planets to be spectacular. Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter are all magnificent in the dark skies of

January. Venus is incredibly bright in the southwestern sky as the sun sets. Venus is bigger

than Mars, closer to the Earth than Mars, and is completely covered in reflective clouds. No

wonder it’s so bright! Each night, Venus is a little higher in the sky, and stays up longer after

the sun has set. By the end of March, Venus will even be visible in a daytime sky. In late

January, Venus and the Moon will be in a brilliant combination in the southwest night sky.

Saturn will have reached opposition on December 31^st. This places Saturn directly opposite

the Earth from the Sun. The planet will rise at sunset, and stay visible all night long. As the

constellation Orion rises at the eastern horizon, up comes Gemini with its bright pair of stars,

Castor and Pollux. But there will be an additional bright point of light inside Gemini in January

- the Ringed Planet, Saturn. Saturn will rise among the stars, pass overhead around midnight,

and set in the west at dawn. The spectacular rings can’t be seen with the naked eye, but we

know they are there. Venus and Saturn fill the earlier part of the night, but it is Jupiter who fills

the night sky toward the dawn. Jupiter rises in the constellation Leo around 10:30 P.M. and

will be the brightest object in the sky, since Venus will have set in the west. Mars is still high

overhead, in the constellation Pisces, but its image is returning to normal. However, Mars

At the western horizon, Aquarius, Pisces, and Aries are fainter, but the others are easy to see.

Taurus, with the red star Aldeberan and the cluster known as the Pleiades, is overhead.

Toward the east from Taurus is the appropriately named constellation Gemini, and then the

fainter constellation Cancer. Below Taurus lies the most recognizable constellation of all,

Orion the Hunter, with the three stars making the Belt of Orion. Look for a line of stars dropping

from the Belt. This is Orion’s Sword. The middle star in the Sword is fuzzy and indistinct; it isn’t

even a star. This is the Great Nebula of Orion. Turning to the north, the squashed "W" of

Cassiopeia, looks at the Great Square of Pegasus. In between the two lies the Andromeda

Galaxy, the most distant object that can be seen with the naked eye, and it takes a pretty dark