"The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination, but the combination is locked up in the safe."
- Peter de Vries

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Highlights for January 2012

The Moon and Planets:

The Moon. The full moon on January 9th is known as the Wolf Moon. Native Americans called the full moon in January the Wolf Moon because they heard hungry wolf packs howl outside their villages. The full moon is also known as the Old Moon or the Moon After Yule.

Mercury can be seen low in the ESE in the morning twilight but will be difficult after mid-month.

Venus can be seen in the SW in evening twilight and sets in the West near 8pm.

Mars rises in the East after 10pm and is high in the SW at dawn.

Jupiter is high in the SE after dark, transists high in the South near 6pm and sets in the NW near midnight.

Saturn rises in the East after 1am and is in the South at sunrise.

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Comets, Asteroids and Meteor Showers:

Additional info about bright comets may be obtained here.

The Quadrantid Meteor Shower peaks on the night of January 3/4 2012. Under ideal conditions, this shower can produce up to 100 meteors per hour. The shower is named after the no longer used constellarion Quadrans Muralis. The radiant for this shower is Polaris so can be viewed at any time.