Weekly Stargazing Tips

Provided by StarDate.org. Unless otherwise specified, viewing times are local time regardless of time zone, and are good for the entire Lower 48 states (and, generally, for Alaska and Hawaii).

January 17: Epsilon Eridani

Epsilon Eridani is the third-closest star system that's visible to the unaided eye, at a distance of just 10.5 light-years. It is well up in the south-southeast at nightfall, far to the right of the top right corner of Orion.

 

January 18: 40 Eridani

In "Star Trek," the star 40 Eridani is home to the planet Vulcan. Astronomers haven't found any planets orbiting the star, however. 40 Eridani is in the southeast at nightfall, far to the upper right of Orion's Belt. Under dark skies, it is visible to the eye alone.

 

January 19: Doomed Companion?

Betelgeuse, the bright shoulder of Orion, is a third of the way up in the east-southeast at nightfall, to the left of Orion's Belt. Astronomers have recently detected a possible companion star that appears to be a little bigger and heavier than the Sun.

 

January 20: Lambda Orionis

Orion is in the east and southeast at nightfall. Bright orange Betelgeuse marks its left shoulder. Lambda Orionis, to the upper right of Betelgeuse, looks fainter, but it consists of two monster stars, one of which may be 200,000 times brighter than the Sun.

 

January 21: Osiris

In ancient Greece and Rome, Orion was known as a mighty hunter. But in ancient Egypt, the figure was even mightier. It represented Osiris, the god of the underworld. In fact, Osiris was thought to reside in the stars of Orion's Belt.

 

January 22: Moon and Saturn

The planet Saturn poses near the Moon the next couple of evenings. It looks like a bright golden star. It stands to the upper left of the Moon tonight, and a bit farther below the Moon tomorrow night.

 

January 23: Wezen

Wezen, the third-brightest star of Canis Major, is about to dump huge supplies of chemical elements into space - everything from carbon and oxygen to silicon and iron. It will expel enough material to make several stars as massive as the Sun.