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January 2014 Night Skies over Tanzania and the Year Ahead

By Dr Noorali T Jiwaji ntjiwaji@yahoo.com Lunar phases occur according the positions of the Moon in its orbit around the earth. or e!ample the New Moon occurs when the longitude of the Moon is aligned with that of the "un. ull Moon occurs when they are e!actly opposite each other. #ositions of the Moon in its orbit are $nown precisely and can be predicted e!tremely accurately. %stronomical phenomena associated with the Moon& such as its phases 'New Moon& ull Moon& irst (uarter& Last (uarter)& and other phenomena such as solar and lunar eclipses can be predicted thousands of years in ad*ance to within of fractions of a second. This year+s ,-./ New Moons for e!ample are calculated to occur on the following Tan0anian times1 January .& 2ed. ./1.3',1.3#M)& January 4.& ri. --1/-'.,1/-%M)& March .& "at. ..1-,'..1-,%M)& March 4-& "un. ,.1/5'61/5#M)& %pril ,6& Tue. -61.7'61.7%M)& May ,5& 2ed. ,.1/4'61/4#M)& June ,7& ri. ..1.-'..1.-%M)& July ,7& "un. -.1/,'.1/,%M)& %ugust ,3& Mon. .71.4'31.4#M)& "eptember ,/& 2ed. -61.4'61.4%M)& 8ctober ,/& ri. --139'.,139%M)& No*ember ,,& "at. .314,'414,#M)& and December ,,& Mon. -/149'/149%M). The Moon shifts by appro!imately ., degrees in the s$y e*ery day '49- degrees:4- days) and in that time is grows in si0e and brightness. ;ence one day after the New Moon& the Moon will be %T L<%"T ., degrees abo*e the western hori0on at sunset. By this time& the Moon will be big enough& high enough and bright enough to be obser*ed from flat hori0ons in clear s$ies unobstructed by clouds or ha0e. ;ence the irst =rescent& which is the first moonsighting of the lunar month& can be reasonably foreseen within a day of the New Moon. ;ence many public holidays that follow the sighting of the irst =rescent& especially those that follow se*eral days after the sighting of the irst =rescent can be reasonably foreseen and prepared for. The January . New Moon ushered in the lunar month in which Maulid is celebrated on the .,th night from the irst =rescent sighting. The New Moon on January . occurred at about , pm& hence the Moon had only about / hours until sunset to shift up the hori0on by about , degrees. This is not sufficient to obser*e the first crescent since it is e!tremely slim and hidden in the hori0on glare on January .. ;owe*er& by the ne!t day& January ,& it had more than ,5 hours to mo*e in its orbit to shift away from the "un in the s$y& and would be at least ./ degrees ele*ation abo*e the hori0on at sunset. ;ence it would be *ery possible to be obser*ed in good s$ies. The twelfth night from the irst =rescent of January , would ma$e it January .4 as the night of the celebrations. "o the public holiday would be on January ./& which was indeed the case. %n announcement immediately after January , would pro*ide at least .- or .. days of notice of the holiday. >nfortunately it was only announced just a few days before the holiday. 2e can use our $nowledge of astronomy& to organise the crescent

obser*ations and from which good notice can be gi*en to enable the public to plan their wor$ to account for such holidays. New Moons to follow this year are those on June ,7& ri. ..1.-'..1.-%M)& July ,7& "un. -.1/,'.1/,%M)& and "eptember ,/& 2ed. -61.4'61.4%M). ?n terms of eclipses& this new year ,-./ will be a @uiet year for Tan0ania. Though there will be four eclipses around the world& none of them will be *isible in Tan0ania and most parts of %frica. Two "olar eclipses will occur A one on %pril ,6 in the south polar area and %ustralia& while the one on 8ctober ,4 will occurs o*er the north polar area and North %merica. The two deep Lunar eclipses will occur on %pril .3 and on 8ctober 5& both centered o*er the #acific 8cean. 8bse*ers in the %merica+s will enjoy these. "olar eclipses occur when the Moon is New& while Lunar eclipses occur when the Moon is ull. Bou will notice from the dates '%pril .3:%pril ,6 and 8ctober 5:8ctober .4)& that both the "olar eclipses this year occur at the ne!t New Moon after the ull Moon on which the Lunar eclipses occurred. This is because during the ./ day inter*al between the ull Moon and the New Moon& the Moon is still within the same plane and hence in a straight line with the <arth and the "un to allow e!act interception of sunlight before it reaches either the Moon or the <arth. %mong the planets& Jupiter is the brightest planet in the east& and has replaced brilliant Cenus which was our constant companion in the west for se*eral months at the end of last year. ;a*ing just reached opposition on January 3& giant Jupiter rises soon after sunset at the moment& and can be seen throughout the night since it is o*erhead at midnight and drops below the western hori0on just as the rises in the west. %s the days go by& Jupiter will rise earlier so that it will be higher in the s$y at sunset with each passing day. ?t will be with us *isible as a bright star for the ne!t si! months and will disappear in the western sunset s$ies by the end of June. Cenus has mo*ed from the western e*ening s$y and now shines as a brilliant morning star in the east. Through a telescope it is currently a large thin crescent and will continue to rise and become half shape when it is highest ele*ation of about /3 degrees in the s$y at end of March& and will then get lower day by day and disappear from the morning s$y by the end of July. Mars will also be interesting to follow in the coming months as it approaches <arth in its orbit. ?t can be seen in early e*ening s$ies from March ,-./ to March ,-.3. ?t will enter the e*ening s$ies from the end of ebruary when it rises around .- pm. ?t reaches ma!imum brightness when it reaches opposition to sun on %pril 5 when we will see it shine bright red with the "un directly behind us as it sets in the west while the red planet rises in the east. The ringed planet "aturn& the most beautiful jewel in the s$y 'when *iewed through a telescope)& currently occupies the morning s$y. ?t enters the e*ening s$ies from the beginning of March rising in the east around .- pm. By beginning %pril it will be rising by 5

pm. ?t will reach opposition and brightest on May .. and will be *isible in the e*ening s$ies until beginning No*ember. 2hile planets shift slowly eastwards across the stationary bac$ground stars& Mar will show its retrograde 'opposite) motion from the beginning of March. ?t will be close to the bright star "pica in Cirgo constellation which can be used a reference bac$ground star to witness the bac$ward motion of Mars. The close spacing of Mars and "pica in the s$y will pro*ide attracti*e configurations when the Moon comes close to or between the pair on Jan ,4& eb ,-& Mar .6& %pr .3& May .,& Jun 6& July3:9& %ug ,:4 with "aturn& %ug 4. with "aturn only& and "ep ,5:,6 with "aturn and %ntares. Lastly Mercury the elusi*e planet will rise highest in the e*ening s$y to around ,- degrees on Jan ,6& May ,/ and "ep .6 when this tiny planet will be far off from the glare of the hori0on sunset brightness to be seen with na$ed eyes. or new e*ents that arise during the year and for updates and details on the e*ents mentioned here& *isit http1::www.astronomyintan0ania.or.t0 nearer the e*ent dates. This is a month when the our southern s$ies come ali*e with dense collections of stars& nebulae and gala!ies since the densest potions of our Mil$y 2ay enters our s$ies. The 8rion constellation& seen from our s$ies as a big rectangle crossed with three diagonal stars& is the most recogni0able constellation for the ne!t fi*e months as it shifts from east to west. rom March& the "outhern cross is easily identified also. The brightest stars brightest stars in the whole s$y& "irius and =anopus are accompanied by =apella& Digel& #rocyon& %chernar& Beltelgeuse& %ldebaran. These are among the top ten brightest stars in the s$y& so go out and $now your stars. The Mil$y 2ay contains a dense collection of stars and interstellar dust and nebulae stretching across the s$y from the southeast across the s$y to the north& gra0ing "irius& 8rion& Taurus and finally enclosing #erseus and =assiopeia in the north. Three *isible gala!ies can be seen in the early night s$y for the ne!t few months. Two of these& the Large Magellanic =loud 'LM=) and the "mall Magellanic =loud '"M=) are members of our local group with our Mil$y 2ay gala!y. 8nly southern obser*es can see the two Magellanic =loud gala!ies since they are close to the "outh #ole. They both ha*e irregular shapes and co*er a wide area of the s$y with more than / to 3 degrees of angular width. LM= lies between =anopus and the "outh #ole and can best be *iewed after 6 p.m. The "M= '4E deg across) lies similarly between %chernar and the "outh. These two gala!ies are about 3-&--- light years away from us. The %ndromeda gala!y can be seen in the north abo*e =assiopeia. ?t is more than , million light years away from us and can be seen as a fu00y patch of light& ma$ing it the farthest object seen with the na$ed eyes.

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