Mon Jan 5, 2026 PERIHELION
Two days ago, on January 3rd at 12:15 pm, our planet reached perihelion, a point in its orbit where we’re closest to the sun. On average, we're about 93 million miles from the sun, but right now, we are just a little under 91 and a half million miles from it. So if we're a million and a half miles closer to the sun, how come we're having winter? Well, not everyone on earth is having winter; summer has just begun for folks who live below the equator.Our seasons are caused not by distance, but by the earth’s 23 and a half degree tilt as it orbits. Like a gyroscope, the earth‘s north pole points toward the North Star. Now our north hemisphere is tipped away from the sun; this puts the sun lower in our sky, and with less direct sunlight we get cooler temperatures.
Tue Jan 6, 2026 MORE TELESCOPE HELP
If you can’t find anything with your new telescope, you probably need to align its finder scope - that's that small tube mounted on the side of the main tube. When you look through the finder you'll often see crosshairs - two lines which cross each other. First you look through the finder and put the crosshairs over the object you're trying to zoom in on. But when you look through the main tube's eyepiece, it’s not there! To align the finder with the main scope, start by putting any distinctive, far away landmark into view through the eyepiece of the main tube. Clamp down the telescope, then you need to twist the little bolts which hold the finder in place so that the object is on the crosshairs. Now you're aligned, and everything else will be easier to find.
Wed Jan 7, 2026 GALILEO'S MOONS
On January 7th in the year 1610 Galileo wrote: "…at the first hour of night, Jupiter presented itself to me. Beside the planet there were three starlets, small indeed, but very bright. Returning on January eighth I found a very different arrangement. On the thirteenth of January four stars were seen by me for the first time." Galileo concluded that the four star-like objects were moons going around Jupiter. To see what Galileo saw, look for Jupiter well up in the eastern sky this evening; to the unaided eye it will look like a very bright star. But a telescope will let you see Jupiter as a small, round disc, and its moons will appear as tiny stars, lined up on either side of the giant planet’s equator.
Thu Jan 8, 2026 CALENDAR ORIGINS FROM ANCIENT EGYPT
Our calendar is based on repeating patterns in the heavens – the earth’s rotation, the phases of the moon, the earth’s orbit about the sun. The calendar has its origins thousands of years ago, from Egypt. By observing the sun’s progress through the sky, ancient Egyptians were able to accurately measure the length of the year, and knew it was about 365 and a quarter days long. Their calendar had 12 months of 30 days each, which worked out to 360 days total. Then they had five extra days or “empty” days, known as heiru renpet, which they used as a holiday at the end of the year. The new year began with the predawn rising of a star they named Sothis, which appeared in the east just before sunrise. Sothis is still shining up there; we call it Sirius, the brightest star in the night, which appears below and to the left of the constellation Orion.
Fri Jan 9, 2026 THE GREAT ORION NEBULA
Below the three belt stars of the constellation Orion you’ll find the great Orion Nebula. A medium-power telescope can show you the Trapezium, four tiny-looking stars buried within it. The brightest of these stars lights up the cloud, and ultraviolet radiation ionizes the nebula gas, illuminating it like a giant neon sign.The gas is mainly hydrogen and helium, but it contains a whole chemistry set of elements and compounds in smaller amounts too. The Orion Nebula is about 1300 light years, or 7,800 trillion miles away. So it’s not exactly next door. The cloud is trillions of miles across, and inside it, stars are being made as gravitational contraction heats the hydrogen and helium in the cloud. With the Hubble Space Telescope, we can even see places where solar systems are forming.
