Scruton Sky at Night – January 2024

Light pollution of our sky is measured on the ‘Bortle Scale’, a score of 1 being the darkest sky through to 9 for an inner city. Scruton scores 4. You can learn more at www.darksky.org and join the campaign to become a dark sky advocate.

Constellations – Orion continues to dominate, rising in the east as darkness falls. Look out for Taurus (the Bull) and the Pleiades (Seven Sisters). Taurus contains Aldebaran, a red giant star with an orange hue. It’s a more ‘elderly’ version of our Sun.

Planets – Uranus is just visible to the naked eye during January, near to Jupiter (which continues to be visible southwards) and the Pleiades. Venus, rising around 5 am in the SE, will lie close to a crescent moon on 8 Jan.

The Moon – The first quarter Moon occurs on 18 Jan, close to Jupiter, with the full Moon on 25 Jan. Enjoy!