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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 2017)
Wednesday, January 4, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 7 Stars over Sisters By Amy Hills Correspondent As the snow piles up and the New Year begins, January brings beauti- ful night skies to Central Oregon. January is a very special month astronomically for containing the Quadrantids meteor shower, which is the first major meteor shower of the year. Usually active between the end of December and the sec- ond week of January, the Quadrantids peak late the night of January 3 and early morning of January 4, with up to 40 meteors per hour at its highest point. The moon at its first quarter will set just before midnight on the third, leaving a dark sky perfect for viewing the shower. The meteors can be spot- ted all over the night sky but they appear to originate from the constellation Bootes. The meteor shower is caused by dust grains remaining from an extinct comet called 2003 EH1 when they enter the earth’s atmosphere and are incinerated by the heat of friction. Some of the brightest constellations in the night sky will be Taurus, Orion, Auriga, Ursa Major, and Canis Major. Taurus is a constellation of a mighty bull with the two left-most stars representing the horns. Taurus is just to the right and north of Orion. Orion, an absolutely breathtaking constellation, will be visible at 11 p.m. to 12-midnight high in the southern sky this month. Orion is a constella- tion of a mighty hunter and can be easily identified by his belt, three closely packed stars that are somewhat eas- ily spotted in the sky. Ursa Major will also be quite visible this month. Ursa Major, also known as the Big Dipper, is a constel- lation representing a great bear that contains many deep sky objects. Canis Major is a constellation of a large dog and is right next to Canis Minor, a slightly smaller dog. These two dogs belong to Orion, the great hunter of sky lore. All of these constel- lations are interconnected in mythology. The Winter Hexagon is a formation of six very bright stars that create a hexago- nal shape in the sky, which is fully visible in winter. It includes Capella in the con- stellation Auriga, Aldebaran in Taurus, Rigel in Orion, Sirius in Canis Major, Procyon in Canis Minor, and Pollux in the constellation Gemini. A smaller but more regularly shaped formation is the Winter Triangle, which consists of Procyon, Sirius and Betelgeuse. These two formations will be visible until March. This month, both Venus and Mercury are at their most visible points. Venus begins the month in Aquarius but moves to Pisces later in the month. Venus reaches its greatest eastern elongation on January 12, which puts it highest above the horizon just after sunset, in the west- ern sky. Mercury reaches its greatest western elonga- tion on January 19, which also puts it highest above the horizon shortly before sunrise in the lower eastern sky. On January 5 the moon will be at first quarter. January 12 will be a full moon, and January 19 the moon will be at last quarter. There will be a new moon PHOTO COURTESY NASA Spiral galaxy M101, often refered to as the Pinwheel Galaxy, is one of the finest deep sky objects in the constellation of Ursa Major. on January 28, which is an opportune time to observe galaxies and fainter stars as they will be easier to spot Himalaya WS2 Observe GSI-5 96 STARTING AT without the moonlight to obstruct the view. 70 STARTING AT 00 195/50TR-15 54 175/65TR-14XL Great harsh-weather traction Outstanding in ice & snow Your size in stock. Call for size & price. Your size in stock. Call for size & price. PASSENGER PASSENGER Tire Chains See how to install your new tire chains at: http://lesschwab.co/Y3bb Snap Lock Cable Chain An economical choice! Quick Fit™ Diamond PASSENGER CHAIN RETURN PROGRAM: If you don’t use your passenger car chains, return them for a full refund after the last legal date for studded tires. (Does not apply to the Quick Trak traction device.) They take the work and frustration out of using tire chains. They go on and off quickly and fit right to provide excellent traction during ✤ ough winter driving conditions. More than 455 locations throughout the West! www.LesSchwab.com Prices good through Jan. 31, 2017 SISTERS LES SCHWAB 600 W. HOOD AVE. • 541-549-1560 REDMOND PRINEVILLE 845 NW 6th 1250 East 3rd 541-548-4011 541-447-5686 MADRAS La PINE BEND-SOUTH BEND-FRANKLIN BEND-NORTH 1412 SW Hwy. 97 52596 N. Hwy. 97 61085 S. Hwy. 97 541-475-3834 541-536-3009 541-385-4702 105 NE Franklin 63590 Hunnell Rd. 541-382-3551 541-318-0281
