Observers in the UK with a clear sky high to the south-southeast shortly after midnight on Sunday, 12 January 2020 can see the 16-day-old waning gibbous Moon just three-quarters of a degree north of the beautiful open star cluster Messier 44, otherwise known as Praesepe, or the Beehive Cluster. AN graphic by Ade Ashford.If you own a pair of binoculars or a small telescope, you may wish to take a look at the Moon on the night of 11–12 January 2020 since it lies in the constellation of Cancer, the Crab. If you look a little more closely, you’ll see that the Moon lies in the same field of view as the glorious open star cluster known as Praesepe, the Beehive Cluster, or more prosaically as Messier 44.
For observers in the British Isles, the Moon’s orbital motion doesn’t bring it closest to the Beehive Cluster until the calendar clicks onto 12 January, by which time the pair are high in the south-southeast. At their closest – 12:30am GMT (00:30 UT) – the 16-day-old waning gibbous Moon lies just three-quarters of a degree north of the heart of Praesepe. In a telescope, use your lowest magnification eyepiece and watch as the Moon glides over the northern edge of M44, occulting (passing in front of) a number of its fainter stars.
The Moon was formed by a violent, head-on collision between the early Earth and a “planetary embryo” called Theia (pronounced THAY-eh) approximately 100 million years after the Earth formed, UCLA scientists reveal. This new research also refutes the work of a team of German scientists who, in 2014, reported that the Moon also has its own unique ratio of oxygen isotopes, different from Earth’s.
In this image from NASA’s Cassini probe, Saturn’s moon Rhea appears dazzlingly bright in full sunlight. This is the signature of the water ice that forms most of the moon’s surface.
If you’re an early riser in the British Isles, let the waning crescent Moon be your guide to three naked-eye planets – Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – at dawn on 18 and 19 March 2020. This celestial conjunction occurs in the constellation of Sagittarius where you can see all four Solar System bodies within the span of a fist at arm’s length. Look for attractive binocular conjunctions too.
