January 5
The Dog Star Rising
Sun Position
The Sun lies in Capricornus, about 22.7° 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
Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, now clears the horizon in the early evening and twinkles fiercely low in the south. The view is highest and steadiest from the Southern Hemisphere.
Deep Sky Object
Messier 41, an open cluster about 2,300 light-years away just below Sirius, holding a scattering of stars including a reddish giant near its center. Best seen from southern and tropical latitudes.
Featured Star
Sirius (α CMa), a main-sequence A-type in Canis Major, 8.6 light-years away. Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, the dog that once predicted the Nile flood.
Around This Date
- January 5, 2005Eris was identified in Palomar Observatory survey images by Mike Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David Rabinowitz, the massive dwarf planet whose existence ultimately triggered Pluto's reclassification.
- January 5, 1972President Nixon announced that the United States would develop the Space Shuttle, a reusable spacecraft that would go on to fly 135 missions over 30 years.
The sky's brightest star arrives last and lowest.