The Southern Hemisphere T

T H N

LYNX

Capella

Kids

THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE T

With Glenn Dawes H

AURIGA T

PERSEUS R

M36

Sirius and Canopus are prominent in the sky, A

and Mars and Jupiter are bright near the Moon Almach Castor

M37

Pollux

GEMINI

M35

ANDROMEDA

When to use this chart β

TAURUS

The chart accurately matches the sky on the 12th

Pleiades

1 Jan at 24:00 AEDT (13:00 UT) Sickle

M44

dates and times shown for Sydney, Australia.

LEO 9th

15 Jan at 23:00 AEDT (12:00 UT)

Hamal

The sky is different at other times as the stars

ARIES

Betelgeuse

crossing it set four minutes earlier each night.

31 Jan at 22:00 AEDT (11:00 UT)

γ δ

Aldebaran

6th

CANIS MINOR CANIS

ORION Christmas Tree Cluster Tree Christmas CANCER

JANUARY HIGHLIGHTS STARS AND CONSTELLATIONS Hyades γ

α β

Ecliptic

The brighter planets have attractive The two brightest stars, Sirius (Alpha γ

Rosette

δ Nebula Triangle

Procyon

Alpheratz

Regulus conjunctions with the crescent Moon ( ) Canis Majoris) and Canopus α a Winter

M78

in January. As our satellite moves towards (Alpha (a) Carinae), are prominent in Uranus

Alnitak

‘New’, the eastern predawn sky on the January evening skies. Although Sirius VIRGO

NGC 2024 NGC α MONOCEROS

M50

21st sees Mars 3° to the upper right of the is the hotter of the two, the star is only β M48

PISCES

25-day old Moon. Two days later finds the top dog because it’s close by. Equator Celestial

HYDRA

NGC 2539 NGC

α Melotte 71 Melotte

Alrescha

M42

Menkar brilliant Jupiter, 4° to the lower right of the Canopus is 35 times more distant, but δ

Rigel

19 Sirius

Moon, low in the eastern sky. The Moon a rare supergiant star with a luminosity Alphard α

M47

α δ

15th 31st

then moves into the western evening 16,000 times greater than the Sun and an

Mira

twilight, meeting up with Venus on the extraordinarily large surface area. Sirius β γ

3rd

MAJOR

LEPUS

M41

28th. This inner world will be only 3.5° to is only 26 times the luminosity and

δ Wesen

CANIS

the lower right of the three-day old Moon. twice the size of the Sun. T

PUPPIS E

α Ghost of Jupiter

γ CRATER α W

PYXIS α γ

ERIDANUS

Adhara

THE PLANETS CETUS

α ANTLIA

γ β

Canopus

Evenings are now a little slow with one evening only object, setting around FORNAX

bright exception – Venus continues midnight mid-January. Turning to the δ

γ COLUMBA α

β to dominate the western sky. Neptune is morning, Mars is low in the predawn α γ CAELUM Omicron Velorum Cluster δ

getting lower but before dropping into the eastern sky. Jupiter and Saturn return β CARINA PICTOR NGC 1851 θ γ twilight glow it passes Venus, being closest in January’s last week, with Saturn 10°

VELA δ β CORVUS α δ DORADO γ α EQUULEUS on 27th, only 0.5° apart. Uranus is now an below Jupiter in early dawn skies.

False Cross HOROLOGIUM

NGC 253 NGC

β β β R α

VOLANS NGC 1261 RETICULUM DEEP-SKY OBJECTS α δ α δ δ β

R γ 300 NGC In the northeast corner of Puppis magnitude stars arranged in curved lines γ Kaitos Deneb

Eta Carina Nebula α LMC γ β

β β lies an isolated, mag. +4.7 yellow with scattered clumps – impressive! β α δ δ star, 19 Puppis (RA 8hr 11.3m, dec. –12° 56’). γ

α α PHOENIX Tarantula Nebula β This is an attractive multiple star Move 8° west to another open cluster, Acrux MENSA γ α

M83 CENTAURUS δ CHAMAELEON with two other obvious members, Melotte 71 (RA 7hr 37.5m, dec. -12° δ γ γ α

approximately 1 arcminute from 19 04’). In contrast to NGC 2539, the stars are γ δ

CRUX Coal Sack HYDRUS

Puppis. These nearly matched 9th fainter (11th magnitude) and more evenly β α Achernar αMUSCA δ

γ β magnitude companions are only a few dispersed with a slight concentration SMC SCULPTOR β arcseconds apart. The star is on the edge towards the centre. There is a scattering β South Celestial Poleβ δ δ 47 Tucanae of a bright (mag. +6.5) open star cluster, of brighter members at the edges as it β Jewel Box NGC 2539, showing around 80 9th blends into a star-rich Milky Way field. Hadar α β δ γ T β APUS OCTANS TUCANA E

T α δ γ H Rigel KentCIRCINUS W E γ GRUS H A α β T Chart key α δ T LUPUS α STAR β ASTEROID TRIANGULUM GALAXY DIFFUSE BRIGHTNESS: β β γ TRACK γ α AUSTRALE NEBULOSITY MAG. 0 β δ OPEN CLUSTER & BRIGHTER δ METEOR β α DOUBLE STAR MAG. +1 GLOBULAR RADIANT δ INDUS MAG. +2 β CLUSTER VARIABLE STAR QUASAR MAG. +3 PLANETARY PAVO MAG. +4 CORONAAUSTRALIS NEBULA COMET TRACK PLANET & FAINTER δ CHART: PETECHART: LAWRENCE ARA

BBC Sky at Night Magazine January 2020 TH

T H N

LYNX

Capella

Kids

AURIGA T

PERSEUS R

M36 A

Almach Castor

M37

Pollux

GEMINI

M35

ANDROMEDA

TAURUS

12th

Pleiades

Sickle

M44

LEO 9th

Hamal

ARIES

Betelgeuse

γ δ

Aldebaran

6th

CANIS MINOR CANIS

ORION Christmas Tree Cluster Tree Christmas CANCER

Hyades

α β

Ecliptic α

Rosette

δ Nebula Triangle

Procyon

Alpheratz

Regulus α Winter

δ M78

Uranus

Alnitak

VIRGO

NGC 2024 NGC α MONOCEROS

M50

β M48

PISCES

Celestial Equator Celestial

HYDRA

NGC 2539 NGC

α Melotte 71 Melotte

Alrescha

M42

Menkar δ

Rigel

19 Sirius

Alphard α

M47

α δ

15th 31st

Mira

β γ

3rd

MAJOR

LEPUS

M41

δ Wesen

CANIS

PUPPIS E

α Ghost of Jupiter

γ CRATER α W

PYXIS α γ

ERIDANUS

Adhara

CETUS

α ANTLIA

γ β

Canopus

FORNAX

γ COLUMBA α

β γ CAELUMα Omicron Velorum Cluster δ

β CARINA PICTOR NGC 1851 θ γ

VELA δ β CORVUS α δ DORADO γ α EQUULEUS

False Cross HOROLOGIUM

NGC 253 NGC

β β β R α

VOLANS NGC 1261 RETICULUM α δ α δ δ β

R γ 300 NGC γ Kaitos Deneb

Eta Carina Nebula α LMC γ β

β β β α δ δ γ

α α PHOENIX Tarantula Nebula β Acrux MENSA γ α

M83 CENTAURUS δ CHAMAELEON δ γ γ α

γ δ

CRUX Coal Sack HYDRUS

β α Achernar αMUSCA δ

γ β SMC SCULPTOR β β South Celestial Poleβ δ δ 47 Tucanae

β Jewel Box Hadar α β δ γ T β APUS OCTANS TUCANA E

T α δ γ H Rigel KentCIRCINUS W E γ GRUS H A α β T α δ T LUPUS α β TRIANGULUM β β γ γ α AUSTRALE β δ δ β α

INDUS δ β

PAVO CORONAAUSTRALIS δ

ARA

TH BBC Sky at Night Magazine January 2020