January 2021

Bright Sky Digest 

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Stargazing in Seattle

Bob Mulford

January brings an excellent opportunity to view Mercury. At the beginning of the Month, Mercury sets less than 30 minutes after Sunset, and will be lost in the Sun’s glare. Mercury sets a few minutes later and appears a bit higher in the sky each day. Under a clear sky and with a clear horizon toward the southwest, Mercury should be visible at dusk as a brilliant evening star between about January 17th through the end of the month. It should be easy to recognize since there are no other bright stars in this area of the sky. The best time to view this elusive planet is near the end of the month when it is highest in the sky at dusk. Between the 21st and the 28th, Mercury will be about nine degrees above the west-southwest horizon at the beginning of Civil Twilight (about 5:30 PM). This is about the same height as a clenched fist held out at arm’s length, so a clear horizon toward the southwest is essential. 

Winter officially began on December 21st, the date of the winter solstice. This date marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. The word solstice means “standing still” and refers to the fact that daily sunrise and sunset occur at approximately the same time for several weeks around the time of a solstice. Unfortunately, this means that our current dark mornings and early sunsets are not going to change very much until late January. Evenings in the first week of January only have a few minutes more daylight than in December, and mornings are still dark. In fact, sunrise on January 1st occurs two minutes later than it did on day of the Solstice. Seattle must wait until after January 6th to begin to get more daylight in both the morning and the evening. Deborah Byrd of Earth and Sky has a good explanation of this and other aspects of the winter solstice at https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-december-solstice. 

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