Astroblog: Southern Skywatch January 2011 edition is now up!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Southern Skywatch January 2011 edition is now up!

Morning sky looking east showing Venus, the crescent Moon and Mercury at 5:30 am local daylight saving time on Sunday January 30. Click to embiggen.

The January edition of Southern Skywatch is now up. Sorry this is so late, I had all the images set up before Christmas, but then Family stuff, lack of internet, then worrying about relatives and friends in the QLD floods got in the way.

Venus and Mercury meet the Moon in the morning. Venus is now a "half-moon" shape in small telescopes and strong binoculars.

Jupiter is well past opposition, and it is hard to get good telescopic views close to the horizon. However, its Moons are still good to watch.

Jupiter is easily visible in the late evening sky and is within binocular range of Uranus with the pair starting close at the beginning of January.

Saturn is now a good telescopic object.

Labels: southern skywatch

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 9:19 pm

Comments:

Hi Ian, not sure this is the right place to ask, so sorry in advance.
I have an 8" Dobsonian that came with a few eyepieces and have since bought a an Orion wide field eyepiece. What can I expect to see clearly with this? I've looked at Jupiter, and with the wide eyepiece it's much better, but I think there was wispy cloud in the atmosphere as it wasn't as clear as I'd expected. I've looked at Venus, but it was so bright, and seemed just like a spotlight. The moon is great to look at, but I don't need such a 'big' eyepiece for that.
I guess I'm after tips to get the best out of the scope and what is worth pursuing and what isn't in the sky.
Thanks,
Brian.

# posted by