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Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) peaks in brightness (mag. 4). Well placed in the evening sky all month (refer to map). Look for a bright fuzzy object with a dim tail. Best seen in binoculars or telescope.
• Binocular Comet Lovejoy Heading Our Way (Sky & Telescope)
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1
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Moon near the Pleiades (evening sky) at 17h UT.
• The Pleiades (Wikipedia)
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2
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Moon near Aldebaran (evening sky) at 12h UT.
• Aldebaran (Wikipedia)
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4
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Quadrantid Meteor Shower peaks at 2h UT. Active between December 28 and January 12. Produces up to 120 meteors per hour. Radiant is in northern Boötes.
• The Quadrantids (Gary Kronk)
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4
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Earth at Perihelion (closest to Sun) at 7h UT. The Sun-Earth distance is 0.983277 a.u. or 147.1 million kilometers.
• Sun at Aphelion and Perihelion (Anthony Ayiomamitis)
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5
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Full Moon at 4:53 UT.
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5
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Moon near Pollux (morning sky) at 23h UT.
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7
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Moon near Beehive Cluster (morning sky) at 2h UT.
• Beehive Cluster (Wikipedia)
• M44: The Beehive Cluster (APOD)
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8
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Moon near Jupiter (morning sky) at 6h UT. Mag. -2.5.
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9
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Moon near Regulus (morning sky) at 0h UT.
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9
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Moon at apogee (farthest from Earth) at 18h UT (distance 405,408 km; angular size 29.5').
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11
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Mercury 0.65° W of Venus (18° from Sun, evening sky) at 1h UT. Mags. -0.7 and -3.9.
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13
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Last Quarter Moon at 9:46 UT.
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13
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Moon near Spica (morning sky) at 12h UT.
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14
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Mercury at greatest elongation, 19° east of Sun (evening sky) at 20h UT. Mag. -0.6. Near Venus.
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16
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Moon near Saturn (morning sky) at 12h UT. Mag. +0.6.
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20
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Mars 0.21° SSE of Neptune (36° from Sun, evening sky) at 0h UT. Mags. +1.2 and +8.0.
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20
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New Moon at 13:14 UT. Start of lunation 1139.
• Lunation Number (Wikipedia)
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21
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Moon near Mercury (16° from Sun, evening sky) at 18h UT. Mag. +0.6.
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21
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Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) at 20h UT (359,645 km; angular size 33.2').
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22
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Moon near Venus (22° from Sun, evening sky) at 2h UT. Mag. -3.9.
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23
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Moon near Mars (evening sky) at 3h UT. Mag. +1.2.
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25
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Moon near Uranus (evening sky) at 12h UT. Mag. +5.9. Occultation in northern Asia, Russia, the Middle East, southern Europe, and the northern half of Africa.
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27
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First Quarter Moon at 7:48 UT.
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28
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Moon near the Pleiades (evening sky) at 22h UT.
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29
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Moon very near Aldebaran (evening sky) at 18h UT. Occultation visible from northern Canada.
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30
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Mercury at inferior conjunction with the Sun at 14h UT. Not visible. The elusive planet passes into the morning sky.
• Superior & Inferior Conjunctions (Wikipedia)
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All times Universal Time (UT). USA Eastern Standard Time = UT - 5 hours.
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