January: Dive into the deep sky

The Dolphin Head Nebula is near the centre of the constellation Canis Major about 8 degrees south of Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. The nebula, which is about 4530 light-years from Earth, is bubble-like and surrounds a Wolf-Rayet star named EZ Canis Majoris. This star is in the brief, pre-supernova phase of its stellar evolution. Photo: MPAS member Nik Axaris

The constellations best seen in January are Caelum, Dorado, Lepus, Mensa, Orion, Pictor, Reticulum and Taurus. Two of them – Orion and Taurus – are quite prominent in the evening sky, while others are simply best observed at this time of year. January is the best time of year to observe several famous deep sky objects located in these constellations.

The most popular telescope targets include the Orion Nebula (M42), the Crab Nebula (M1), the Pleiades (M45) and Hyades clusters, and the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The LMC in the constellation Dorado can be seen with binoculars in the evenings. Among its sparkling stars you will find the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070), which appears to the naked eye as a glowing patch the size of the full moon.

You will also find the second brightest star, Canopus, in the constellation Carina sitting high in the sky, while Sirius, the brightest in the entire night sky, is almost overhead. Orion dominates the view with its brightest stars, supergiants blue-white Rigel and red Betelgeuse, also high up, and the Orion Nebula placed high within the constellation. The prominent upside down ‘V’ shape of the Hyades open star cluster in Taurus is a fine sight to the naked eye or through binoculars, with nearby Aldebaran, the brightest star in the constellation, shining with a red-orange tint lower in the north.

This month sees lots of conjunctions, which is when two astronomical objects appear close to each other in the sky: January 4 with the moon and Venus, January 5 with the moon and Saturn, January 11 with the moon and Jupiter, January 14 with the moon and Mars, and January 20 with Venus and Saturn.

By Nerida Langcake
This article appeared in the January 2025 issue of the Mornington Peninsula Magazine.