January 6
The Lesser Dog
Sun Position
The Sun lies in Capricornus, about 22.6° 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
Procyon joins Sirius and Betelgeuse to complete the Winter Triangle, a near-equilateral figure standing high on the evening meridian. Visible from both hemispheres.
Deep Sky Object
The Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237), a vast flower of glowing hydrogen about 5,200 light-years away in Monoceros, with a young cluster blooming at its center. A wide-field and astrophotography target for both hemispheres.
Featured Star
Procyon (α CMi), a yellow-white subgiant in Canis Minor, 11.5 light-years away. Procyon, the forerunner of the dog star, traveling with a dead star for company.
Around This Date
- January 6, 1998NASA's Lunar Prospector launched from Cape Canaveral, beginning a mission to map the Moon's surface composition and search for polar ice, and finding the first orbital evidence of water at the lunar poles.
- January 7, 1610Galileo first observed three of Jupiter's moons (what he called 'stars' near Jupiter that changed position nightly) the observation that began dismantling the Earth-centered model of the cosmos.
Three stars hold a triangle no one drew.