The Regular Meeting of the Kingston Astronomy Club aka The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Kingston Centre, is Wednesday 2023 February 8th at 7pm Eastern Time (UTC-5)
Meetings are held in Ellis Hall Room 226 on Queen's University Campus.
Parking is free after 5 p.m.
Summary of December 2022 Sky Events, by Rick Wagner
30 Dec - First Quarter Moon
January Skies
03 Jan – Quadrantids meteor shower peaks about 10PM, very strong (~100 meteors per hour) shower but badly affected by a nearly full Moon.
04 Jan – Earth at perihelion – closest point to the Sun at 147 098 925 km
06 Jan – Full Moon (18:08EST)
08 Jan – minor planet 2 Pallas at opposition (mag 7.7)
12 Jan – Mars is stationary and resumes its eastward motion through the constellation Taurus
12 Jan – Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) reaches perihelion (closest point to Sun); watch over the next two weeks as it brightens and accelerates through northeastern Bootes towards Polaris. Will it reach naked eye brightness by month’s end? Watch to find out!
15 Jan – Last Quarter Moon
17 Jan – minor planet 454 Mathesis (mag 12.9) occults a mag 9.4 star in northern Cancer, ~21:05EST. Maximum possible duration 7.2s, magnitude drop 3.6.
21 Jan – New Moon (15:53EST)
22 Jan – Venus (mag -3.9) 1/3 degree left of Saturn (mag 0.8) low in the southwest shortly after sunset. Look for a very thin crescent Moon 9º below the pair.
26 Jan – minor planet 6 Hebe at opposition (mag 8.8)
28 Jan – First Quarter Moon
28 Jan – Lunar X visible near crater Werner this evening
29 Jan – Lunar Straight Wall (Rupes Recta) visible this evening
31 Jan – Mars is only 1/5 degree from the limb of the Moon about 1AM.