The planets and stars visible on the night sky these days

In the evening sky, one can see four planets, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. Immediately after sunset, Venus and Saturn can be seen, and Jupiter and Mars remain in the sky for several hours. Sirius is the brightest star visible in the sky during this period, according to the astronomical calendar published by the Admiral Vasile Urseanu Observatory.

The Full Moon will occur on January 7 (at 1:08). On January 6th and 7th the Moon will rise as the Sun sets and set as the Sun rises. The Moon passes by Mars on the evenings of January 2, 3 and 4.

In the evening, 30 minutes after sunset, in the same direction, Venus is visible. Even though it can’t yet be seen in a night sky, Venus is easily distinguishable even when the sky is still bright. Look to the southwest near the horizon at about 5 pm (but no later than 6 pm) and you will see Venus as a bright star. At the moment it is far from us, but every day it is closer and can be seen better in the sky.

The period of good visibility will start in late winter and last until summer. Saturn is in the same direction as Venus, but is much less bright. Look at Venus and then at the top left where a non-blinking star should be seen.  The two planets will approach each other between January 21 and 23. Jupiter is high in the sky just after dusk and sets around 10:30 p.m., so you have plenty of time to see it.

Around 7pm look for a bright ‘star’ high in the sky and show it to your children and neighbours. It is Jupiter, 800 million km away from us, another world, totally different from ours and much bigger.

Mars looks as good as it did in December. It is visible almost all night and is very bright. You find it towards the east, just as it is getting dark. It reaches high in the sky, almost overhead, around 9 pm, and sets around 5 am. On January 2, Mercury was at its shortest distance from the Sun, at 46 million km. On January 4, the Earth is at its shortest distance from the Sun (perihelion), 147 million km away. On January 7, Mercury is opposite the Sun.

During the winter months, a very bright star can be seen towards the southern horizon. It is Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, in the constellation Canis Major.In the upper right are three other bright stars, arranged in a straight line, which are part of the constellation Orion.If you look closely you will see that they are framed by four other stars, all tracing the shape of Orion the hunter.The two brightest stars in Orion are Betelgeuse and Rigel, to the upper left and lower right of the belt. Use Orion’s belt to find other stars in its extension in the lower left you will come across the star Sirius, and in the upper right you will come across Aldebaran in Taurus.

To the left of Sirius, about the same height as the stars of Orion, is a bright star with three more smaller in brightness above. It is the star Procyon in the constellation Canis Minor. From the “belt” towards Betelgeuse go towards Gemini, Sirius, Procyon and the star in the left-south corner of Orion, Betelgeuse, form a triangle called the “winter triangle”. It’s not a constellation, but it’s easy to identify. Overhead we find Perseus, followed by Auriga, with the bright star Capella. To the west we see the square of Pegasus approaching sunset, followed by Andromeda. At the time the chart is made, there are two very bright planets in the sky, Jupiter in Pisces and Mars in Taurus.