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<a name="machholz"></a>
<h2>Comet Surprise!</h2>
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<p style="text-align:center"><a href="2005-01chart.pdf"><img 
src="/features/2005/01/2005-01chart_t.jpg" border=0><br/>
Download this month's<br/>star chart!</a></p>
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<p>This month, a surprise visitor may appear in the early evening skies: 
<dfn>Comet Machholz</dfn>! (Because there is more than one Comet Machholz, 
use its formal name <dfn>C/2004 Q2</dfn> if you want to search for it 
online.)</p>
<p>Unlike 1997's <dfn>Comet Hale-Bopp</dfn>, this comet is not expected to 
get very bright, but under dark skies far away from city lights, Comet 
Machholz may be spotted with the naked eye. Your best bet, though, is to 
bring along a pair of binoculars (7x50 or better) to your dark sky 
location. You'll want to stay out long enough to let your eyes really 
adjust to the darkness. The comet probably will not have a long tail but 
will appear as a round, fuzzy smudge amongst the stars.</p>
<p>Take along a star chart to help you find it - use <a 
href="2005-01chart.pdf">ours</a> or find a 
more detailed map in <a target="_blank" 
href="http://www.astronomy.com">Astronomy</a> or <a target="_blank" 
href="http://www.skyandtelescope.com">Sky and Telescope</a> magazines. A 
flashlight covered with red cellophane will allow you to read your star 
chart without ruining your night vision.</p>
<p>This comet is predicted to be at its brightest around the middle of 
January. Watch in particular on January 7-8, <a target="_blank" href="http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050111.html">as it passes close to the 
<dfn>Pleiades (M-45)</dfn></a>, a bright star cluster in <dfn>Taurus, the 
Bull</dfn>. Comets are notoriously unpredictable, so we make no guarantees 
about its brightness or how easy it will be to find.</p>
<p>Comet Machholz will continue to move through the sky after January, 
passing near the pole star <dfn>Polaris</dfn> in mid-March. But by that 
point it will be much fainter and more difficult to spot. Even so, Comet 
Machholz was the fifth naked-eye comet spotted in 2004, making it a 
record-breaking year! May we be so fortunate in 2005.</p>

<a name="impact"></a>
<h2>Speaking of Comets...</h2>
<p>NASA's <dfn>Deep Impact</dfn> mission to <dfn>Comet Tempel 1</dfn> is 
scheduled to launch in mid-January. In July 2005, the spacecraft will 
release an 820-pound probe whose sole purpose is to slam into the comet. 
The Deep Impact spacecraft will monitor the collision, sending back data 
about the comet's composition and structure. For more about Deep Impact 
and up to the minute status reports, visit its home page at <a 
target="_blank" 
href="http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov">deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov</a> or <a 
target="_blank" 
href="http://www.spaceflightnow.com">www.spaceflightnow.com</a>.</p>

<a name="planets"></a>
<h2>Two Easy Planets, Two Tricky Planets</h2>
<p><dfn>Saturn</dfn> is now easy to spot, just east of <dfn>Gemini the 
Twins</dfn>, high in the eastern sky of early evening. The next planet 
you'll be able to see, <dfn>Jupiter</dfn>, rises a little after midnight 
at the beginning of January, but is just above the eastern horizon at 
10:30 PM by the end of the month. As always, you will want to wait an hour 
or two after planetrise to allow the object to get above the trees and 
buildings of your local horizon.</p>
<p>Jupiter will be the brightest thing in the night. sky other than the 
<dfn>Moon</dfn>... at least until <dfn>Venus</dfn> rises just before 
sunrise. And Venus won't be rising alone! <dfn>Mercury</dfn> will be right 
there with it.</p>
<p>January begins with Mercury slightly higher in the sky than Venus. Each 
morning, Mercury moves a little lower with respect to Venus On the morning 
of the 12th, Mercury will pass close by Venus. Not only will you have to 
get up early, you will need an especially low and clear eastern horizon to 
view this pairing. Both planets are headed towards the glare of sunrise 
and will disappear before the end of the month.</p>

<a name="starparty"></a>
<h2>Next Public Star Party</h2>
<p>The next <a href="/starparties">public star party</a> is scheduled for 
<strong>Saturday, February 12, from 7:30 to 9:30 pm</strong> at the model 
airplane field at <strong>Edwin Warner Park</strong>.</p>




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