It's a good week for night owls

If you are a night owl, or in this case a morning owl, this is a good week to follow the moon from the evening into the morning hours.

Today, Wednesday, Jan. 15, the moon is full and will be below the bright planet Jupiter between the constellations Gemini and Cancer. Best time to view is about 7 p.m. local time.

The next night, and an hour later, look for the moon near the nice little star cluster M-44, The Beehive Cluster. Since the moon is still pretty bright binoculars would be a help. Look left and slightly above the moon.

On Saturday, the moon has moved on to be near Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo, the Lion. The best time to look will be at about 9 p.m., local time.

Continuing to follow Earth's only natural satellite into the morning hours of January 23, we will have a real treat, especially if you have a telescope.

At about 2 a.m., local time, look to the east for the bright moon just after it has risen over the eastern horizon where it will be in a super-close conjunction with the bright star Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo.

Now for another treat for the morning, just above the moon -- about the width of the binocular field of view -- is the rising planet Mars.

This is the year for Mars, it will be at opposition on April 8, That is when it is opposite the Sun in the sky and is at its closest distance from Earth during its orbital cycle. Judging from past experience, it will be a nice, big, red ball in the sky on that date.

It will also be the time when the "Great Mars Hoax" will rear its ugly head claiming that Mars will be as big as the full moon. I am giving you fair warning now so that when it happens you will be forewarned and can dump that e-mail -- or Facebook -- posting in the trash where it belongs.

Another planetary meeting with the moon will happen on Saturday, Jan. 25, when the lunar orb will give the ringed planet Saturn a close hello. This is another early morning event, but I think it is one you will want to get up for, especially if you have a telescope.

Best viewing time will be a couple of hours before local sunrise. The moon will be a little skinny, so light should not be a problem. The pair will be a little more than one degree apart (that is about the width of two full moons) and will be a marvelous sight in binoculars.

Moving on to the morning of Jan. 26--if you all are still with me, hang on, just a couple more to go--we can look for a meeting of an even skinnier moon in a not-so-close meeting with Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius. The pair will be about seven degrees apart. That is just a little more than the width of the first three fingers of your hand held at arms length.

Our last lunar observation is on the morning of Jan. 28, when a very skinny moon pays a visit to our old friend, the planet Venus which is emerging into the morning sky after spending some time between Earth and the Sun.

The pair will be about eight degrees apart and will probably require binoculars because the moon is so slender and both will be very close to the eastern horizon. The best time will be about an hour or an hour and a half before local sunrise.

SKYWATCH: Full moon today, Jan. 15. Before we go any further, I want to pause and wish a very happy three-hundred and thirty-first birthday to one of the great men of science, Galileo Galilei. The one who we could call the father of astronomy.

NEXT WEEK: The winter sky, and more astronomical blathering.