This is Dudley Observatory’s Skywatch Line for Friday January 16, through Sunday, January 18, written by Alan French. I hope you were able to catch the close pairing of Venus and Mercury in the early evening sky last weekend. Saturday night, when they were closest, featured clear skies in our area. If you missed it, or would like to see them again and watch as Mercury moves away from Venus, they are still close and now a bit higher in the twilight sky. Look for the pair around 5:15 pm. Venus will be bright and easy to spot, just a bit west of southwest and almost 11 degrees above the horizon. I found Mercury fairly easy to see by 5:15 and obvious by 5:25 pm. Look for it just over two degrees to the right of Venus and slightly closer to the horizon (a pinkie held at arm’s length spans one degree). The distance between the pair is now increasing and Mercury is dropping lower relative to Venus. By Saturday night they’ll be over two and a half degrees apart, and by Sunday the separation will three and a half degrees. Comet Lovejoy has been rapidly climbing higher in the evening sky. It is now at its brightest and obvious in binoculars, appearing as large hazy glow. Some people have reported it is faintly visible by eye. The comet is now well placed in the early evening. It will be due south and highest, and so at its best, at 7:32 pm on Friday, 7:23 pm on Saturday, and 7:14 pm on Sunday. For the best view and your best chance of spotting it by eye, give your eyes some time to get used to the dark. Your eye’s pupil opens quickly, to admit more light, but there is also a chemical change that makes the retina much more sensitive. The biggest increase in sensitivity takes about 15 minutes, but improvement continues for 30 or 40 minutes. If you look a little east of due south, high above the horizon, you should easily spot bright, reddish Aldebaran amongst a v-shaped pattern of fainter stars that outline the face of Taurus the Bull. On Friday Comet Lovejoy will be about one binocular field of view higher than Aldebaran and several binocular fields to the right (due south at 7:32 pm). Each following night the comet will be a few degrees higher and farther west (right) of Aldebaran. Another landmark you can use to find the comet is the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, a lovely star cluster that looks like a miniature dipper. It lies to the upper right of Aldebaran. On Friday night Comet Lovejoy will be to the lower right of the Pleiades. By Sunday it will to the right and slightly below the Pleiades. Scan about three binocular fields from the Pleiades to spot the fuzzy glow of Comet Lovejoy. Although photos show a nice tail, it has not generally been visible in binoculars. If you have trouble spotting Lovejoy, you can find more information and a finder chart here. skyandtelescope/astronomy-news/observing-news/spot-comet-lovejoy-tonight-122920141/
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 19:02:46 +0000
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