WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - In January, sky-watchers will have the opportunity to enjoy a single, sweeping view of four bright planets at once after dusk.
All month after dark, you'll find Venus and Saturn in the southwest for the first couple of hours, while Jupiter shines brightly high overhead, and Mars rises in the east. Uranus and Neptune are there too, technically, but they don't appear as 'bright planets.' These multi-planet viewing opportunities aren't super rare, but they don't happen every year, so it's worth checking it out, says NASA.
these events are sometimes called 'alignments' of the planets, and they will appear more or less along a line across the sky, called the ecliptic
It represents the plane of the solar system in which the planets orbit around the Sun. This is why sometimes planets are appearing to approach closely to each other on the sky, as seen along a line while they careen around the cosmic racetrack.
Venus and Saturn head for a super close approach in mid-January. After the beginning of the month, they quickly get closer and closer each evening, appearing at their most cozy on the 17th and 18th before going their separate ways. They are really hundreds of millions of miles apart in space, so when sky-watchers observe them, they are staring clear across the solar system.
Mars reaches 'opposition' this month, which is when the planet lies directly on the opposite side of Earth from the Sun, forming a straight line. This is around the time when the planet is at its closest to Earth, making it appear at its biggest and brightest. For Mars, oppositions happen about every two years.
On 13th, the full Moon cozies up to Mars, appearing super close to the Red Planet that evening. Across the U.S. and Eastern Canada, the Moon will appear to pass in front of Mars over a couple of hours, as the pair rise into the eastern sky. Mars also will be the lone planet in the sky on January mornings, hanging out in the west in morning twilight.
The Quadrantid meteors peak in the early morning hours on January 3. Interference from moonlight won't be a problem, as the Moon is a mere crescent and sets early in the night. The way to see the most meteors is to observe after midnight from clear, dark skies away from bright city lights. The meteor rate will be highest as dawn approaches, and more meteors can be seen from rural locations than in the suburbs.
'Now, this is a shower best seen from the Northern Hemisphere, and observers in the Northwest and Pacific region will likely have the best viewing this year,' according to NASA.
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