THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N, 70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
"2016: What Dreams may come!"
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Thursday, December 31, 2015
January 2016 Night Sky Calendar Part I
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NEW YEAR'S PLANETARIUM
Thursday, December 31, 2015
6:30 p.m. - midnight
See our new shows.
Tour the winter night sky
Watch the ball drop in Times Square from the comfort of our star
dome theater.
Admission by donation.
Call 207-780-4249,
e-mail [log in to unmask]
or consult our web-site:
http://usm.maine.edu/planet/new-years-planetarium-2016
for more information
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We're not going to make a habit of dividing our Night Sky Calendar.
However, presently, we're preparing for the NEW YEAR'S PLANETARIUM
(see above), and time is limited. We thank you for your
understanding. The quiz posts tomorrow and the second part of the
Night Sky Calendar arrives fresh and enfolded in news print on Monday.
At this very moment, the Earth turns rapidly into 2016's enveloping
embrace. The new year has already started in Sydney, Wellington,
Tokyo and other remote points. Eventually, 2016 will crash headlong
into the eastern seaboard, leaving this aging and venerable year in a
torrent of smoldering cinders. As for now, 2015 remains with us
as we prepare for another Sun-centered go around.
We know that the planets still linger around the morning sky.
Jupiter, however, now rises before midnight. Venus and Saturn appear
to almost collide. Orion and its attendant retinue of bestial
constellations ascends in the early evening, reaching center stage
before midnight. The Milky Way light bridge and its river spirit
tributaries traverse the sky from east to west after sunset. We'll
see meteors appearing to emerge from an extinct constellation. And,
quite importantly, the duration of daylight slowly, but inexorably,
increases.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 2: LAST QUARTER MOON
The very first astronomical event of the year is a rather prosaic one.
The moon reaches the last quarter point today. Remember that the
last quarter moon rises around midnight and sets around noon. These
times vary slightly throughout the year.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 2: EARTH AT PERIHELION
A planet's distance from the Sun varies continuously: veering from the
minimum distance of perihelion to the maximum of aphelion. Today,
Earth reaches perihelion and will be 91.45 million miles from the Sun.
(Earth next reaches aphelion on July 4). While our closeness to
the Sun exerts a negligible effect on our weather, it does affect the
length of the seasons. These seasonal variations result from
Earth's 23.5 degree tilt (obliquity.) In winter, Earth's northern
hemisphere is directed away from the Sun and in summer, it is aligned
toward it. Were Earth's orbit circular, each season would be of
equal duration. However, as Earth is closest to the Sun during our
winter, it is moving fastest in its orbit. (Remember: the closer a
planet is to the Sun, the faster it moves). The current duration
of the seasons: spring 92.76 days ; summer 93.65 days;
autumn 89.84 days; winter 88.99 days. (Note: we used the word
"current" because perihelion will not always occur in early January.
Over a 21,600 year period, the perihelion shifts along Earth's orbital
path, so that perihelion will occur progressively later in the year
throughout this period.)
SUNDAY, JANUARY 3: MOON 1.4 DEGREES NNE OF MARS
Mars is growing ever brighter as it approaches its May 22 opposition.
Nevertheless, having the moon close to Mars will still help
observers find the red planet. Though technically a waning crescent,
the moon still looks quite similar to a quarter moon.
MONDAY, JANUARY 4: QUADRANTID METEOR SHOWER PEAKS
Meteor showers are named for the constellation or star from which the
meteors appear to originate. The year's first meteor shower is named
for an "extinct" constellation, defined as one that is no longer
officially recognized. That constellation was called "Quadrans
Muralis." Invented by French astronomer Jerome LaLande (1732-1807),
Quadrans Muralis represented a mural quadrant, a large device used to
measure a star's position. Lalande first included Quadrans Muralis
in his 1795 edition of the Fortin's Celestial Atlas. The pattern soon
lapsed into obscurity as only faint stars comprised it. Those stars
are now shared by the constellation Bootes and Ursa Major.
This shower can produce 30 - 60 meteors an hour. This year is somewhat
favorable for the meteor shower as the moon is in the crescent phase
and won't produce excessive light obscuration.
ON MONDAY, WE'LL POST THE REST.
HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR.
SEE YOU IN 2016 WITH A NEW QUIZ.
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