Planets of the Month: January 2019

by Erich Karkoschka

	TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE January 20: 8:34-11:51 pm, totality 9:41-10:44 pm. High in sky, near Castor and Pollux. Southern limb of moon gets very close to the center of the umbra at mid eclipse (10:12 pm).
	Mars at magnitude 1, 60 degegrees high at dusk, sets after 11 pm. It is moving fast through the faint stars of Pisces.
	Uranus and Neptune on both sides of Mars visible in binoculars.
	Venus rises 4 am at brillant magnitude -4.5, high during dawn, naked eye visibility after sunrise.
	Jupiter at magnitude -2 rises first at 5 am. Jupiter and Venus approach each other. Closest on 21st, 2.5 degrees separation, spectacular around 6 am!
	Comet Wirtanen, magnitude 5 and dimming, moves fast from Lynx to Ursa Major, circumpolar.
	The moon will be close to Mars on the 12th and close to Venus on the 31st.
	Latest sunrise is January 8.

32 inch Cassegrain Project, General Astronomy, Star Parties

Comet 46P Wirtanen from CAC

We have a naked eye (from a dark site) comet visible (arrow). It is Comet 46P Wirtanen. Ed Foley, one of our TAAA members, took this picture from our Chiricahua Astronomy Complex dark-sky site during last weekend’s events (Saturday December 8, 2018). You can see one of our observatories as well. Those present observed it through several telescopes. It was also observed at last Saturday’s Ironwood Picnic Star Party and will be observed at this coming weekend (December 15) Agua Caliente Park star party.