Sky & Telescope - January 2022 - 50

JANUARY 2022 OBSERVING
Celestial Calendar
Action at Jupiter
Polaris
Mizar
URSA
MINOR Little
Dipper
DRACO
Quadrantid Meteor Shower
1 am, Jan 4
URSA
MAJOR
10°
Quadrantid
radiant
BOÖTES
HERC ULES
Looking Northeast
Quadrantid meteors derive from
fragments shed by the small, near-Earth
asteroid 2004 EH1. It's thought the
asteroid is actually an extinct comet that
still exhibits occasional activity. Quads
travel at 41 kilometers per second, and
the display isn't stingy with fireballs.
The annual cosmic sprinkle gets its
name from the former constellation
Quadrans Muralis (Mural Quadrant),
Minima of Algol
Dec.
UT
2
5
8
11
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
11:00
7:49
4:38
1:27
22:16
19:05
15:54
12:44
9:33
6:22
3:11
Jan.
3
5
8
11
14
17
20
23
25
28
31
named for an instrument once used
to measure the altitudes of celestial
objects. French astronomer Jérôme
Lalande created the figure from a smattering
of " unused " stars between Draco
and Boötes. It never gained wide acceptance
and soon entered the domain of
defunct constellations. But once a year,
like Santa Claus, Quadrans Muralis
returns to gift us a meteor shower.
JANUARY IS THE FINAL COMPLETE
month of the current Jupiter apparition
and offers your last chance for
decent telescopic views of the planet
before its conjunction with the Sun in
early March. On the 1st, Jupiter has an
altitude of roughly 35° at sunset, but by
month's end that figure is down to 21°.
As January begins, the gas giant shines
at magnitude -2.1 and spans just 35″.
Any telescope reveals the four big
Arcturus
Galilean moons, and binoculars usually
show at least two or three. Use the
diagram on the facing page to identify
them by their relative positions on any
given date and time. All the observable
interactions between Jupiter and its satellites
and their shadows are tabulated
on the facing page.
Features on Jupiter appear closer to
the central meridian than to the limb
for 50 minutes before and after transiting.
Here are the times, in Universal
Time, when the Great Red Spot should
cross Jupiter's central meridian. The
dates, also in UT, are in bold. (Eastern
Standard Time is UT minus 5 hours.)
December 1: 1:44, 11:40, 21:35;
UT
0:01
20:50
17:39
14:28
11:18
8:07
4:56
1:46
22:35
19:24
16:14
These geocentric predictions are from the recent
heliocentric elements Min. = JD 2457360.307 +
2.867351E, where E is any integer. They were
derived by Roger W. Sinnott from 15 photoelectric
series in the AAVSO database acquired during
2015-2020 by Wolfgang Vollmann, Gerard Samolyk,
and Ivan Sergey. For a comparison-star chart
and more info, see skyandtelescope.org/algol.
50 JANUARY 2022 * SKY & TELESCOPE
30
PERSEUS
38
Algol
21
18
29
TRIANGULUM
34
2: 7:31, 17:27; 3: 3:23, 13:19, 23:14;
4: 9:10, 19:06; 5: 5:02, 14:58; 6: 0:54,
10:50, 20:45; 7: 6:41, 16:37; 8: 2:33,
12:29, 22:24; 9: 8:20, 18:16; 10: 4:12,
14:08; 11: 0:04, 09:59, 19:55; 12: 5:51,
15:47; 13: 1:43, 11:39, 21:34; 14: 7:30,
17:26; 15: 3:22, 13:18, 23:13; 16: 9:10,
19:05; 17: 5:01, 14:57; 18: 0:53, 10:49,
20:44; 19: 6:40, 16:36; 20: 2:32, 12:28,
22:24; 21: 8:20, 18:15; 22: 4:11, 14:07;
23: 0:03, 09:59, 19:54; 24: 5:51, 15:46;
25: 1:42, 11:38, 21:34; 26: 7:30, 17:25;
27: 3:21, 13:17, 23:13; 28: 9:09, 19:05;
29: 5:01, 14:56; 30: 0:52, 10:48, 20:44;
31: 6:40, 16:36
January 1: 2:30, 12:26, 22:21; 2: 8:17,
pPerseus is positioned at the zenith during
evening hours throughout January. Every
2.7 days, Algol (Beta Persei) dips from
its usual magnitude 2.1 to 3.4 and back.
Use the chart above to estimate Algol's
brightness in respect to comparison stars
of magnitude 2.1 (Gamma Andromedae)
and 3.4 (Alpha Trianguli).
18:13; 3: 4:09, 14:05; 4: 0:01, 9:57, 19:52;
5: 5:48, 15:44; 6: 1:40, 11:36, 21:31; 7:
7:28, 17:23; 8: 3:19, 13:15, 23:11; 9: 9:07,
19:02; 10: 4:59, 14:54; 11: 0:50, 10:46,
20:42; 12: 6:38, 16:33; 13: 2:30, 12:25,
22:21; 14: 8:17, 18:13; 15: 4:09, 14:04;
16: 0:01, 09:56, 19:52; 17: 5:48, 15:44;
18: 1:40, 11:36, 21:31; 19: 7:27, 17:23;
20: 3:19, 13:15, 23:10; 21: 9:07, 19:02;
http://www.skyandtelescope.org/algol
Sky & Telescope - January 2022

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