Sky Notes - January

Looking at the stars

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Our Sky Notes discuss the events which happen every year in the night sky for a given month. Choose a month:

January
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The following sky notes describe what may be seen in the night sky, soon after sunset at the beginning of January, for an observer situated in the UK.

The night sky in January 2005

Orion dominates the mid-evening southern sky. Below the three stars of the belt lies the sword that on closer inspection reveals a hazy patch that is the Orion Nebula (M42), a huge cloud of gas and dust from which new stars are being formed.