The year begins with the moon right beside the sun - new moon. Saturn and Mars are to the west, just before sunrise. A couple of days later, Venus hangs within two degrees in the western evening sky. The moon is full Jan. 15, the smallest appearance of 2014, and Jupiter is within five degrees, providing an opportunity to spot the gas giant in the daytime, using the moon as a guide. Jan. 22, Mars and Spica frame the moon, one north, the other south, in the morning eastern sky. Jan 25 sees an occultation of Saturn for viewers in the Southern Hemisphere. For us, the ringed planet is less than a degree from the last-quarter moon. By Jan. 29, Venus, now the "Morning Star," is within two degrees.
Mercury is just coming around from the backside of the sun, appearing in the western evening sky around mid-month.
Venus, the brilliant "star" in the western evening twilight, quickly passes in front of the sun - inferior conjunction. Then, after mid-month, it shows up in the eastern morning sky as the "Morning Star."
Mars, rising around 1 a.m. in the east, crosses the sky all through the night, gaining in apparent brightness with each passing night. The Red Planet hangs by Spica in the latter part of January, and is joined by the moon Jan. 22.
Jupiter rises in the evening above Orion's bright star, Betelgeuse, and arches across the sky until dawn's light obliterates it. It might be fun trying to spot Jupiter in the daytime.
Saturn appears around 5 a.m., following Mars' entry into the night-time vault. The thin waning moon joins in Jan. 25.
Uranus and Neptune are visible for only a scant few hours in the evening after sundown. Binoculars or a telescope are a must if one expects to see these very distant planets.
The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks in the evening of Jan. 3. The radiant area where the meteor paths seem to converge lies near the handle of the Big Dipper, in a now-defunct constellation Quadrans Muralis, the "Mural Quadrant." The expected rate is one of the highest of all meteor showers throughout the year at 120 per hour, under perfect conditions.
- James Edgar has had an interest in the night sky all his life. He joined The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada in 2000 and is now assistant editor and a contributor to the Observer's Handbook, production manager of the bi-monthly RASC Journal, and the society's national secretary. He was given the RASC Service Award at the 2012 General Assembly in Edmonton.
