January 22
The Charioteer's Lamp
Sun Position
The Sun lies in Aquarius, about 20.0ยฐ south of the celestial equator. In the Northern Hemisphere the days are still short but lengthening; in the Southern Hemisphere this is high summer with long, warm evenings.
Sky Highlight
Capella, the sixth-brightest star, rides nearly overhead on northern winter evenings, a golden pair of giant stars too close to split by eye. Visible from both hemispheres, low in the south.
Deep Sky Object
Messier 36, an open cluster about 4,100 light-years away in Auriga, compact and bright in binoculars. Northern Hemisphere favored.
Featured Star
Capella (ฮฑ Aur), a yellow giant pair in Auriga, 42.9 light-years away. Capella, the she-goat whose broken horn became the Cornucopia.
Around This Date
- January 22, 1968Apollo 5 launched with the Lunar Module for the first time in space, validating the descent engine, ascent engine, and staging that astronauts would stake their lives on in 1969.
- January 25, 2004NASA's Opportunity rover landed on Mars in Meridiani Planum (three weeks after Spirit) beginning a mission that would find definitive evidence of ancient standing water on Mars.
A lamp held high in the charioteer's hand all winter long.