The Cone Nebula, named because of its apparent shape, lies in the southern part of NGC 2264, the northern part being the magnitude-3.9 Christmas Tree Cluster. It is in the Monoceros constellation and is about 2700 light-years from Earth. Photo: MPAS member Nik Axaris
This month you will find the second brightest star, Canopus, in the constellation Carina sitting high in the sky, while Sirius, the brightest star in the entire night sky, is almost overhead. Orion dominates the view with its brightest stars – supergiants blue-white Rigel and red Betelgeuse – also high up, and the Orion Nebula (M42) high within the constellation.
The prominent upside down ‘V’ shape of the Hyades open star cluster in Taurus is a fine sight to the naked eye or through binoculars, with nearby Aldebaran, the brightest star in the constellation, shining with a red-orange tint lower in the north.
The constellations best seen in January are Caelum, Dorado, Lepus, Mensa, Orion, Pictor, Reticulum and Taurus. Orion and Taurus are quite prominent in the evening sky, while others are simply best observed at this time of year.
January is also the best time of year to observe several famous deep sky objects located in these constellations. The most popular telescope targets include the Orion Nebula, the Crab Nebula (M1), the Pleiades (M45) and Hyades clusters, and the Large Magellanic Cloud. The LMC in the constellation Dorado can be seen with binoculars in the evenings. Among its sparkling stars, you will find the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070), which appears to the naked eye as a glowing patch the size of the full moon.
January’s conjunctions, which is when two astronomical objects appear close to each other in the sky, include the moon and Jupiter on January 4, the moon and Saturn on January 23, and the moon and Jupiter on January 31.
This month the Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society will be holding its Summer Series public stargazing nights on Friday, January 2; Saturday, January 3; Friday, January 9; and Friday, January 16, at the MPAS Observatory at The Briars in Mount Martha. They start at 8pm with a multimedia talk and Q&A before moving outside to view the moon, planets, stars and clusters, all through a wide array of telescopes supplied by the society and members. Tickets are limited and bookings are necessary, so don’t miss out.
For further information about the society, such as public stargazing nights, event bookings and membership, visit the MPAS Facebook page or its website at mpas.asn.au
