MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The night sky is something that can be easily forgotten about. A lot of us head indoors after the sun sets, but we miss out on some really exciting sights.
This provides the opportunity for us to bring you in on some of the really interesting things in our night sky here in the Mid-South (no fancy equipment needed).
Starting off 2024 there are some interesting things to view in our night sky and most of them include planets in our Solar System.
From January 10th through the 15th, Mercury will be at its highest point in our morning sky. Being close to the Sun it is normally hard to view as it is normally in our sky during the daytime. You will need to make sure to have an unobstructed view of the Eastern horizon but, the planet should be visible with Venus during this time.
A much easier planet to view the entire month is Jupiter which will appear almost directly overhead after sunset. The bright dot in our winter night skies can be viewed by your unaided eyes, but if you use a pair of binoculars or a telescope, you can see some of the planet's larger moons.
Moving from planets to manmade objects in our night sky, you will be able to see the International Space Station pass over the Mid-South. We will have a couple of good passes towards the middle of the month the first of these will be on the evening of January 13th. It will appear as a fast-moving point of light in our Southern sky.
If you want to take a look at the Full Moon for the month you will be waiting towards the end. On January 25th we will see our Full Moon for the month which is often referred to as the “Wolf Moon”.
Weather plays a huge role in viewing the night sky this time of the year. Clear and cold nights make for the best stargazing conditions of the year thanks to a clear atmosphere above. This, of course, sometimes isn’t the case, as through about mid-month, a very active pattern will lead to some cloudy nights and even some rain. So make sure to check the forecast before planning to view anything.
If you have any photos that you happen to get of some of the things we went over you can text them at 901-321-7520 or send them in through social media. The goal is to start highlighting some of your photos every month in these updates!