The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks

Friday, December 27
By 8 P.M. local time, Gemini is well above the eastern horizon, rising to the left of the widely recognizable constellation Orion. The Twins’ two standout stars are Castor and Pollux in the northeastern reaches of the constellation, but tonight, look toward the opposite end of this star pattern: southwestern Gemini, near Orion’s bright red shoulder star, Betelgeuse. 

Here, you’ll find M35, a bright, 5th-magnitude open cluster visible to the naked eye under dark skies. Spanning roughly half a degree — the same apparent width as the Full Moon — M35 sits just over 2° north-northwest of 3rd-magnitude Propus (Eta [η] Geminorum). It contains several hundred stars. 

Additionally, just 15’ southwest of M35 is NGC 2158, a fainter, more compact star cluster extending about 5’ across and shining at magnitude 8.6. Although it appears smaller, NGC 2158 contains many more stars than M35, almost looking like a globular rather than an open cluster. It’s easy to capture both objects in the same field of view of a telescope, making the pair a lovely target for astrophotographers.

Sunrise: 7:21 A.M.
Sunset: 4:42 P.M.
Moonrise: 4:26 A.M.
Moonset: 1:50 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (10%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. local time from the same location.

Saturday, December 28
Early risers this morning will be greeted by a beautiful sight in the southeast, as the crescent Moon rises together with the bright red giant Antares and the planet Mercury. At 6 A.M. local time, the trio is 3° high, so you’ll need a clear horizon to spot them. If not, just wait a little while — half an hour later, as the sky is slowly growing light, they’ve reached an altitude of nearly 8°, appearing to stand in a neat horizontal line spanning some 9° from end to end.

The Moon is on the right, with Antares close beside it to the left. This magnitude 1.1 star is sometimes occulted by the Moon when conditions are right, but not today. Instead, the Moon will pass 0.09° due south of the star at 10 A.M. EST. 

Anchoring the left point in the line is Mercury, shining at magnitude –0.3. Through a telescope, you’ll see the planet is some 71 percent lit and 6” wide. In the coming days, Mercury will appear to sink toward the horizon when viewed at the same time on subsequent days, even as its phase increases. 

The Moon will later pass 6° south of Mercury at 11 P.M. EST tonight, when both are hidden from view. By the time this region rises tomorrow morning, the Moon will be positioned directly below Mercury, our satellite showing off an even thinner crescent that rises roughly an hour before the Sun. 

Sunrise: 7:21 A.M.
Sunset: 4:43 P.M.
Moonrise: 5:31 A.M.
Moonset: 2:29 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (5%)

Sunday, December 29
One of the showpieces of the wintertime sky is Stephan’s Quintet, a compact group of galaxies in Pegasus. Located 4° north-northwest of magnitude 2.9 Matar (Eta Pegasi), it’s best to locate this group soon after the sky grows dark, when Pegasus is high in the southwest. As the hours pass, the constellation will carry the galaxies lower in the sky as it sets. 

Because Stephan’s Quintet is so compact, you’ll want the biggest scope you’ve got to observe it. A six-inch telescope will show the grouping, but only as a lumpy glow, rather than a set of five galaxies. Astronomy Associate Editor Michael E. Bakich recommends a 12-inch scope to resolve its members into individuals. 

The brightest galaxy is magnitude 12.6 NGC 7320 in the group’s southeastern region, followed by NGC 7319, NGC 7318A, and NGC 7318B, all magnitude 13.1. The faintest galaxy, at the group’s southwestern edge and west of NGC 7318A and NGC 7318B, is NGC 7317 at magnitude 13.6. 

Of the five galaxies, only four are physically associated in space — NGC 7320 is a foreground galaxy that simply happens to lie along our line of sight to the four more distant galaxies that make up a true physical group. 

Sunrise: 7:22 A.M.
Sunset: 4:43 P.M.
Moonrise: 6:34 A.M.
Moonset: 3:18 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (2%)

Monday, December 30
New Moon occurs this morning at 5:27 P.M. EST. 

With Taurus shining brightly in the sky all night long, it’s the perfect opportunity to seek out one of the Bull’s most famous treasures: M1, the Crab Nebula. Plus, it’s easy to find, just 1° northwest of Zeta (ζ) Tauri, the tip of the Bull’s southeastern horn.

M1 appeared in the year 1054, when a massive star went supernova, creating a blazing new light in the sky. Once that light faded — after a full year! — what was left behind was an expanding shell of dust and gas we now call the Crab Nebula. At its center is a rapidly spinning neutron star, called a pulsar. 

The gas of the Crab shines at magnitude 8.4 and appears as a slightly rectangular or oval-shaped smudge of light in most amateur scopes, spanning roughly 6′ by 4′. If you move to high magnification, you may be able to make out some mottling in its glow, due to the structure of tendrils of dust and gas left behind when the progenitor star exploded. The Crab is a perfect target on nights like tonight, when the cold winter air is steady and there is no Moon to cast its light across the sky. And because it’s visible all night, this target works well for night owls and early birds alike. 

Sunrise: 7:22 A.M.
Sunset: 4:44 P.M.
Moonrise: 7:33 A.M.
Moonset: 4:17 P.M.
Moon Phase: New

Tuesday, December 31
Saturn’s two-toned moon Iapetus reaches its brighter western elongation today, standing a full 8′ west of the ringed planet tonight. At western elongation, Iapetus glows at around 10th magnitude, putting it in range of more modest scopes. By contrast, when at eastern elongation, it is a full two magnitudes fainter. 

Start by locating Saturn, some 40° high in Aquarius in the southern sky an hour after sunset. It stands to the upper left of blazing Venus, the brightest light in this region of the sky at magnitude –4.4. Although much fainter than Venus at magnitude 1, Saturn is still brighter than any of the stars surrounding it and will be the first point of light to pop out against the darkening sky. Don’t confuse it with similarly bright (magnitude 1.2) Fomalhaut in Piscis Austrinus, which lies closer to the horizon, to Saturn’s lower left.

Let the sky grow fully dark and zoom in on Saturn with a telescope. You’ll see its 17”-wide disk, wreathed by its famous rings, stretching 37” from end to end. The planet’s brightest moon, 8th-magnitude Titan, lies some 1.5’ east of the planet. Closer to the rings, visible in early evening across the eastern half of the U.S. are Dione (50” east) and Rhea (50” west), both around magnitude 10. Shortly before 9 P.M. EST, 10th-magnitude Tethys will appear a few arcseconds off the planet’s northeastern limb and just north of the rings as it comes out of an occultation, having traveled behind the planet and through its dark shadow. 

On the other side of the planet from Titan, and some eight times as far, will be Iapetus. Now that it’s reached its farthest point west, it will begin heading east again, coming to stand just 47″ due south of Saturn on January 20th, by which time it will have faded to roughly 11th magnitude.

Sunrise: 7:22 A.M.
Sunset: 4:45 P.M.
Moonrise: 8:23 A.M.
Moonset: 5:25 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (1%)

Wednesday, January 1
The Moon passes 1.1° south of Pluto at 7 A.M. EST, when both are below the horizon in Capricornus. Due to the low altitude of this constellation during darkness and the immense faintness of Pluto, the latter will not be visible except to those with very large scopes at southerly declinations. 

Instead, let’s check in with main-belt asteroid 15 Eunomia, which tonight stands not far from Barnard 29, a small, slightly elongated dark nebula made of starlight-blocking dust. Eunomia is currently traveling through Auriga, which is rising in the east around sunset and reaches its highest point in the sky — some 80° above the southern horizon — around 10:30 P.M. local time. You can find 8th-magnitude Eunomia 2.5° southeast of magnitude 2.7 Iota (ι) Aurigae, or about 5.3° northwest of Elnath (Gamma [γ] Aur), the tip of Taurus’ northwestern horn.

The small, dark blot of B29 is less than 0.5° north-northeast of Eunomia. Can you see it as an absence of dimmer background stars? There are several other deep-sky objects nearby to explore as well to the asteroid’s northeast, including the Tadpole Nebula (IC 410) and its embedded star cluster, NGC 1893. 

Sunrise: 7:22 A.M.
Sunset: 4:46 P.M.
Moonrise: 9:05 A.M.
Moonset: 6:37 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (4%)

Thursday, January 2
By 10 P.M. local time, the constellation Canis Major stands 20° high in the southeast, to the lower left of Orion the Hunter. Famous for housing the brightest star in the sky, magnitude –1.4 Sirius, Canis Major holds many other deep-sky treasures to explore as well, including the open cluster M41. 

Located just a 4° drop south of blazing Sirius, M41 spans some 40’ and shines with a total magnitude of 4.5. With no Moon in the evening sky, you might be able to spot it with naked eyes, provided your horizon is clear and your viewing site is dark. The open cluster is certainly a stunning sight in binoculars or any telescope, full of roughly 100 sparkling stars less than 250 million years old. M41’s brightest star lies near the cluster’s center, shining at magnitude 6.9. Higher magnifications will start to reveal the stars’ colors, with some orangey-red and others blue-white. 

Because it’s so close to Sirius, wide-field views will show both at the same time, setting up a great scene for astrophotographers to shoot. 

Sunrise: 7:22 A.M.
Sunset: 4:47 P.M.
Moonrise: 9:39 A.M.
Moonset: 7:51 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (9%)

Friday, January 3
Asteroid 14 Irene reaches opposition at 2 A.M. EST, located within northwestern Gemini the Twins. The 10th-magnitude asteroid is just under 4° northeast of 3rd-magnitude Mebsuta (Epsilon [ε] Geminorum), about halfway on a line drawn between that star and 4th-magnitude Tau (τ) Gem. 

And if you’re up to try to spot the main-belt world, you’re in luck — there’s something even bigger going on in the early-morning sky, as the Quadrantid meteor shower peaks this morning with no Moon to interfere. Conditions are perfect to start off the New Year with a stunning showcase of shooting stars. 

The shower’s radiant is located in northeastern Boötes, an area of sky that once belonged to the now-defunct constellation Quadrans Muralis. Quadrantid meteors typically move at some 25 miles (41 kilometers) per second. The maximum zenithal hourly rate is expected to reach roughly 80 meteors per hour, with prospects the best for observers in the few hours before dawn, when the radiant is highest and Earth is rotating into the meteor stream. Additionally, rates can vary between about 60 and 200 meteors per hour, so the show could be even better than expected. Remember to cast your gaze to either side of the actual radiant’s position if you want the highest chance of seeing longer trails through the sky. 

Additionally, asteroid 2 Pallas is in conjunction with the Sun at 3 A.M. EST, while the Moon passes 1.4° south of Venus at 10 A.M. EST. We’ll catch up with the latter pair in the evening sky next week.

Sunrise: 7:22 A.M.
Sunset: 4:47 P.M.
Moonrise: 10:07 A.M.
Moonset: 9:03 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (17%)

Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron.