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Polaris (the North Star)
No matter what the time of year, there will always be some familiar patterns of stars in the skies above. The W shape of Cassiopeia and Ursa Major (The Plough) are just two that are generally well known. These star patterns seem to spin around a point throughout the entire year. It is as though they have been drawn on paper and a drawing pin pushed through, attaching it to the sky, slowly turning it around that one fixed point. This ‘drawing pin’ point is special because it is so close to where Polaris (the North Star) can be located. The whole of the night sky seems to rotate around this point.
Surprisingly, given that Polaris is such a famous navigational star, it is not that easy to spot. It faces north and may be useful one day if you lose your way on Barden Moor at night!
How to find it.
During winter, Ursa Major, which looks like a frying pan, is pointing with its ‘handle’ downwards. Line up the end stars of the pan and follow an imaginary line across the sky until you reach it.
How to check you’ve got the right star!
If you look carefully at Polaris it is part of a similar, smaller and dimmer version of Ursa Major. This constellation is called Ursa Minor. If you’ve picked the correct star, it will be on the end of the ‘handle’.
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/how-find-polaris-north-star
The Dog Star
January heralds the coming of the very dominant hourglass-shaped Orion. If you follow the three stars that make up Orion’s belt down towards the horizon you will see the brightest star in the sky, Sirius.( It will continue to be the brightest star in our night sky for the next 200,000 years). Also known as the Dog Star, it sits in the constellation Canis Major or the Great Dog. It is one of the most famous stars in the sky in terms of world cultures. The name Sirius means ‘scorching’ and its brightness can only be outshone by a planet. It is so bright because it is one of our sun’s closest neighbours and double the size.
One mystery surrounding Sirius is that in the very distant past, the natives of Mali in West Africa named a companion star ‘Po’ next to Sirius and even used Po to measure their ritual periods of time by giving it a 50-year orbit. It wasn’t until 1862 that Sirius was discovered to be a ‘double star’ and that it had a much smaller star orbiting it …..every 50 years. How they managed to discover that is still a complete mystery as it is invisible to the naked eye. Sirius was also very important in the Egyptian calendar as its first appearance before sunrise marked the time of the yearly rising of the Nile. This in turn mobilised farmers as it was vital to their crops and wealth. Interestingly, the familiar expression ‘the dog days of summer’ was first coined by the Romans as Sirius appeared at the hottest time of the year and was linked to heat, drought, fever and mad dogs.
https://esahubble.org/images/heic0516a
https://ecuip.lib.uchicago.edu/diglib/science/cultural_astronomy/cultures_egypt-4.html
Sky maps for January
The Quadrantids
If you can’t sleep on the night of January 4th a clear sky should produce a spectacular meteor shower. The longer you wait for the Big Dipper to rise above the horizon the best chance you have to see the Quadrantids. A meteor per minute between 2- 3 am is the prediction, so good luck! Unlike many meteor showers, its peak activity lasts for less than a day so it is short and sweet but hopefully packed with fine bright streaks to maybe a fireball or two across the sky!
Also on January 4th at about 5.15pm Saturn will appear to disappear behind the moon to reappear an hour later at 6.15. This is called an occulation and a good time to confirm that you really have seen Saturn. (Or not!)
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/quadrantid-meteor-shower-when-where-see-it-uk
Full Moon 13th January
New Moon 29th January
Clear Skies
Milan Davidovic
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