Celestial Events Calendar

January 2004

                                

January, Januarius, month of the God Janus who faces forward and backward through the door.

 

Friday, January 2, 2004:

            Stardust space probe encounters comet 81 P Wild 2

            1:11 PM CST – The Moon is at its ascending node, crossing the plane of the Earth’s orbit (ecliptic) and heading northeast.

Saturday, January 3, 2004:

            6 AM CST The planet Mercury is at its greatest latitude north of the ecliptic ~ 7o

            2 PM CST – The Moon is at its furthest point from the Earth, apogee ~ 254,000 miles

Sunday, January 4, 2004:

            Quadrantid meteor shower – active Jan 1- 5, ZHR ~ 120 meteors/hour, possible

drowned out by full moon.

8 AM CST – Jupiter is stationary in right ascension, ceases prograde easterm motion and begins retrograde western motion.

12 PM CST – The Earth is at perihelion, the point in its orbit where it is closest to the Sun ~ 91 million miles

Monday, January 5, 2004:

            Latest sunrise at 7:22 AM

Tuesday, January 6, 2004:

Mercury stops its (retrograde) motion westward away from the Sun in the morning sky and begins its (prograde) eastward motion towards the Sun as it ducks behind the Sun as seen from the Earth.

Wednesday, January 7, 2004:

            9:41 AM CST – Full Moon, Old Moon, Moon After Yule

Friday, January 9, 2004:

6 AM CST – Asteroid “1 Ceres” is at opposition. The Earth is between the asteroid and the Sun. This is the best time to observe since the asteroid is visible all night.

Monday, January 12, 2004:

            3 PM CST – Asteroid “6 Hebe” is at opposition.

Wednesday, January 14, 2004:

The first day of the year of the Julian Calendar – superseded by the Gregorian calendar in 1582.

Thursday, January 15, 2004:

            10:46 PM CST – Last Quarter Moon

            ! AM CST – Venus is less than a degree SSE of Uranus in the evening sky.

Friday, January 16, 2004:

3:12 PM CST – The Moon is crossing the plane of the Earth’s orbit and heading southeast – descending node

Saturday, January 17, 2004:

Delta Cancrid meteor shower – active Jan 1 – 24, ZHR = 4 meteors/hour, the proximity of the New Moon favors viewing

3 AM CST – The planet Mercury is at its “greatest elongation west”.  In the morning sky Mercury is as far west of the Sun as it gets in this orbit – great time to view.

Monday, January 19, 2004:

The Moon is at the point in its orbit about the Earth where it is closest to the Earth (perigee) ~ 228,000 miles

Tuesday, January 20, 2004:

The apparent position of the Sun in the sky moves from the constellation of Sagittarius to the constellation of Capricorn (astronomical position)

The astrological sign for the Sun changes from Capricorn to Aquarius                                 (astrological – pseudo science).

It is unusual that the above two events occur on the same day.

Wednesday, January 21, 2004:

            3:07 PM CST – New Moon, the beginning of lunation cycle 1003

Monday, January 26, 2004:

            4 PM CST – The planet Mercury is crossing the plane of the Earth’s orbit (ecliptic) and heading southeast – descending node.

Thursday, January 29, 2004:

            12:03 AM CST – First Quarter Moon

            4:07 PM CST – The Moon is at its ascending node

Saturday, January 31, 2004:

The Moon is at the point in its orbit where it is at its furthest distance from the Earth (apogee) ~ 254,000 miles