Celebration of Space - January 10, 2025
The full Moon of January is called the Full Wolf Moon.
Over the past several months, Venus has been rising higher in the western sky after sunset, as well as growing brighter. Venus reached Maximum Eastern Elongation yesterday, Thursday, January 9, 2025, which is when Venus and Earth reach the point in their orbits where the tangential angle, when viewed from Earth, forms a right angle with the Sun.
To understand this, think of a triangle consisting of a straight line starting at Earth and ending at an inner planet, then another line from the inner planet (inferior) to the Sun, and a third line extending from the Sun to Earth. When the line from Earth to the inner planet and the line from the inner planet to the Sun form a right angle (90°), you have maximum elongation of the inner planet. Alternatively, when the line from Earth to an outer planet (superior) and the line from the Sun to Earth form a right angle, you have Quadrature of the outer planet. Eastern elongation means that the inner planet is at maximum elongation while being placed on the eastern side of the sky in relation to the Sun.
Starting on Sunday, January 12th, Venus will move into its waning crescent phase, and will continue to wane until it reaches Inferior Conjunction on March 22, 2025, which is when Venus arrives at alignment between Earth and the Sun. Though Venus will continue to wane well into a super thin crescent phase, it will continue to increase in apparent brightness because it is moving closer to us with each passing day. If you have a backyard telescope or high power binoculars, step outside each night over the next few months and catch a view of Venus in the western sky after sunset and notice the rate at which its phase wanes. For an example of this, check out this sequence image that was captured at Brown University of Venus angular size and phase during a similar period of activity.
On Monday, January 13, 2025, at 5:28 pm EST, the Moon will arrive on the opposite side of Earth than the Sun. This is known as opposition, but is better referred to as the full Moon. The January Moon carries the common name, the Full Wolf Moon, which pays tribute to the social skills of wolves. According to the Old Farmers Almanac, during January it is common to hear the howl of wolves as they socialize, either for bonding or territorial marking. In New England, we don’t have many wolves in the wild, but we do have similar species, including foxes and coyotes. At Frosty Drew the howl of coyotes under the night sky is quite frequent during this time of the year, and is always a welcome sound that reminds us of how amazing the world is at night! Step outside this coming Monday evening and welcome the first full Moon of 2025 – The Full Wolf Moon.
If the full Moon is not enough, on Monday, January 13, 2025, at 9:24 pm the full Moon will take part in a fabulous occultation of Mars, which will be visible for all US sky watchers, with Southern New England being one of the best spots for a view! Occultations happen when an object that is closer to Earth moves in front of an object that is further away, effectively blocking our view of that object temporarily. Commonly, occultations involve the Moon, and this event is no exception. Being that the Moon orbits Earth inclined 5.1° to the ecliptic (the path the Sun takes across the sky), any stars that reside within 5° above or below the ecliptic become targets for lunar occultations. Additionally, the primary planets of the Solar System all orbit along the ecliptic, and are targets for lunar occultations, as well as occult stars along the ecliptic.
On Monday evening, starting at 9:24 pm, the full Moon will visibly overtake Mars, with Mars slowly disappearing behind the Moon. Mars will remain out of view for about 75 minutes for Southern New England observers, and will re-emerge from behind the Moon at 10:40 pm. Being that the full Moon is quite bright, Mars will be embedded in the bright Moon light, but Mars is bright enough to hold its own and will be visible, dimly, alongside the Moon before and after occultation. If you have a telescope or binoculars you can observe the occultation significantly better. At Frosty Drew, if weather is acceptable, we will be live streaming the occultation on our YouTube from a camera attached to a telescope.
To view the occultation, you do not need to be anywhere special. The full Moon and Mars are both very bright, and will be visible from anywhere with a clear view of the night sky. The occultation is a slow moving event, and viewers should set aside at least 30 minutes before the occultation, and be back out 10 minutes before the end of the occultation, for a sufficient view. The time period during occultation, when Mars is out of view, will be a good time to retreat to a spot to warm up. Let us know if you see the occultation.
On Wednesday, January 15, 2025, Earth will reach the point in our orbit where we arrive in alignment between the Sun and Mars, placing Mars on the opposite side of Earth than the Sun. This is called the Opposition of Mars. The best times to view Mars are in the month surrounding the date of opposition, with the week of opposition being the absolute best. You may have noticed Mars in the night sky, as it has become quite bright, and is one of the three bright planets visible in the night sky right now, with the others being Venus and Jupiter.
Observing Mars in a telescope is not as easy as some of the other brighter planets, which is due to how bright Mars appears in the view. Trying to view surface features may be difficult for a novice observer because the brightness is what will capture your attention. This can be remedied with a telescope better designed to observe bright objects. Telescopes have three numbers listed on them that describe the capabilities of the telescope: the focal length, the aperture, and the ratio of the aperture to focal length (listed as F/number). A long focal length with a small aperture will allow for better viewing of bright objects, like Mars. A short focal length with a large aperture allows for better viewing of deep sky objects like nebulae and galaxies. At Frosty Drew we have several telescopes of different focal ratios. Our large 24 inch telescope has a focal ratio of F/6.5, which is a little short for viewing Mars, but possible with filters. Our 16 inch, 11 inch, and 10 inch telescopes have a focal ratio of F/10, which are much better at viewing Mars. Though the all-time best views in Rhode Island will happen with the historic 12 inch refractor at Brown University’s Ladd Observatory, which has a focal ratio of F/15. Check out this image of Mars captured during the opposition of December 2022 at Ladd Observatory with the 12 inch refractor.
Regardless of how you choose to view Mars, it is worth a try because Mars’ opposition happens once every two years, and now is the time to catch the view. At Frosty Drew we will be showing Mars regularly throughout January, as will Ladd Observatory, which opens every Tuesday night, weather permitting, starting on January 21, 2025. So make an effort to get out and catch a view of Mars, even if it’s just stepping outside around 8:00 pm and looking to the East. It will be the super-bright reddish object.
Now that both the International Space Station (ISS), and Tiangong – China’s modular space station, have returned to the evening sky over the US, daily sightings of the stations are happening every night for the coming days. Here are several notable passes for this weekend and next week:
ISS:
Mon, Jan 13 at 6:11 pm, starting in the SW, rising to 62°, and into orbital sunset ← Awesome pass!
Tue, Jan 14 at 5:22 pm, starting in the SSW, rising to 33°, heading towards the ENE, and into orbital sunset
Wed, Jan 15 at 6:09 pm, starting in the WSW, rising to 50°, heading towards the NNE, and into orbital sunset
Thu, Jan 16 at 5:19 pm, starting in the SW, rising to 86°, heading towards the NE ← Awesome pass!
Tiangong:
Fri, Jan 10 at 6:10 pm, starting in the W, rising to 24°, heading towards the SSE, and into orbital sunset
Sat, Jan 11 at 5:10 pm, starting in the W, rising to 37°, heading towards the SE
Put these times on your calendar and set your alarms. Catching sight of the stations passing over is quite an inspiring experience and well worth the 5 minutes in the cold.
