the setting Sun, only 17° up-left(east) from it on Jan. 1, dropping closer each evening.If, just after the Sun has set (don’t try before!), you canfind the bright spot in your binoculars, it appears as acrescent relatively huge in length—almost a minute ofarc—but extremely slender. For you are seeing it as itis about to whirl between us and the Sun.

It doesn’t do so exactly, but passes (on Jan. 11) 5°to the Sun’s north. So it might still be glimpsed there(but more probably not!) immediately after sunset onJan. 10 and also immediately before sunrise on Jan. 11and 12. On other occasions of this inferior conjunction,happening at other points in Venus’s 3°-tilted orbit, it canappear more than 8° north of the Sun (as in 2009 and2017) or nearly 8° south (as in 2007 and 2015) or actual-ly cross the Sun’s disk (as in the rare “transits” of 2004and 2012, not to happen again till 2117).

At Sun-conjunction Venus is only 0.268 AU (about40,000,000 km) from us. It now moves into the morningsky, and may be found with difficulty just above theabout-to-rise Sun on Jan. 14 and then a little more easilyeach morning. And its long slender crescent gets shorterand fatter each day as it circles away from us.

And it spends most of the rest of the year in themorning sky, not passing around behind the Sun (superi-or conjunction) till Oct. 25. In Venus’s 8-year cycle, this(like 2006 and 2022) is the year when few but early-ris-ers will see it; the year that is almost deprived of thegreat Evening Star.\

Hours are given in Universal Time (UT).Hawaii Standard Time = UT-10 Alaska ST = UT-9 Pacffic ST = UT-8 Mountain ST = UT-7 Central ST = UT-6 Eastern ST = UT-5For ECLIPSES, OCCULTATIONS, ASTEROIDS, COMETS, and METEORS refer to their sections.

January events1 Wed. (11:14) � Moon New. Beginning of lunation 1126.

(12) Moon 1.9° N. of Pluto (only about 4° from the Sun).(14) Pluto at conjunction with the Sun.(14) Moon 6.6° N. of Mercury (only about 4° from the Sun).(21:03) Moon at perigee (only 9.8 hours after New Moon); distance 55.96

Earth-radii. Almost as near as on Aug. 10.2 Thu. ( 3) Moon 1.5° W.N.W. of asteroid 6 Hebe (only about 11° from the

Sun).(11) Moon 2.0° N.N.W. of Venus (15° from Sun in evening sky).

3 Fri. ( 0) Mars at west quadrature.( 0) Mars at aphelion, 1.6661 AU from the Sun.( 2) C/2012 S1 ISON at opposition. <COMETS>(19:35) Quadrantid meteors. <METEORS>

4 SAT. Latest sunrise (7:22 AM) at latitude 40° north.(12) Earth at perihelion, 0.98330 AU from Sun(23) Moon 5.1° N.N.W. of Neptune (49° from Sun in evening sky).

5 SUN. (21) Jupiter at opposition.7 Tue. Eastern Orthodox Christmas.

( 8) C/2012 S1 ISON nearest to north celestial pole. <COMETS>(12) Moon 2.9° N.N.W. of Uranus (82° from Sun in evening sky).(14) Venus 6.4° N. of Mercury (only about 7° from the Sun).

8 Wed. ( 3:39) � First Quarter Moon.9 Thu. ( 9) P/1998 U3 Jaeger nearest. <COMETS>

(11:26) Moon at descending node (longitude 34.8°).11 SAT. ( 6) Mercury at greatest latitude south of the ecliptic plane (—7.0°).

(12) Venus at inferior conjunction with the Sun, 0.266 AU from the Earthand 5.19° north of the Sun.

(12) Moon 6.2° S. of the Pleiades (about 128° from Sun in evening sky).12 SUN. ( 9) Moon 2.5° N. of Aldebaran (138° from Sun in evening sky).14 Tue. This day is Jan. 1 in the Julian calendar.

( 4) Moon 5.1° S. of M35 cluster (158° from Sun in evening sky).

15 Wed. ( 5) Moon 4.9° S. of Jupiter (about 168° from Sun in evening sky).(17) Moon 14.9° S. of Castor (173° and 169° from Sun in the midnight

sky).(23) Moon 11.6° S. of Pollux (about 173° from Sun in the midnight sky).

16 Thu. ( 2) Moon at apogee; distance 63.74 Earth-radii. Almost as far as on July28.

( 4:52) � Full Moon.17 Fri. ( 4) Moon 6.3° S.S.W. of Beehive Cluster (about 168° from Sun in morn-

ing sky).19 SUN. ( 2) Moon 4.9° S.S.W. of Regulus (about 148° from Sun in morning sky).

(19) �� Sun enters Capricornus, at longitude 299.64° on the ecliptic.20 Mon. ( 4) Sun enters the astrological sign Aquarius, i.e. its longitude is 300°.

(16) 209P LINEAR at opposition. <COMETS>23 Thu. ( 4) Moon 3.5° S.S.W. of Mars (about 102° from Sun in morning sky).

(10) Moon 1.3° N.N.E. of Spica (99° from Sun in morning sky).24 Fri. ( 2:58) Moon at ascending node (longitude 212.8°).

( 2) Venus at perihelion, 0.7185 AU from the Sun.( 5:20) � Last Quarter Moon.

25 SAT. (14) Moon 0.57° S. of Saturn (73° from Sun in morning sky). <OCCUL-TATIONS>

26 SUN. (19) Moon 7.6° N. of Antares (57° from Sun in morning sky).29 Wed. ( 0) Moon 2.0° N. of Pluto (27° from Sun in morning sky).

( 3) Moon 2.2° S. of Venus (26° from Sun in morning sky).( 5) Moon, Venus, and Pluto within circle of diameter 4.51°; 26° west

of the Sun.30 Thu. ( 8) Mercury at ascending node through the ecliptic plane.

( 9:52) Moon at perigee (only 11.8 hours before New Moon); distance 55.99Earth-radii.

(21:39) � Moon New. Beginning of lunation 1127.31 Fri. (10) Mercury at greatest elongation east, 18.4° from the Sun.

(19) Venus stationary in right ascension; resumes direct (eastward)motion. The stationary moment in longitude is 2 hours later.

Read this along with the Zodiac Charts, and the other general charts and diagrams at the end of the book.


2014 Jan 15 Sun altitude -12.2

AU

RIG

A

CANCER

CANIS

CANIS

MIN

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MIN

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GEM

INI

GEM

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MONOCER

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MONOCER

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Murzim

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Pollu

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Almeisan

Almeisan

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Jan 14Jan 14

1 hour after sunset

1 hour after sunset

longitude 0

longitude 0

longitude 75 W

longitude 75 W

Jan 15 ----

Jan 15 ----

topocentric

topocentric

topocentric

topocentric

Beeh

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cluste

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Moon

Moon

Jan

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CANCER

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In these horizon-based (altazimuth) scenes, the location is latitude 40°north and longitude 0°, unless otherwise noted. The scale is 4 mm to1°, or, for enlarged views of smaller areas, 1 cm to 1°; you can tellwhether a picture is on the smaller or larger scale by the size of theMoon, which is drawn true to scale.

2014 Jan 23 Sun altitude -11.4

CORVUS

VIRGOVIRGO

SpicaSpica

Jan 23Jan 23MarsMars

2014 Jan 23 0h2014 Jan 23 0hMoonMoon

2424Last QuarterLast Quarter e c l i p t i c

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The Moon in JanuaryThis year starts with a New Moon. The neat result is thatJanuary fits as well as it can to a lunation, or 29.5-daycycle of the Moon. And the next two months also haveto coincide roughly with lunations, as months were origi-nally intended to do. The Moon is New on Jan. 1 andagain on Jan. 30; then there are no New Moon instantsin short February; then again two in March. This patternis found also in 1995 and 2033 (as expected from the19-year near-repetition of Moon events, called theMetonic cycle).

Extreme perigees, and tides: It happens also that atboth ends of January the New Moon almost coincideswith perigee, the Moon’s closest point, in its rather ellipti-cal orbit, to Gaia, the Earth. <Moon distance graph>Perigee comes 10 hours after New Moon on Jan. 1, 12hours before it on Jan. 30. When perigee is close toNew or Full Moon, then Earth, Moon, and Sun arealigned, so the Sun’s tidal pull is added to the Moon’sgreater pull. The result is that the Moon’s orbit issqueezed toward greater ellipticity, and the perigee iseven nearer in.

We cannot see this nearer and larger Moon, since itis lost in the Sun’s glare. But what we might observe ator just after dates like this is “spring” tides, tides of greatamplitude. The nearness of the Moon on Jan. 1 and 30is only exceeded on Aug. 10, when perigee coincideswith a Full Moon; that we will be able to see.

The Moon as it first becomes visible in evening skies,signalling the beginnings of months in many calendars,has been known as the “New” Moon, but sinceastronomers reserve that term for the earlier instantwhen it passes the Sun, I call this stage the YoungMoon. On Jan. 2, sharp-eyed watchers in Europe may

glimpse the very slim crescent, facing down to where theSun has just set, only 30 hours “old,” just above Venusbefore they both follow the Sun down. It will be a littlehigher, thus easier to see, but 5 hours older, at sundownin the eastern US. And it will be progressively easier tospot, and older, farther west or on later evenings.

The Moon gets away from the Sun and broadens till onthe night of Jan. 8 half its Earthward face is sunlit, atFirst Quarter. (Or Half Moon as it is popularly called;either could fit if you refer to area, but quarter can alsorefer to time, and the third phase, Last Quarter, couldhardly be called Last Half.) As it rounds its orbit, theMoon is now following Earth in their common orbitaround the Sun; the Moon is where the Earth was about3½ hours ago.

Half way between New Moons and perigees, theMoon is almost simultaneously Full and at apogee (itsmost distant) on Jan. 16, so this Full Moon in Geminiappears smaller than usual. But this is scarcely notice-able: the distance-differences at apogee are much small-er than those at perigee.

It’s hard to tell by looking at it when the Moon isexactly opposite to the Sun. Has the softness passedfrom the left edge to the right? So in a looser sense theMoon is considered Full for perhaps three days.

The Moon’s path: Its orbit slants at 5° across the eclip-tic plane, so its path during each month is fixed by thetwo nodes (Latin nodus, “knot”), the points where it“descends” southward and “ascends” northward throughthe ecliptic. The nodes continually precess—migratebackward (westward)—at about 19° a year (migrating allaround in 18.61 years). This year, the descending nodestarts in western Aries, the opposite ascending node ineastern Virgo. <Moon chart>

Because the descending node is on a north-slopingpart of the ecliptic, the track goes on to arch well southof the northern arch of the ecliptic in Taurus; and similar-ly it lies north of the ecliptic’s southern dip in Sagittarius.In other words the overall track is rather flat (comparedwith other years when it is “hilly”); the Moon does notventure extremely north or south. It is northernmost thisyear on Jan. 13, and southernmost on Jan. 27, becausethe flatness effect is increasing.

Having hopped over the Sun on Jan. 1, the Moondescends on Jan. 9; re-ascends on Jan. 24, in time toclear north of the Sun again at the Jan. 31 New Moon.The path steers among the stars and planets that lienear the ecliptic: south of the Pleiades, Jupiter, Pollux,Regulus, Mars, north of Aldebaran, Spica, Antares—andin front of Saturn.

After the month’s second New Moon comes a sec-ond Young Moon. On Jan. 31, the ecliptic’s angle fromthe horizon is favorably steeper, and the Moon haspassed farther north of the Sun, but for Europe andNorth America the timing is about 10 hours closer to NewMoon; the first sighting may be farther west or on a laterevening.

Libration is the apparent “rocking” of the Moon, causedmainly by its non-circular orbit around us and the 1.5° tiltof its own equator. This brings some of the Moon intoour view beyond the mean limb (edge), so that over timewe get to see not just 50% of the surface but 59%. Theamount can vary from zero up to about 10.5°, whichmeans that an extra 10.5/360 of the Moon’s circumfer-ence comes into view. <Zodiac charts>

This month the libration is greatest (8.4°) on Jan. 6,and can be seen in the early evening toward the south-ern end of the still slender crescent, but it remains mod-estly large and convenient throughout the month.

Jan. 23: larger-scale view (1cm to 1°) of the Moon pass-

ing between Mars and Spica.The time, for latitude 40°

north, is an hour before sun-rise; the southwestern hori-

zon is about 16° below.

Jan. 14: the scene for latitude 40° north, one hour after sunset, lookingtoward the eastern horizon, above which the Moon and Jupiter haveclimbed. Jupiter is shown at this date, with a dot sized for its brightness,to compare with the stars. An arrow shows its travel in the course of themonth (retrograde, or westward, around this time). It was at oppositionon Jan. 5; the Moon will be Full early on Jan. 16. The scale is 4 mm to1°, and the Moon is shown at true scale; the planet and stars reallyappear much smaller and dimmer than it. The Moon being so near andfast-moving, we show it (this time) in several positions: At the beginningand end of this Universal Time day (Jan. 14 0h and Jan. 15 0h), to givean idea of its motion. Also at one hour after sunset for longitudes 0°(Europe) and 75° west (eastern North America). The latter is 5 hourslater, so the time is almost into the next UT day. And for those times weshow it (1) as measured from the center of the Earth, and (2) displacedby parallax as seen from the locations (southward from a northerlyplace, eastward from Earth’s evening side). We use blue coloring to dis-tinguish the Moons that can’t actually be seen (the geocentric ones). Inensuing pictures we’ll omit most of this elaboration, but by referringback to this one you can estimate where the Moon will be at times otherthan 0h UT, and as seen from actual places on Earth’s surface.


The October eclipse seasonIII—Total eclipse of the Moon, Oct. 8The year’s second eclipse season comes less than half a year (by about 6 days) after thefirst, because of the continual westward precession of the line of nodes.

The Moon hits Earth’s outer shadow 9½ hours before reaching the ecliptic (an hourlonger than at the April 15 eclipse) so it goes slightly less deeply in, and totality will last61 minutes (18 shorter than in April). This time the Moon is descending toward the eclip-tic, so it passes through the northern half of the shadow.

Again it is the Pacific that happens to be facing the night and the Moon; indeed, morecentrally than in April. All stages are seen at the north pole and in Alaska, the Canadianand US west, Hawaii, New Zealand, part of Australia and New Guinea, northeasternSiberia. More eastward in America, the eclipse is later in the morning hours; the Moonsets (and the Sun rises) during the closing stages. A zone from the Great Lakes to theGulf does not see the end of the partial phase, and the east coast does not see the endof totality. Totality starts at 10:24 UT, which is 3:24 by Pacific clock time, 6:24 by Eastern.

Uranus was at opposition only half a day ago, so during totality it appears a little tothe south and west—and is occulted by the Moon, as seen from Arctic regions. Sinceits magnitude is 5.8, it should be just visible to the naked eye if conditions in the darkenedsky are good. Interesting to reflect that in the centuries before its 1781 discovery Uranuscould have been seen, and taken for a background star, not only during dark nights buton occasions like this when it was revealed by a darkening of the Moon.

SunSun

2014 Oct 82014 Oct 8 9:15 UT 9:15 UT

flightflightof theof theEarthEarth

10:55 UT10:55 UT

SunSun

12:35 UT12:35 UT

MoonMoonoverheadoverhead

rotationrotationin 1 hour

in 1 hour

2 0 1 4 Oc t . 8 U. T . : 1 0 . 9 2 8 4 3

S e mi d u r . p a r t . ( m i n ) 9 9 . 1 6 9 4 1

S e mi d u r . t o t a l ( m i n ) 2 8 . 6 8 4 0 6

R. a . : s u n ( d g ) 1 9 3 . 8 9 4 4 8

s h a d o w 1 3 . 8 9 4 4 8

mo on 1 3 . 7 7 8 0 5

De c . : s u n - 5 . 9 4 2 4 9

s h a d o w 5 . 9 4 2 4 9

mo on 6 . 3 0 8 5 5

E c l . l o n g . : m oo n 1 5 . 1 2 3 4 7

Hr . m o t i o n ( d g ) : mo on . 6 1 1 4 5

s h a d o w . 0 4 1 3 0

Ra d i u s ( e r ) : p e n u mb r a 1 . 2 7 9 4 9

u m b r a . 7 4 5 6 1

( d g ) : p e n u mb r a 1 . 2 7 8 8 3

u m b r a . 7 4 5 1 8

mo on . 2 7 2 3 6

s u n . 2 6 6 8 9

Ma g n i t u d e , p e n u mb r a l 2 . 1 3 7 9 4

u m b r a l 1 . 1 5 8 3 2

CETUS

PISCESPISCES

CETUSPISCES

AQUARIUS (or whatever)

E a r t h ' s p e n u mb r a

size Ea r t h w ou l d ha v e a t Moon ' s d i s t a n c e

E a r t h ' s u mb r a

celestial equator

8 hours8 hours

MoonMoon

1 degree1 degreeno

rth

no

rth

8:14 8:14 2014 Oct. 8

2014 Oct. 8

penumbrapenumbra

touchestouches 9:15 9:15

umbraumbra

touchestouches

10:5510:55

eclipseeclipse

midmid12:3512:35

umbraumbra

quitsquits13:3513:35

penumbrapenumbra

quitsquits

the ecliptic

the ecliptic

8 hours8 hours

UranusUranus

δ PscPsc

ε Psc

ζ Psc

10:2410:24

beginsbegins

totalitytotality11:2511:25

endsendstotalitytotality

ECLIPSE SEQUENCES. Pictures for each place are at 30-minute intervals, centered on mid eclipse. This timeis given in UT, followed by translation into the place’s standard 24-hour clock time (ignoring “summer”time). Then is given the altitude of the Sun at mid eclipse. Scale for Sun and Moon is 1 cm to 1 degree,but distances between the Sun’s positions are compressed. Angular directions are correct for the hori-zon at the place, and suggest the Sun’s movement across the sky. For places east of noontime eclipse,Sun and Moon slope down the sky in the afternoon. When Sun or Moon is below the horizon it is shad-

time

IV—Partial eclipse of the Sun, Oct. 23When the Moon comes around to New, it is longer after the middle of the eclipse seasonthan it was on April 29 (by 17 hours); there is a longer time since it crossed the ecliptic(by 23 minutes), so the axis of the shad-ow misses Earth by a wider margin, andthe eclipse is purely partial. The Moonhas crossed the ecliptic northward, sothe shadow now brushes our northernhemisphere. The Moon is at a greaterdistance than it was on April 29, so theumbra ends farther (by 2.2 Earth-radii)short of reaching Earth’s distance, andthe core of the shadow that sweepspast us is the antumbra; even if it point-ed at us, the eclipse seen from within itwould be not total but annular.

The advancing penumbra meetsEarth at sunrise in the Bering Sea,south of Russia’s Kamchatka peninsu-la, at 19:38 UT. By 20 UT, which is 12noon by Alaska summer clock time, thepenumbra has spread over theAleutians and most of Alaska. WesternCanada, the western US, and most ofMexico see the silhouette of the Moonmoving across the Sun: more deeply forplaces to the northeast, but also later inthe afternoon.

The deepest eclipse, with 81% ofthe Sun’s width covered (the magnitudeof the eclipse), is at the point over whichthe shadow’s axis passes nearest over-head: at the southern tip of Prince ofWales Island in the Canadian Arctic.

For central Canada and the centralUS the eclipse is in progress at sunset.New York, New England, and easternCanada have turned away into nightbefore the eclipse reaches them. Thepenumbra’s last contact is at a point inTexas. 3030˚S

3030˚N

6060˚N

150150˚W

120120˚W

90 90˚W

90 90˚W

90 90˚W

180

180˚

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C a n c e r

T r o p i co f

C a p r i c o r n

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21:0021:00

22:0022:00

23:0023:00

2014 Oct 232014 Oct 2322:00 UT22:00 UT

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greatestgreatesteclipseeclipse

Date

Lne

Winnipeg

22:25 (16:25) 7˚

Toronto

22:44 (17:44) -4.8˚

Anchorage

21:13 (12:13) 16˚

San Francisco

22:17 (14:17) 30˚

Seattle22:02 (14:02) 24˚

Denver

22:37 (15:37) 15˚

Dallas

22:55 (16:55) 9˚M

emphis

22:54 (16:54) 3˚

Chicago

22:45 (16:45) 1.7˚

Mexico C

ity

23:11 (17:11) 12˚

These charts are of the zodiacal band of the sky, withinwhich the Sun, planets and Moon are seen from Earth.(The band shown is 40° wide, centered on the ecliptic.)Arrows show the planets’ courses during each month.

The Sun is shown at the 15th of the month; its diskis exagggerated 8 times in apparent size. Its great glare isindicated schematically; the Sun’s positions at the begin-ning and end of the month are about at the right and leftedges of this glare.

The Moon is shown for each date at 0h UniversalTime (Greenwich midnight). For local midnight at longitude75° west (in America’s Eastern time zone) it will be 5/24 of

the way east (left) toward the next date’s position; for theCentral, Mountain, and Pacific zones, 6/24, 7/24, and 8/24of the way. Its position is as seen from the center of theEarth, i.e. not adjusted for parallax; from a northern latitudeit will be displaced slightly south. Its size is exaggerated 8times; it appears slightly larger near perigee (such as Jan.1) than apogee (such as Jan. 16). Gray areas are the darkmaria (“seas”). We sometimes show stars andplanets in front of the Moon, which, beingexaggerated in size, would otherwisehide them much more oftenthan it really does.


AQUARIUSAQUARIUS


LIBRALIBRA

PISCESPISCES



SCORPIUSSCORPIUS

VIRGOVIRGO

OPHIUCHUSOPHIUCHUS

AltairAltair

ArcturusArcturus

Deneb

Vega

FomalhautFomalhaut

AntaresAntares

SpicaSpica

Jan 15Jan 15

MercuryMercury

VenusVenus

MarsMars

SaturnSaturn

Neptune

NeptuneJan 1Jan 1NewNew2

3

4

5

6

Jan 22Jan 22

23232424Last Quarter

Last Quarter

25252626

2727282829293030

3131NewNew

FebFeb1

e c l i p t i c

e c l i p t i c

e q u a t o re q u a t o re q u a t o r

Mi

lk

y

Mi

lk

y

Mi

l ky

Wa

y

Wa

y

Wa

y

PlutoPluto

AQUARIUSAQUARIUS

AQUARIUSAQUARIUS

CAPRICORNUSCAPRICORNUS LIBRALIBRA

PISCESPISCES


SCORPIUSSCORPIUS

VIRGOVIRGO

OPHIUCHUSOPHIUCHUS

AltairAltair

ArcturusArcturus

Deneb

Vega

FomalhautFomalhaut

AntaresAntares

SpicaSpicaFeb 15Feb 15

MercuryMercury

VenusVenus

MarsMars

Neptune

Neptune

PlutoPluto

Feb 1Feb 1

2

3

FebFeb1818

1919

2020

21212222

2323Last QuarterLast Quarter

24242525

2626

2727

2828

Mar 1Mar 1NewNew

e c l i p t i c

e q u a t o re q u a t o rM

il

ky

Mi

lk

y

Mi

l ky

Wa

y

Wa

y

Wa

y

SaturnSaturn

AQUARIUSAQUARIUS CAPRICORNUSCAPRICORNUS

LIBRALIBRA

PISCESPISCES


SCORPIUSSCORPIUS

VIRGOVIRGO

OPHIUCHUSOPHIUCHUS

AltairAltair

ArcturusArcturus

Deneb

Vega

FomalhautFomalhaut

AntaresAntares

SpicaSpica

Mar 15Mar 15

MercuryMercury VenusVenus

MarsMarsNeptune

Neptune

PlutoPluto

MarMar1

NewNew2

1818MarMar

1919

20202121

22222323

2424Last QuarterLast Quarter2525

2626

2727

2828

2929

3030

e c l i p t i c


Mi

lk

y

Mi

lk

y

Mi

l ky

Wa

y

Wa

y

Wa

y

SaturnSaturn

AQUARIUSAQUARIUS

AQUARIUSAQUARIUS


LIBRALIBRA

PISCESPISCES


SCORPIUSSCORPIUS

VIRGOVIRGO

OPHIUCHUSOPHIUCHUS

AltairAltair

ArcturusArcturus

Deneb

Vega

FomalhautFomalhaut

AntaresAntares

SpicaSpica

Apr 15Apr 15

VenusVenus

MarsMars

SaturnSaturn

Neptune

Neptune

Apr 14Apr 14

1515FullFull

1616

1717

18181919202021212222


2323

2424

2525

2626

e c l i p t i c


Mi

lk

y

Mi

lk

y

Mi

l ky

Wa

y

Wa

y

Wa

y

TOTAL TOTAL

lunarlunar

ECLIPSEECLIPSEMercury

Mercury

Pluto

Pluto

AQUARIUSAQUARIUS


LIBRALIBRA

PISCESPISCES


SCORPIUSSCORPIUS

VIRGOVIRGO

OPHIUCHUSOPHIUCHUS

AltairAltair

ArcturusArcturus

Deneb

Vega

FomalhautFomalhaut

AntaresAntares

SpicaSpica

May 15

MarsMars

SaturnSaturn

Neptune

Neptune

PlutoPluto

May 11May 11

1212

1313

14141515

FullFull

1616171718181919

2020

2121

2222

Last Quarter

Last Quarter

2323

e c l i p t i c


Mi

lk

y

Mi

lk

y

Mi

l ky

Wa

y

Wa

y

Wa

y

AQUARIUSAQUARIUS


LIBRALIBRA

PISCESPISCES


SCORPIUSSCORPIUS

VIRGOVIRGO

OPHIUCHUSOPHIUCHUS

AltairAltair

ArcturusArcturus

Deneb

Vega

FomalhautFomalhaut

AntaresAntares

SpicaSpica

Jun 15

SaturnSaturn

Neptune

Neptune

PlutoPluto

8JunJun

91010

1111

12121313FullFull

14141515

1616

1717

1818

1919

e c l i p t i c


Mi

lk

y

Mi

lk

y

Mi

l ky

Wa

y

Wa

y

Wa

y

Mars

Mars

ZODIAC CHARTS

January

February

March

April

May

June

Libration is shown in these charts by red tabs on the Moon.Each is at the place on the Moon’s limb (edge) most libratedtoward us, and its outward width is proportional to the amount ofthe libration. At and near this place you can see with your tele-sope a few degrees past the average horizon into the foreshort-ened features of the Luna Incognita (“unknown Moon”) on our

neighbor small planet’s far side. But if the place is on the dark halfof the limb, where you can’t see anything, the libration is of noadvantage; this is indicated with a tab of paler color. The libration-spot is always on the hemisphere nearer to the ecliptic, becausewhen the Moon is south of the ecliptic plane we are looking slight-ly “down” on it—its north pole is in view—and vice versa.


ARIESARIES

CANCERCANCERGEMINIGEMINI

LEOLEOPISCESPISCES

TAURUSTAURUS

CETUSCETUS

ORIONORION

SiriusSirius

ProcyonProcyon

Canopus

Achernar


RegulusRegulus

RigelRigel


AlgolAlgol

AldebaranAldebaran

M35M35BeehiveBeehive

Jun 15Jun 15M

ercury

Mercury

VenusVenus

JupiterJupiter

Jun 1Jun 12

34

5

6First Quarter

First Quarter

7

JunJun 20 20

LastLastQuarterQuarter

2121

2222

23232424

2525

26262727NewNew2828

29293030

1JulJul

e c l i p t i c


Mi

lk

y

Mi

lk

y

Mi

l ky

Wa

y

Wa

y

Wa

y

Uranus

Uranus

PleiadesPleiades

HyadesHyades

ARIESARIES


LEOLEOPISCESPISCES

TAURUSTAURUS

TAURUSTAURUS

CETUSCETUS

ORIONORION

SiriusSirius

ProcyonProcyon

Canopus

Achernar


RegulusRegulus

RigelRigel


AlgolAlgol

AldebaranAldebaran

PleiadesPleiades

HyadesHyades

M35M35

BeehiveBeehive

May 15May 15

MercuryMercury

VenusVenus

JupiterJupiter

Uranus

Uranus

1MayMay

2345

67

First Quarter

First Quarter

8

9

1010

MayMay 24 24

2525

2626

27272828

2929NewNew

30303131

1JunJun

e c l i p t i c


Mi

lk

y

Mi

lk

y

Mi

l ky

Wa

y

Wa

y

Wa

y

ARIESARIES

CANCERCANCER GEMINIGEMINI

LEOLEOPISCESPISCES

TAURUSTAURUS

CETUSCETUS

ORIONORION

SiriusSirius

ProcyonProcyon

Canopus

Achernar


RegulusRegulus

RigelRigel


AlgolAlgol

AldebaranAldebaran

M35M35

BeehiveBeehive

Apr 15Apr 15Mercury

Mercury

JupiterJupiter

Uranus

Uranus

AprApr 1 1

23

456

7First QuarterFirst Quarter

89

1010

1111

1212

1313

AprApr 27 27

2828

2929NewNew3030

MayMay1

annular annularSOLARSOLARECLIPSE

ECLIPSEApr 29Apr 29

e c l i p t i c


Mi

lk

y

Mi

lk

y

Mi

l ky

Wa

y

Wa

y

Wa

y

PleiadesPleiades

HyadesHyades

ARIESARIES

CANCERCANCER

GEMINIGEMINI

LEOLEOPISCESPISCES

TAURUSTAURUS

CETUSCETUS

ORIONORION

SiriusSirius

ProcyonProcyon

Canopus

Achernar


RegulusRegulus

RigelRigel


AlgolAlgol

AldebaranAldebaran

M35M35

BeehiveBeehive

Mar 15Mar 15

JupiterJupiter

Uranus

Uranus

MarMar 3 3

4

56

789First QuarterFirst Quarter

10101111

12121313

1414

1515

1616

1717FullFull

3131NewNew

AprApr 1 1

e c l i p t i c

e c l i p t i c


Mi

lk

y

Mi

lk

y

Mi

l ky

Wa

y

Wa

y

Wa

y

PleiadesPleiades

HyadesHyades

ARIESARIES


LEOLEO PISCESPISCES

TAURUSTAURUS

CETUSCETUS

ORIONORION

SiriusSirius

ProcyonProcyon

Canopus

Achernar


RegulusRegulus

RigelRigel


AlgolAlgol

AldebaranAldebaran

M35M35

BeehiveBeehive

Feb 15

JupiterJupiter

Uranus

Uranus

Feb 4Feb 4

5

67

First QuarterFirst Quarter89

101011111212

13131414

1515

FullFull

1616

1717

e c l i p t i c


Mi

lk

y

Mi

lk

y

Mi

l ky

Wa

y

Wa

y

Wa

y

PleiadesPleiades

HyadesHyades

ARIESARIES


LEOLEOPISCESPISCES

TAURUSTAURUS

CETUSCETUS

ORIONORION

SiriusSirius

ProcyonProcyon

Canopus

Achernar


RegulusRegulus

RigelRigel


AlgolAlgol

AldebaranAldebaran

M35M35

BeehiveBeehive

Jan 15

JupiterJupiter

7JanJan

8

First Quarter

First Quarter9

1010

111112121313

14141515

1616FullFull1717

1818

1919

2020

2121

e c l i p t i c


Mi

lk

y

Mi

lk

y

Mi

l ky

Wa

y

Wa

y

Wa

y

Uranus

Uranus

PleiadesPleiades

HyadesHyades

289P (formerly designated D/1819 W1)

Blanpain. We mention it not because it is likely to

be observable but because we are at a node in its

history. It was discovered by Jean-Jacques

Blanpain (his name if he’d been English might

have been Whitbread) on 1819 Nov. 28, and inde-

pendently a week later by the prolific comet-dis-

coverer Jean Louis Pons. It was observed over

59 days, but then, despite being in one of the

shortest of orbits (just over 5 years), seemed

never to return. It had presumably broken up, and

in the modern system of nomenclature it was one

of the handful with the prefix “D,” meaning that

though periodic it was Disappeared, or Dead. On

1956 Dec. 5, south-hemisphere observers saw a

burst of bright meteors, which have continued at

much lesser rates as the Phoenicid shower of

early December (see the METEORS section). H.B.

Ridley, who first studied these meteors, realized

that they are roughly in the orbit of the lost comet.

Then one of the multitude of asteroids discovered

in 2003, called 2003 WY25, was found to be in the

same orbit; though only 0.025 away it was no

brighter than magnitude 14. In 2004, probably in

outburst, it showed a small coma; on 2013 July 4,

a short tail also. It is now recognized as the lost

comet. This year it returns to its perihelion, just

inside and north of the December part of our orbit;

unfortunately it does so in August. The result is

that in the early part of the year it is far away

beyond the Sun; in August, as we come around

into view of it, it is more than 1.5 AU ahead, out in

our morning sky, in Gemini, peak magnitude pos-

sibly 13, probably dimmer. At its next return, in

January 2020, it will pass 0.09 AU from Earth.

108P Ciffréo was found by

Jacqueline Ciffréo on 1985 Nov.

8 on photographs at the observa-

tory of Caussols in Provence. It

has a period of about 7.2 years,

so the present return will be its

third since discovery. In the

early part of the year it is behind

the Sun (appearing 9° south of it

on Feb. 4). It climbs in the morn-

ing sky through the head of the

whale Cetus and close past

Aldebaran. It is aiming for a per-

ihelion point that is just before

ascending node and 0.7 AU out-

side the early-November part of

our orbit; it arrives there on Oct.

18, rather earlier than we would

like but quite favorable. We see

it still somewhat ahead in the

morning sky, ½° south of

Aldebaran on Sep. 18 and then

between the two horn-tip stars of

Taurus, 0.935 AU away and per-

haps at magnitude 11. In

November, though it is now on its

way out, we overtake it, so

it is nearest (just under 0.8

AU) on Nov. 27, and at

opposition on Dec. 12,

climbing in Auriga.


Feb

Feb

EarthMarsJupiter

J u p i t e r

Jupiter

108

P

Ci

ff

ré

o

108P Ciffréo

Dec

OctOct

Dec

1 0 8 P C i f f r é o

Jul

Aug

Oct

J u p i t e r

OctAug

Apr

Sep

Apr

C / 2 0 1 3 A 1 S i d i n g S p r i n g

M a r s

1 5 P F i n l a y

perih

1 5 P F i n l a y

J u p i t e r

Dec

May

May

2 9 P S c h w a s s m a n n - W a c h m a n n 1

29P Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 was discovered by Arnold Schwassmann and Arno Arthur

Wachmann at the Hamburg observatory in 1902. They discovered two more periodic comets, in

1929 and 1930, and were co-discoverers of a non-periodic one with Leslie Peltier in 1930. But 29P

is one of a kind: in an almost circular orbit at a huge distance, beyond Jupiter, where a smaller comet

would be even fainter than its usual magnitude of about 17. Even so, it would hardly be observable

but for its occasional drastic brightenings, which are worth watching for every year. It was last at per-

ihelion in 2004, so in its 15-year orbit it is now drawing slightly closer, toward its next perihelion in

April 2019, in the Pisces direction. This year, 15P Finlay happens to pass 29P just when Earth pass-

es them both, so that they trace parallel loops and are almost simultaneously at opposition, on May

19 (15P) and 20 (29P), the greater comet 3° to the south and nearly 3 times farther away.

AURIGAAURIGA

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Nov

11

N

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N

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17172121

2626D

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11111616

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+30+30˚

+32+32˚

+34+34˚

+36+36˚

40m40m 30m30m 20m20m 10m10m 5h5h

+36+36˚

+34+34˚

+32+32˚

+30+30˚5h5h10m10m20m20m30m30m40m40m

108P108PCiffrCiffréo

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Oct 11

MarsMars

1211314141515171719192121232324242525262627

-30-30˚

-28-28˚

-26-26˚

-24-24˚

-22-22˚

-20-20˚50m50m 40m40m 30m30m 17h20m17h20m

-20-20˚

-22-22˚

-24-24˚

-26-26˚

-28-28˚

-30-30˚17h20m17h20m30m30m40m40m50m50m

SAG

ITTAA

RIU

SSA

GITTA

AR

IUS

OPHIUCHUSOPHIUCHUS

e c l i p t i ce c l i p t i c

C/2013C/2013A1A1

SidingSidingSpringSpring

Oct

Oct

OctOct

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21

Feb 1

1111

2121

Mar 1Mar 1

1111

2121Apr 1Apr 11111

2121MayMay 1111 2121

JunJun1

SepSep11112121

OctOct1

1JanJan

29P29PSW1SW1

1FebFebM

arM

ar1

1AprApr1

MayMay1111 2121 1

JunJun1111

21211JulJul

AugAug1

Sep 1Sep 1

1OctOct1111

21211

Nov Nov

-32-32˚

-30-30˚

-28-28˚

-26-26˚

-24-24˚10m10m 16h16h 50m50m 40m40m 30m30m 20m20m 10m10m

-24-24˚

-26-26˚

-28-28˚

-30-30˚

-32-32˚

1

115P15P

FinlayFinlay

LIBRALIBRA

SCORPIUSSCORPIUS

LUPUSLUPUS

q

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e

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g

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DecDec

15P Finlay

15P Finlay2323

24242525

26262727

28282929

30303131

-20-20˚

-18-18˚

-16-16˚

-14-14˚

22h22h 50m50m 40m40m 30m30m 20m20m 10m10m 21h21h

-14-14˚

-16-16˚

-18-18˚

-20-20˚

e c l i p t i c

1Jan Jan

2015

2015


AQUARIUSAQUARIUS

C/2013 A1 Siding Spring is one of the horde of discoveries made by Robert McNaught at the

Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales (“A1” because the date was 2013 Jan. 3). It has

dropped from the Oort Cloud in a retrograde orbit; the inclination of 129° means that it cuts

northward through the ecliptic at 51° counter to Earth’s direction. On April 19 the comet is 36°

south of the Sun, in Fornax; then it appears to dive even farther south; on Aug. 25 is at opposi-

tion in Tucana, still 0.96 AU from us; it appears southernmost on Sep. 2 at declination —75°,

just inside Octans, the constellation that contains the south celestial pole. In space it is all the

time rising toward the ecliptic plane, and as we reach the September part of our orbit we see it

for a while comparatively close (0.89 AU on Sep. 4); around now, progressing into Pavo, its

brightness may top out at magnitude 8.

It climbs through Scorpius into Ophiuchus, and intersects Mars’s orbit—at the point

where Mars now is! On Oct. 19, comet misses planet by only about 0.001 AU, though the uncer-

tainty is enough that the nucleus, perhaps 4 km wide, could hit Mars, at 56 km/sec. Even if it

doesn’t, its orbit will be altered. Planet and comet are outward from where Earth was in July,

so we look back on them in the evening sky, 59° east of the Sun, 1.62 AU away. After ascend-

ing node (Oct. 22) and perihelion (Oct. 23) and appearing 2° south of the Moon on the night of

Oct. 27/28, the comet continues to climb and fade. Mars is drawn at 200 times its size.

Apr

DD / 1 8 1 9 W 1 B l a n p a i n

Dec

Aug

J u p i t e r

AugDec

15P Finlay was discovered on 1986 Sep. 26 by William Henry Finlay at the Cape observatory in

South Africa. With its period varying from 62⁄3 to nearly 7 years, it has been seen at 14 visits before

this one. It’s a good example of how a typical short-period comet with aphelion near Jupiter’s orbit

is controlled by the great planet: when it arrived out there in May 2008, it found itself only 0.28 AU

from Jupiter and felt a gravitational tug: its orbit slewed westward (ascending node retreating from

42° to 14° from the vernal equinox), its inclination increased from 4° to 7°, and its perihelion pulled

from just outside to just inside Earth’s orbit.

As the comet comes in and we overtake it at opposition on May 19, it is still 1.75 AU out from

us, perhaps at mag. 18, making its apparent retrograde loop in southern Libra. Twice it is near to

Antares, nearly reaching it on Mar. 27, passing close south of it on Oct. 10. We leave it behind, so

that when it comes up to perihelion on Dec. 26, just inside the late-September part of our orbit and

just south of the ecliptic (which it will cross on Jan. 5), we look back on it more than 1.4 AU away in

Capricornus, at perhaps its brightest magnitude of 13 but only 43° from the evening Sun.


2014 Jan. 25 14h2014 Jan. 25 14hSaturnSaturnmag. 0.6mag. 0.6elong. 73elong. 73˚ W W

2014 Feb. 21 22h2014 Feb. 21 22hSaturnSaturnmag. 0.5mag. 0.5elong. 99elong. 99˚ W W

2014 Feb. 26 5h2014 Feb. 26 5hVenusVenusmag. -4.6mag. -4.6elong. 43elong. 43˚ W W

2014 Mar. 21 3h2014 Mar. 21 3hSaturnSaturnmag. 0.4mag. 0.4elong. 127elong. 127˚ W W

2014 Apr. 17 7h2014 Apr. 17 7hSaturnSaturnmag. 0.2mag. 0.2elong. 155elong. 155˚ W W

2014 May 14 12h2014 May 14 12hSaturnSaturnmag. 0.1mag. 0.1elong. 175elong. 175˚ E E

2014 June 10 19h2014 June 10 19hSaturnSaturnmag. 0.3mag. 0.3elong. 147elong. 147˚ E E

2014 June 26 12h2014 June 26 12hMercuryMercurymag. 3.5mag. 3.5elong. 10elong. 10˚ W W

2014 July 6 1h2014 July 6 1hMarsMarsmag. 0.1mag. 0.1elong. 96elong. 96˚ E E

2014 July 8 2h2014 July 8 2hSaturnSaturnmag. 0.5mag. 0.5elong. 120elong. 120˚ E E

2014 Aug. 4 11h2014 Aug. 4 11hSaturnSaturnmag. 0.6mag. 0.6elong. 94elong. 94˚ E E

2014 Aug. 14 17h2014 Aug. 14 17hUranusUranusmag. 5.8mag. 5.8elong. 125elong. 125˚ W W

2014 Aug. 31 19h2014 Aug. 31 19hSaturnSaturnmag. 0.7mag. 0.7elong. 69elong. 69˚ E E

2014 Sep. 11 2h2014 Sep. 11 2hUranusUranusmag. 5.7mag. 5.7elong. 152elong. 152˚ W W

2014 Sep. 28 0h2014 Sep. 28 0h1 Ceres1 Ceresmag. 9.0mag. 9.0elong. 43elong. 43˚ E E

2014 Sep. 28 4h2014 Sep. 28 4hSaturnSaturnmag. 0.7mag. 0.7elong. 45elong. 45˚ E E

2014 Sep. 28 15h2014 Sep. 28 15h4 Vesta4 Vestamag. 7.8mag. 7.8elong. 50elong. 50˚ E E

2014 Oct. 8 11h2014 Oct. 8 11hUranusUranusmag. 5.7mag. 5.7elong. 179elong. 179˚ E E

2014 Oct. 22 22h2014 Oct. 22 22hMercuryMercurymag. 1.7mag. 1.7elong. 11elong. 11˚ W W

2014 Oct. 23 21h2014 Oct. 23 21hVenusVenusmag. -3.9mag. -3.9elong. 1elong. 1˚ E E

2014 Oct. 25 16h2014 Oct. 25 16hSaturnSaturnmag. 0.6mag. 0.6elong. 21elong. 21˚ E E

2014 Nov. 4 18h2014 Nov. 4 18hUranusUranusmag. 5.7mag. 5.7elong. 151elong. 151˚ E E

2014 Dec. 2 0h2014 Dec. 2 0hUranusUranusmag. 5.8mag. 5.8elong. 123elong. 123˚ E E

2014 Dec. 29 5h2014 Dec. 29 5hUranusUranusmag. 5.8mag. 5.8elong. 95elong. 95˚ E E

occ14.qxd 14/09/2013 17:52 Page 73

astronomical calendar 2014

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