Friday, January 3, 2025

Crescent Moon Meets Venus (early evening)

The southwestern sky will provide a beautiful photo opportunity on Friday evening, January 3 when the slender waxing crescent moon will shine near the brilliant planet Venus. They'll be close enough to share the view in
binoculars from sunset until they set at about 8:30 p.m. local time. Keep an eye out for Earthshine on the moon. Sometimes called the Ashen Glow or the Old Moon in the New Moon's Arms, the phenomenon is visible within a day or two of new moon, when sunlight reflected off Earth and back toward the moon slightly brightens the unlit portion of the moon's Earth-facing hemisphere. A backyard telescope will reveal that Venus has a half-moon shape. Quadrantids Meteor Shower Peak (all night)

Named for a now-defunct constellation called the Mural Quadrant, the Quadrantids meteor shower runs from December 26 to January 16 every year. Quadrantids meteors always radiate from a point in the northeastern sky below the tip of the Big Dipper's handle. This shower commonly produces bright fireballs because it is produced by particles dropped by an asteroid
designated 2003EH. The Quadrantids' most intense period, when up to 50 to 100 meteors per hour can appear during a short, 6-hour window, will occur on Friday, January 3 at 18:00 UT. That converts to daytime in the Americas, but observers located in the Pacific Ocean and eastern Asia will have ideal conditions in the hours before dawn. The moon will not interfere with the shower this year.

(Data courtesy of Starry Night)
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