JANUARY  Program #1: “POINT OF NO RETURN”

Describes the exotic science of quasars and super massive black holes.  Running time:  20 minutes.

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JANUARY  Program #2:  “The Winter Constellations”

A tour of the evening sky above Lincoln, Nebraska during the frigid winter months:  Perfect viewing weather when it’s not snowing.   Running time:  20 minutes.

VIEWING THESE OBJECTS IN THE HYDE TELESCOPES THIS MONTH:

Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2.  This newly-discovered comet is rising from the south into our evening skies throughout January.  It was at magnitude 4.7  (making it visible to the unaided eye in dark skies) at the beginning of January, and is expected to get a little brighter or hold its own as it approaches the sun.  It was closest to Earth on January 6; it will swing closest to the sun on the 30th.  All this time it is climbing higher into our sky: January 5 – 11 it is west of Orion; 12-15, west of Taurus and the bright star Aldebaran; 16 – 21, west of the Pleiades, and moving northward between Perseus and Triangulum through the end of January.

Venus.  Low in the WSW in January after sunset.

Mercury.  Less than 1 degree to the lower right of Venus January 8-12, then disappears into the solar glare by January 20th.

Jupiter.  Rises about 8 p.m. at the start of the month, and is well up in the eastern sky by the end of January.

Deep sky objects (nebulae and galaxies).  Available for viewing on most nights except around full moon.