The Night Sky with Jonathan Powell: January 2023

Wales has significant interest in the forthcoming launch, with Cardiff-based company Space Forge seeing one of their satellites deployed into orbit.

Spaceport Snowdonia will also have a close eye on proceedings as it looks to commence its own space operations in the near future.

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), discovered in March 2022, will make its closest approach to the Sun on Sunday, January 12.

In the night sky, the comet has tracked its way through the constellation of Corona Borealis, and will continue its trek via the constellation of Draco, then hopefully, by the end of January, brightening sufficiently to become a naked eye object as it nears Polaris, the Pole Star, in Ursa Minor.

Comets are notoriously unpredictable with regard to the actual level of brightness they may achieve, but we could well see Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), brighten sufficiently to be seen as a ‘smudge’ in the night sky.

If you own binoculars or a telescope, sighting the comet will be easier.

Remarkably, the comet orbits the Sun once every 50,000 years, so the last time it was around, Neanderthals roamed the Earth.

In the February edition of The Night Sky, I should be able to bring readers precise details as to where to look for the comet.

Occultation of Mars in December

On Wednesday, December 8, a rare event occurred when in the early hours of the morning, Mars was occulted by the full Moon.

Mars disappeared behind the Moon, dipping behind the lunar disc to the northwest, then reappearing to the southwest around an hour later.

Mary McIntyre captured the event and kindly allowed the publication of her work for The Night Sky.

The next time such an occultation will be visible from the UK will be in 2052.

If you any photographic images of the night sky that you’d like to share with our readers, please send them to TheNightSky@themoon.co.uk

Night Sky Events in 2023

During the winter evenings, the planet Venus will make for a dazzling object in the south-west after sunset.

Due to its proximity to Earth and a shroud of highly reflective clouds, Venus is the brightest object on view in the night sky after the Moon and will keep us company right the way through spring and into the early part of summer.

During July, the planet will continue to dominate as the ‘Evening Star’ until late month, when finally, after a seven-month reign, it will drop below the horizon.

However, during the last week of August, Venus reappears as the ‘Morning Star’ to accompany us throughout the remainder of 2023.

The start of July will see the first of four ‘supermoons’ for 2023 with August seeing a ‘supermoon’ right at the start of August, and again at the end of the month. As this will be the second full Moon of the month, we can also, (rather unscientifically), refer to this moon as a ‘blue supermoon’.

Late September will see the fourth and final ‘supermoon’ of the year.

Whereas a fair number of meteor showers had a Moon present with its light blotting out some of the less bright meteors, 2023 will see many of the annual displays falling at times where the Moon is favourable to observing. These include the Lyrids in April, the Perseids in August, and the Orionids, Leonids, and Geminids later in the year.

Earth at Perihelion

During the opening week of 2023, the Earth reaches perihelion, (‘peri’ – from the Greek word meaning ‘near’), when it will be at its closest point to the Sun during its year-long journey around the nearest star.

At this time, the Earth is around 91 million miles from the Sun, (91,402,500 miles to be precise), a difference of about three million miles when compared to aphelion, the farthest point from the Sun, which occurs during the opening week of July.

There is about a three per cent variance between the distance of being closest and furthest from the Sun.

The Earth does pick up some speed at perihelion, 0.6 miles per second faster. Also, Earth receives seven per cent more solar energy at perihelion.

January’s Full Moon

The first full Moon of the year occurs on Friday, January 6. This first full Moon occurs near to what’s known as ‘lunar apogee’, when the Moon is at its furthest point from Earth during its orbit.

The Moon’s orbit is not quite circular, so there are points during its orbit around Earth when it is more distant and closer respectively. On this occasion, the Moon will appear somewhat dimmer and smaller than the ‘usual’ full Moon, although attempting to notice the difference will not be easy.

This Moon at this stage is referred to as a ‘micromoon’.

According to folklore, during the cold January nights across Europe and America, villages and small settlements would hear the howl of wolves in the darkness, gaining January’s full Moon the tag of ‘Wolf Moon’.

In Celtic folklore, January’s full Moon is known as the ‘Quiet Moon’.

Planets

As mentioned, Venus is an unmistakable object over in the south-west after sunset during January.

On Sunday January 22, Saturn will join Venus, making for a lovely pairing in the night sky, both setting around the 6.30pm mark.

Saturn will be positioned above Venus, which is noticeably brighter in appearance, in fact, 75 times brighter than Saturn.

On the following evening, Monday, January 23, try to see if you can spot a very thin crescent Moon in the south-west, which along with Venus and Saturn, will make for a nice grouping, and all visible with the naked eye.

During January, there are two other planets to look for in the evening sky: Jupiter and Mars.

If you pan over from Venus to the left, tilting your gaze higher as you do so, you will find Jupiter, in the constellation of Pisces.

Jupiter will be on view for a four to five hours during January, setting at around 10.30pm. On the evening of Wednesday, January 25, Jupiter will be positioned above the crescent Moon.

If you continue to pan your gaze to the left of Jupiter, Mars should be your next target, nestled among the stars of Taurus, not far from the brightest star in the constellation, Aldebaran, and the Pleiades ‘Seven Sisters’, star cluster.

Mars, while distinctly red, will not appear as bright as Jupiter, but it will be on view for much of the night, setting around 5am.

The reason for Mars not being as bright as it initially was during the latter part of 2022, is that after the start of December when it was at its closest to Earth, Mars is now getting further away from us again.

On the evening of Monday, January 30, Mars will be positioned above the Moon, with Aldebaran to the left and the Pleiades to the lower right.

Mercury slowly climbs into view in the morning sky during the second half of the month.

Mercury will appear very low on the south-east horizon, so please, if you are sweeping the area with binoculars, be careful of the Sun’s approaching brightness in the vicinity. During the first week of February, Mercury will be rising at around 6.30am.

Out and About – Society Meetings

Barry Astronomical Society – Monday January 9, 7pm: ‘The Rise of Amateur Astronomers in Victorian Britain’ – Steve Lubbock. Barry Community Centre, Friars Walk, Barry, CF62 5TR.

Bridgend Astronomical Society – Wednesday, January 18, 7.30pm: ‘Double Stars’ – Howard Davies. Bridgend Tennis, Squash, and Bowls Club, Halo Rec Centre, Angel Street, CF31 4AH.

Moon Phases

• Full Moon January 6;
• Third Quarter January 15;
• New Moon January 21;
• First Quarter January 28.

Sunrise/Sunset Times

• Start of January: Sun rises at 8.18am. Sets at 4.12pm.
• End of January: Sun rises at 7.52am. Sets at 4.58pm.

Jonathan Powell is a contributor to the BBC Sky at Night magazine with articles also published in Astronomy Now. He has written three books on astronomy, Cosmic Debris; Rare Astronomical Sights and Sounds (which was selected by ‘Choice’ magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2019); and From Cave Art to Hubble, all of which are available from Amazon. Jonathan worked at BBC Radio Wales as their astronomy correspondent and was astronomy and space correspondent for The National, (an online newspaper for Wales).  He is currently a columnist at the South Wales Argus, and also a contributor to CAPCOM, an online magazine which promotes astronomy and spaceflight to the general public.  He has also presented on commercial radio at Sunshine FM in Worcester, Brunel FM in Swindon, and Bath FM, and has also presented on an astronomy and space dedicated radio station, Astro Radio UK. He is currently at 107.9 GTFM in South Wales. He has also written a book on castles, ‘Fortress Wales’, and was part of the writing team for the BBC Television show, ‘The Fast Show’, which won a Bafta.