Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Tuesday, January 29th.  The sun will rise at 8:04.  It’ll be up for 9 hours and 43 minutes, setting at 5:47.   The moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 8:52 this evening.

The constellation Orion has two hunting dogs.  We’ve seen Canis Major the greater dog at Orion’s feet with Sirius in its heart.  The lesser dog, Canis Minor iS level with Betelgeuse in Orion’s shoulder and off to the left.  Just two stars mark it.  Is it a dachshund or maybe a hot dog?  It’s brighter star’s name is Procyon which means “Before the dog”, an odd title.  It means that though east of Sirius, it rises before Sirius, due to its more northerly position in the sky.  In many ways Procyon is nearly a twin of Sirius.  It shines with the same white color, although a bit cooler, and has a white dwarf companion like Sirius.  It’s a bit farther away than Sirius 8 light years.  Procyon is at a distance of 11.46 light years.  Procyon, Betelgeuse and Sirius make the winter triangle.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Winter Circle and Jupiter with Procyon to the far left. Created using Stellarium.