2019 Week 3: (January 13-January 19)

This week in the sky we have the Moon reaching its first quarter phase.  When the Moon is full this month there will be a total lunar eclipse.  Watch out for more details as the night approaches.  The table below provides a summary of this week.

Date	Event
January 13	First Quarter
January 17	Aldebaran 1.6°S of Moon

If you are a Calgarian working on your Messier catalogue this is the perfect time of year to locate some of the most southern objects.  Lepus, Canis Major, and Puppis are all in prime viewing position by 11:30pm-12:00am.  You do not want to miss out on these -20°S declination objects especially since they are fairly bright clusters.

Messier 47

Leo is starting to reach a comfortable region of the sky by midnight with all of its spectacular wonders.  Following Leo is Virgo and the Virgo Cluster which I have yet to wrap my head around in the 3 years I have been doing astronomy.  I will make it a goal to figure out this region of the sky in 2019.

There is only one rocket launch scheduled for this week.  A Japanese Epsilon rocket is a sending a (Rapid Innovative Payload Demonstration Satellite) into space to test new technology.  A lightweight solar cell mechanism will be tested to see how well it can obtain power.  Along with this satellite several secondary Japanese and Vietnamese payloads will be heading up into space. You can catch this launch live at https://spaceflightnow.com with the time details below.

Date	Event
January 16	Epsilon - RAPIS 1 (19:50)

There will be one public event occurring this week.  Our monthly General Meeting will be held at the Kerby Centre and we will be having two lectures.  The first will be on the legacy of the RASC Sesquicentennial and the many highlights of such a great year.  The second talk will focus on the relationship between outdoor lighting and crime.  A case study on New York's strategy will be discussed.  I hope you can make it out to the event; all members of the public are invited!