A fi reball streaks across the
sky above ruins near the city
of Damghan in Iran during
the 2011 Quadrantids meteor
shower.
BABAK TAFRESHI
skyandtelescope.com • JANUARY 2020 41OBSERVING
January 2020
ALL NIGHT: The short-lived
Quadrantids peak for North America
around 3 a.m. EST. The fi rst-quarter
Moon sets by 1:30 a.m. local time
and won’t interfere with best viewing
opportunities that start about 2 a.m.
(see page 48).
EARTH passes through perihelion,
its closest point to the Sun for the year
(just 3% closer than at aphelion in July).
DUSK: The waxing gibbous Moon
is between the horns of Taurus, the
Bull, only about 3 °° left of Aldebaran.
DUSK: The fattening Moon, still
in Taurus, is less than 1° from Zeta
(ζ) Tauri (for viewers in eastern North
America).
5
7
8
10 20
22
27
13
16
19
FULL MOON (2:21 P.M. EST)
A penumbral lunar eclipse is visible
across most of Europe, Africa, and
Asia. The Americas will have to wait
until the summer, when a shallow event
will be visible on the night of July 4–5
(see page 50).EVENING: Algol shines at
minimum brightness for roughly two
hours centered at 10:46 p.m. PST.EVENING: Algol shines at
minimum brightness for roughly two
hours centered at 10:36 p.m. EST
(7:36 p.m. PST).EVENING: Algol shines at
minimum brightness for roughly two
hours centered at 7:25 p.m. EST.DAWN: The waning crescent
Moon, Mars, and Antares form a pretty
triangle along the border between
Ophiuchus and Scorpius before
sunrise.DAWN: A very thin lunar crescent
rises in the southeast with Jupiter
trailing it by around 6° — catch the
pair before the Sun drowns out their
delicate light.EVENING: Some 6° separate
Venus and the thin lunar crescent in
Aquarius. Viewers with telescopes
might spot Neptune less than ¼°
from Venus.
— DIANA HANNIKAINEN