Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets, spent all of December 2008 blazing away in the western sunset sky. At the start of December the two planets were side by side. Then, day by day throughout December, they drifted apart.

Now, Venus blazes high and alone in the western sky at dusk. Venus will remain a beacon in our western sunset sky throughout January, shining brighter than any other dot of light in the sky.

In fact, Venus will brighten steadily throughout January. It starts the month at minus 4.32 magnitude; by Jan. 31, it's a blazing minus 4.54 magnitude. Throughout January, Venus sets in the west at 9:30 p.m.

Look for the crescent moon next to Venus on Dec. 30 and 31, and on Jan. 29 and 30.

JUPITER AND MERCURY

Meanwhile, from late December until about Jan. 7, Jupiter hovers very low in the west at sunset, far below Venus. Whereas Jupiter was paired with Venus in early December, it's now paired with the planet Mercury. This conjunction of Mercury and Jupiter will be visible, weather and horizon permitting, through the first week of 2009. During this time, look for Jupiter very low in the west at about 6:30 p.m. Around 6:30 p.m. Jupiter will be about 8 degrees above the western horizon, which is the width of four fingers held at arm's length. Jupiter is quite bright — around minus 2 magnitude — but you only have a half-hour to catch it, since Jupiter will set just after 7 p.m.

Look for the planet Mercury close to Jupiter during these late December/early January evenings. Mercury will be just below the brighter planet Jupiter on today and tomorrow; right next to Jupiter on Tuesday; and above Jupiter from Wednesday and throughout the first week of January.

Mercury is not as bright as Jupiter but still shines at a respectable minus 0 magnitude, brighter than almost any star. Through the first week of January Mercury will set shortly after Jupiter, at around 7:15 p.m.

To see the low, lovely conjunction of Jupiter and Mercury, look west at 6:30 p.m. any night through Jan. 7. Make sure you have a flat horizon in the west — the sea is ideal. You'll also need a clear sky in the west — any clouds hovering on the horizon will block your view.

Adding to the beauty of the scene, try and see a very slender crescent moon next to Mercury tonight. Monday the moon will be above Jupiter and Mercury, and will be a slightly fatter crescent. Then, as noted above, the moon moves up to visit Venus, well above Jupiter and Mercury, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

After about Jan. 7, Jupiter will be too close to the setting sun to see it very well. By the middle of January, we'll lose the planet completely as it goes behind the sun. Mercury will be visible low in the west at dusk for a few days longer, but after the night of Jan. 10 Mercury will also be too close to the sun to see it as well.

MARS NOT VISIBLE

Mars is not visible at all this month; it's on the other side of the sun and still lost in the light of the sun. We won't see Mars until it pops into the morning sky in March 2009.

SATURN IN THE EVENING

At the start of January, Saturn rises due east around 11:15 p.m. and is high up in the south by daybreak. By the middle of the month, Saturn is up by 10 p.m., and rises at 9 p.m. by the end of January. Saturn shines at zero magnitude and stands in front to the stars of Leo the Lion.

METEOR SHOWER

There is what should be an excellent meteor shower Friday night into the early hours Saturday. This is called the Quadrantid Meteor Shower. Meteor showers are named for the constellation from which the shooting stars seem to come.

The term "Quadrantid shower" comes from an old constellation called Quadrans Muralis, whose stars are now part of the constellation of Bootes the Herdsman. The Quadrantid shower peaks on the night of Jan. 2-3 (i.e., stay up late Friday night). This could be a great shower, with no interference from the moon during the key pre-dawn viewing hours on Saturday. Estimates are for up to 100 shooting stars per hour. Viewing should be at its best from 3 a.m. till dawn.

The constellation of Bootes, where the meteors seem to come from, will be fully up in the east by 3 a.m. Saturday. Look for the familiar Big Dipper, and Bootes will be just below the dipper's handle. While the meteors will appear to radiate from Bootes, you should search the entire sky for shooting stars, not just the northeast part of the sky where Bootes is. You do not need a telescope or binoculars to see this, or any meteor shower. Just make sure you are comfortable, find a dark spot, and scan the skies for streaks of light.

THE JANUARY SKY MAP

As always with our sky map, the map for January 2009 is good for 10 p.m. at the start of January, 9 p.m. in the middle of the month, and 8 p.m. at the end of January.

By happy coincidence, the winter sky is full of bright stars and striking constellations.

The most distinctive constellation is Orion the Hunter. Orion is the easiest constellation to find; its hourglass shape, famous belt and two bright stars (Betelgeuse and Rigel) make the constellation an easy target. Orion is high in the southeast at the time of this map.

Follow the belt of Orion to the right, and you will find Taurus the Bull and the Pleiades. Follow Orion's belt to the left (lower down in the sky) and you'll find Sirius, the Dog Star, in the constellation of Canis Major (Big Dog). Sirius shines at minus 1.47, much brighter than any other night star; its name in Hawaiian, "A'a," is the same as the Hawaiian word for "fire." As Sirius rises, the thick atmosphere near the horizon bends the star's light and makes it seem to twinkle in different colors — from blue to white to red.

Also in the eastern sky on this map are the Gemini Twins and Auriga the Charioteer, two other great constellations of the winter skies. The Gemini has twin bright stars, Castor and Pollux, named for the heroic twins of Greek mythology. Auriga's bright star is called Capella. Also in this early winter sky you'll find Procyon, the bright star in Canis Minor (Little Dog). The rest of Canis Minor is so, well, minor that we don' show it on the map).

In the north, Cassiopeia is high overhead; the three middle stars of this "W" point roughly to the North Star.

THE MOON

First Quarter: Jan. 4

Full: Jan. 10

Third Quarter: Jan. 17

New: Jan. 25

The Bishop Museum planetarium home page provides sky maps for every month of the year, copies of the Skywatch article for the last year, moon phase information and lots of other astronomy highlights. Address: www.bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/planetarium/planetarium.html.

For recorded information on the night sky and planetarium schedule, please call the Bishop Museum sky information line at 808-848-4136.