This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2026 Jan 3 – Jan 10
This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2026 Jan 3 – Jan 10
With Orion’s hourglass figure now above the horizon after sunset, the giant hunter waits an hour or so for his two dogs to get up before he starts hunting. The first to greet the night is Canis Minor the Little Dog, a small constellation highlighted by Procyon, the eighth brightest star. To identify this star, Orion’s head and shoulders form an arrowhead, with orange Betelgeuse at the apex, which points toward Procyon. Like Sirius in Canis Major, this star is bright because it is in our celestial backyard, about 11 light years away.
The name Procyon means “before the dog,” indicating it is a harbinger of Sirius the Dog Star which rises about 40 minutes later. Ancient Egyptian farmers watched for the first visible rising of Sirius before sunrise, as experience had taught them the Nile would soon flood its banks with fertile soil when this occurred. In mythology the two dogs are sometimes depicted as Laelaps (Canis Major), an extremely fast dog, and an equally fast fox (Canis Minor). The dog was sent to hunt the fox but, after a long chase with no apparent end, Zeus turned them both to stone and placed them in the sky.
I like to look at the dogs and their westerly neighbours, Orion the Hunter and Lepus the Hare, in a more modern sense. The mighty demigod Orion becomes everyone’s favourite hunter, Elmer Fudd, with that wascawwy wabbit bugging him below his feet. The big and little dogs become Spike and Chester, who were also part of the Looney Tunes gang. Just as Chester would bounce around in front of his hero, the bulldog Spike, Canis Minor bounces up before Canis Major.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 8:01 and sunset will occur at 4:46, giving 8 hours, 45 minutes of daylight (8:03 and 4:54 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:59 and set at 4:54, giving 8 hours, 55 minutes of daylight (8:02 and 5:01 in Saint John).
The Moon is full this Saturday morning and near the Beehive star cluster in Cancer on Sunday, although bright moonlight will make it difficult to see any stars nearby with binoculars. Venus and Mars are in conjunction behind the Sun on January 6 and 9, respectively, with Mercury looking to join them in a few weeks. Saturn still gives good views of its edge-on rings in early evening, while Jupiter is at opposition on January 10. On Tuesday telescope users might see Jupiter’s moon Io be eclipsed at 7:11 and emerge from behind the planet at 9:33. At 10:03 Ganymede’s shadow starts transiting the planet with the moon itself trailing 20 minutes later. The Quadrantid shower peaks this Saturday with meteors emanating from near the Little Dipper and Bootes.
The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre this Saturday at January 3 at 7 pm. Tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of Astronomy by the Bay.