Red companions, new and old friends

Bright Mars continues to dazzle during the early evening hours in cold January along with its two other red compantions, Betelgeuse in Orion the Hunter, and Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull. It will soon be joined by ringed Saturn as it makes its way from around behind the sun.

Saturn will begin appearing over the eastern horizon in the late evening hours this week. It will be paired with an almost full moon on Thursday, Jan. 24. Look at about 9 pm.

If you are out with your binoculars on Saturday, Jan. 19, looking at the close pairing of Mars and the moon, take some time to look at a couple of close-by open star clusters.

The first is our old friend M-45, the Pleiades star cluster located almost due south at about 7:30 p.m. and to the right of the moon/Mars duo. Commonly called the Seven Sisters, this group has been in astronomical log books since ancient Greece when they were named for the daughters of Pleione and Atlas.

This small dipper-shaped asterism has long been used as a test of eyesight to find out how many of them you can see without any observing aid. If you can see all seven, from a really dark place, you are doing well. Most folks can only see six. The American Indians also have stories about the Seven Sisters.

If you want to see the sisters in all their glory, use binoculars. Astronomers have counted over 100 young blue stars in this group.

The moon had a close encounter with the Pleiades on the 17th, one of eight such encounters for 2008.

The other nearby open star cluster is the Hyades cluster. It forms the face of Taurus the Bull with bright Aldebaran. Aldebaran is not a member of the cluster as it is only 65 light-years away, about half as far as the 150 light-year distance to the Hyades. It is another cluster that is best seen with binoculars.

SKY WATCH:

In the morning hours of Jan. 20, just before sunrise look in the east to find bright Venus and a rising Jupiter also just coming from being around behind the sun. On the evening of Jan. 21, look in the southwest about an hour after sunset for a very close pairing of Mercury and Neptune, binoculars will be essential. Since you will be looking in a westerly direction see if you can find an old friend from this past summer. Cygnus, the Swan, the Northern Cross, will be standing almost upright in the northwest. Jan. 22, Full moon.

Next time:

More astronomical blathering.