Hello ...
Happy New Year! Here's your Cosmic Pursuits newsletter for January 2025!
(An earlier version of this email newsletter included an incorrect paragraph in the first item - my apologies).
1. The year 2025 arrives with a promising but brief meteor shower, and four bright planets putting on a show in the evening sky.
Jupiter still shines impressively bright in Taurus at magnitude -2.6 and presents a nice fat disk for telescopic observation. Venus is far brighter in the southwest and continues to brighten during the month. And at mid-month comes the Mars show as the planet grows biggest and brightest as it reaches opposition. Observers in North America see Mars occulted by the full Moon – a truly spectacular event. Here's what to see in the Night Sky This Month...
2. As Mars reaches opposition, our detailed Mars Observing Guide helps you find what to see on and around this arid and frigid
world with a telescope.
3. From the archives - the always insightful Joe Bergeron meditates on his many years of observing the Red Planet.
4. I spent a fair bit of time under the stars this year. Here's a brief look at some of my favorite image captures from 2024.
5. And finally, in this video Ed Ting reviews his take on 10 telescopes that changed amateur astronomy forever.
And the astronomy quote of the month:
“If there was an observer on Mars, they would probably be amazed that we
have survived this long.”
- Noam Chomsky
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Wishing you clear skies!
Brian Ventrudo
Publisher
CosmicPursuits.com
