MARSHALL'S NIGHT SKY THIS WEEK - January 6th to January 12th
We are proud to present you with another edition of Marshall's night sky events this week, we hope you find something of interest! Let us know in the replies if you did, we would love to hear about it!
If you're looking for info regarding the planets and their positions throughout the month as well as daily asteroid, comet, star and interesting sky events for the current week; it's all here.
We also have upcoming rocket launches listed, and past history regarding notable launches and events as well!
Let's get started by examining the highlights of the night sky this week, January 6th to January 12th. As usual we will list the highlights and discuss a few. We hope you find this info useful and if you have anything you wish to discuss or add, please hit the "Reply" button below and let us know!
Information is freely gathered from various websites. We would encourage you to download and print your finder charts more specific to your location, the charts/graphics included are for basic guidance only. Many websites like Skymaps.com will allow you to download and print out a free planisphere for each month, the link is here: https://www.skymaps.com/.
EVENTS
6th January
First quarter Moon at 23:56 UTC.
Lunar Neptune conjunction at 14:25 UTC. (5th January)
7th January
8th January
Moon at perigee (370,171 km) at 00:00 UTC.
9th January
Lunar Uranus conjunction at 12:46 UTC.
10th January
Moon is in the Pleiades (M45) at 02:00 UTC.
Venus is at greatest elongation east (47°) at 05:00 UTC.
Lunar Jupiter conjunction at 21:37 UTC.
11th January
12th January
Mars is at its closest approach to Earth (96,084,099 km) at 14:00 UTC.
PLANETS
Mercury
Mercury is well placed in the dawn sky for the beginning of the month, becoming more gibbous as the month progresses.
Venus
Venus put on an amazing show for January, achieving its greatest elognation this month on the 10th.
Mars
Mars is in retograde from the constellation of Cancer, ending up in Gemini at mid-month. Reaching -1.3 mag and going to a 14.6' disc, it's one of the best times to view Mars!
Jupiter
Jupiter is visible all throughout December amongst the stars of Taurus at mag -2.7.
Saturn
Saturn shines throughout the month in Aquarius at 1.1 magnitude, with its elognation from the Sun noarrowing from 63* to 34* as the observing window comes to a close..
Uranus
Uranus is in the border of eastern Aries near the border of Taurus, coming to the end of its five month long retrograde loop.
Neptune
Very viewable through a telescope in the evening hours in the constellation of Pisces in the south-western evening sky.
COMETS AND ASTEROIDS
Still just one Comet brighter than Magnitude 10 this week, C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) now in Sagittarius and brightening. Rises with the Sun as viewed from Northern locations but rises before the Sun and so is visible in the morning viewed from the Southern hemisphere.
C/2024 G3 (ATLAS)
Magnitude: 1.9 (Observed - COBS) trending_up
Coma Diameter: 3.5' Tail Length: 21.0'
Observation Date: 2025-01-04
J2000: 18h 00m 47s -26° 07’ 37” in Sagittarius
We have six Asteroids brighter than Magnitude 10 this week. Data from In-the-sky.org.
4 Vesta
Magnitude: 7.8 trending_up
J2000: 14h 03m 37s -05° 12’ 23” in Virgo
15 Eunomia
Magnitude: 8.6 trending_down
J2000: 05h 02m 42s +30° 49’ 29” in Auriga
1 Ceres
Magnitude: 9.2 trending_up
J2000: 20h 59m 27s -24° 23’ 49”
in Capricornus
14 Irene
Magnitude: 9.6 trending_down
J2000: 06h 55m 17s +27° 25’ 24” in Gemini
29 Amphitrite
Magnitude: 10.0 trending_up
J2000: 10h 19m 57s +16° 45’ 45” in Leo
7 Iris
Magnitude: 10.0 trending_flat
Apparent: 22h 46m 45s -02° 57’ 36”
J2000: 22h 45m 27s -03° 05’ 31” in Aquarius
STARS
Zeta Herculis - An unequal binary pair with a highly eccentric 35 year orbit. Currently at maximum separation. Zeta Herculis is the star at the bottom right of the Hercules keystone asterism.
Sirius - Have you ever tried for Sirius B? Sirius A and B are now at their widest apparent separation in their 50-year orbit, 11 arcseconds apart, and will remain so for the next couple years before they start closing up again. If you can block it out of your FOV you might have a shot at open cluster Gaia 1 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_1)
T Coronae Borealis - A star system, located 3,000 light-years away from Earth, is predicted to become visible to the unaided eye soon. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity as the nova outburst only occurs about every 80 years. Now rising in the East before Sun rise for Northern viewers and not visible from Southern locations. T Coronae Borealis, or T CrB, last exploded in 1946 and astronomers believe it will do so again in 2024. Once in a lifetime event! Plan ahead just in case! Full article here. The TSS TCrB Citizen Science Thread is here.
SPACE LAUNCHES
Four launches planned this week including two flight tests, Blue Origin NG-1 delayed from the 6th and Space X Starship.
January 6 Falcon 9 • Starlink 12-11
Launch time: Window opens at 11:19 a.m. EST (1619 UTC)
Launch site: Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the latest batch of Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit. A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster will land on a droneship positioned in the Atlantic Ocean.
NET January 8 New Glenn • NG-1
Launch time: 1 a.m. EST (0600 UTC)
Launch site: Launch Complex 36, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket will launch the company’s Blue Ring spacecraft, which is capable of both hosting and deploying multiple payloads. Blue Origin will attempt to land the first stage booster on its sea-based landing platform, ‘Jacklyn.’ Delayed from Jan. 6.
NET January 10 Starship • Flight 7
Launch time: 4 p.m. CST (5 p.m. EST, 2200 UTC)
Launch site: OLP-A, Starbase, Boca Chica Beach, Texas
SpaceX will launch its sixth, suborbital flight test of its fully integrated Starship rocket, a combination of the Ship upper stage (S33) and the Super Heavy booster (B14). SpaceX plans to catch the Super Heavy booster using the chopsticks on the launch tower, but will make a final determination on the catch following liftoff and stage separation. This mission will feature first block upgrades for the Ship upper stage. S33 will perform a landing flip and made a gentle splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
NET Spring 2025 New Glenn • EscaPADE
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Launch Complex 36, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket will launch a pair of identical spacecraft on NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) mission. The two satellites, named Blue and Gold, will make a roughly 11-month journey to Mars where they will then perform about an 11-month science mission while orbiting the Red Planet. Blue and Gold were manufactured by Rocket Lab over about 3.5 years and carry science experiments from the University of California, Berkeley. This launch of the New Glenn rocket will also feature a landing attempt on its landing barge in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from October 13.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
We highly recommend using "Spot the Station" from NASA to find out when the International Space station will be passing over your location. This is a fun object to see flying high above, try using binoculars here, lots of fun!
For the HAM radio enthusiasts among you, please keep a eye on the ARISS website for upcoming contacts or SSTV broadcasts for when the International Space Station is within range. There are several HAMS on board the ISS, they should have a busy radio schedule coming up. AMSAT are another great resource in this regard.
This video is from the ISS live feed on YouTube. Watch live video from the International Space Station, including inside views when the crew aboard the space station is on duty. Views of Earth are also streamed from an external camera located outside of the space station. During periods of signal loss due to handover between communications satellites, a blue screen is displayed.
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
January 6
47 years ago, in 1978, Landsat 1 is deactivated, due to overheating.
10 years ago, in 2015, NASA's Kepler space telescope discovers its 1,000th confirmed exoplanet.
January 7
415 years ago, in 1610, Galileo sees three of the four "Galilean" moons of Jupiter for the first time through a telescope.
235 years ago, in 1790, Caroline Herschel discovers her third comet, Comet C/1790 A1 (Herschel).
137 years ago, in 1888, James Edward Keeler is the first to view what is known as the Encke Gap in Saturn's A ring, using the 36 inch telescope at Lick Observatory.
57 years ago, in 1968, Surveyor 7 is launched for the Moon.
40 years ago, in 1985, Sakigake (MS-T5), Japan's first deep space probe, is launched from the Kagoshima Space Center.
27 years ago, in 1998, NASA's Lunar Prospector is launched for a low lunar polar orbit to study the Moon.
26 years ago, in 1999, Beacon contact is lost with the Japanese probe Sakigake.
21 years ago, in 2004, the Mars Express probe makes the first attempt to contact Beagle 2, but fails.
January 8
383 years ago, in 1642, Galileo Galilei dies at age 77 in Arcetri, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Italy.
83 years ago, in 1942, theoretical physicist Stephen William Hawking is born in Oxford, England.
52 years ago, in 1973, the Luna 21/Lunokhod 2 rover combo is launched to the Moon.
33 years ago, in 1992, the Japanese probe Sakigake makes its first Earth swingby.
January 9
39 years ago, in 1986, Cressida, a moon of Uranus, is discovered by the Voyager 2 spacecraft.
17 years ago, in 2008, Supernova SN 2008D is detected as it occurs with NASA's Swift space observatory in galaxy NGC 2770.
11 years ago, in 2014, Lituanica SAT-1 and LitSat-1, the two first Lithuanian satellites, are launched together, bound for the ISS.
January 10
415 years ago, in 1610, Galileo notices one of the three "Galilean" moons has disappeared; leading to his belief they were moons.
57 years ago, in 1968, Surveyor 7 lands on the Moon in the lunar highland region.
57 years ago, in 1968, the first Australian satellite, WRESAT, reenters the atmosphere and burns up over the Atlantic ocean.
56 years ago, in 1969, Venera 6 is launched for Venus.
14 years ago, in 2011, the Kepler space telescope's first evidence of a rocky planet, Kepler-10b, is announced.
7 years ago, in 2018, NASA renames the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission to the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, in honor of mission PI Neil Gehrels, who died in 2017.
January 11
238 years ago, in 1787, William Herschel discovers two moons of Uranus, Oberon and Titania.
57 years ago, in 1968, GEOS-2 (Geodetic Earth Orbiting Satellite); also known as GEOS-B & Explorer 36, is successfully launched for geodetic studies of the Earth.
50 years ago, in 1975, Soyuz 17 is launched to the Salyut 4 space station.
17 years ago, in 2008, both mirrors of the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) see first light, viewing NGC 2770.
January 12
118 years ago, in 1907, Sergei Korolev, the Soviet "chief designer", is born in Zhytomyr, Russian Empire.
52 years ago, in 1973, Luna 21 (USSR) goes into orbit around the Moon.
35 years ago, in 1990, NASA's Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) is finally recovered 69 months (5.8 years) after launch by Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-32).
22 years ago, in 2003, CHIPSat (Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer satellite), the first of NASA's University-Class Explorers (UNEX) missions, is launched to study the million-degree gas in the local interstellar medium.
20 years ago, in 2005, Deep Impact is launched for Comet Tempel 1.
And that is it for the upcoming week. We hope you can all get out and do some observing, sketching and imaging.
Clear skies!
The TSS Team.
