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There will be a brilliant pass of the International Space Station on New Year’s Day. Look for the space station low in the northwest at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. When it first appears, the station will look as bright as a very bright star. It will rise very high, appearing almost overhead by 6:35 p.m. It will then sink into the southeast, vanishing around 6:38 p.m.
One warning about satellite passes: It’s always a good idea to check to make sure the times are still correct. With the International Space Station, sometimes adjustments in its orbit will change the timing of its appearance.
To check, go to www.heavens-above.com — beneath "Configuration," click on "from database" and then enter Honolulu (or other locations around the islands). It will then let you select the space station ("ISS") and other satellites to see when they’ll appear over your area.
January planets
Jupiter has been the brightest dot of light in the evening sky for the past few months and continues to fill that role in January. Jupiter shines between two star clusters, the tiny dipper of the Pleiades and the open V-shape of the Hyades (also known as the face of Taurus the Bull). Jupiter seems to form a pair with the star Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus the Bull, but it’s a lopsided pair; Jupiter is many times brighter than Aldebaran.
In early January, look for Jupiter about halfway up in the east at dusk; it’s exactly overhead about 10 p.m. early in the month, and sets in the west around 4:30 a.m. Jupiter will be little higher at dusk every night. By the end of January the planet will be nearly overhead at dusk and will set just after 2:30 a.m.
On the night of Jan. 21-22, look for the gibbous moon less than 2 degrees away from Jupiter. This will be a lovely sight, with the Pleiades and Hyades forming the backdrop.
Venus is a morning star in January, but your window for seeing this brilliant planet will shrink as the month goes on. Look for Venus rising in the southeast around 5:40 a.m. Early in the month you will have about one hour to catch Venus before daylight washes out the night sky about 6:40 a.m. By midmonth, Venus rises at 6 a.m. and you only have about 45 minutes to catch it before daybreak.
By month’s end, the planet is not up until 6:20 a.m. and your Venus-viewing window shrinks to less than a half-hour. Look for a slender waning crescent moon next to Venus on the mornings of Jan. 9 and 10.
Look for Saturn rising in the east-southeast about 2:40 a.m. in early January. The planet will be halfway up in the east by daybreak, and it will rise a little earlier every night. By the end of January, the planet rises at 12:40 a.m. and is two-thirds of the way up the sky by dawn.
Throughout the month, Saturn forms a large right triangle with two bright stars above it, Arcturus and Spica. Spica is about 20 degrees above Saturn (the width of two palms at arm’s length) and to the right of Saturn; Arcturus is about 30 degrees, or three palms, above Saturn to the left. Look for the crescent moon between Saturn and Spica early on the morning of Jan. 6.
As I noted last month, it seems like Mars has been hovering in the dusk sky for just about forever. In January the red planet continues to hang on, if just barely. Throughout the month, look for Mars in the west at dusk (7 p.m.). It is no brighter than a bright star, with a slight orange color.
Mars sets in early January by 8 p.m., by 7:45 p.m. midmonth, and by 7:30 p.m. at the end of the month. Mars will still cling to that western horizon at dusk for most of February. Look for a very slender crescent moon to the right of Mars on Jan. 12.
Meteor show
The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks in the east between midnight and dawn on Jan. 3. During this shower you can see between 60 and 200 meteors an hour. The streaks appear to come from the constellation of BoĊtes the Herdsman, in the northeast.
The peak of this shower occurs around 3 a.m. The Quadrantids tend to be bright, so even with a waning gibbous moon, the view should be good for this shower.
Sky Map
This map is good for 11 p.m. in early January and 9 p.m. at the end of the month. All of the great winter constellations are visible high overhead, including Taurus, Orion, Canis Major, Auriga and Gemini.
On this star map, Cetus the Whale is in the western sky. We’ve marked off a star called Tau Ceti in that constellation. Tau Ceti — a fairly close star, about 12 light-years away — has attracted a lot of attention recently.Astronomers using the Keck Telescope on Mauna Kea have found a potential Earth-like planet in the star’s habitable zone, that is, an orbit where liquid water could exist.
In the northeast, the cup of the Big Dipper is just rising; in the Hawaiian islands, we do lose the Big Dipper for part of the year, and it’s just returning to the sky. The Big Dipper is entirely up by midnight at the start of January and by 10 p.m. at the end of the month.
In early January, the Southern Cross is up by 3:45 a.m., low in the south; by Jan. 31, the entire small constellation is up by 1:45 a.m.
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