Subscribe to Outside Magazine
advertisement
Survival Guru

Today's Question
What should you do if you run into a cougar in the backcountry? answer

What is the number one backcountry skill people should learn? answer

Eco Adventurer

Today's Question
What are the five best environmental movies of all time? answer

What are the greenest colleges? answer

Videos Ask Dave
  • What kind of dog will make me look manlier? answer
  • Is there a sport that safely combines my twin passions for guns and kayaks? answer
  • How come most of the world's cultures enjoy eating goat, but Americans don't? answer

Online Favorites

Special Issues

Photo Galleries
save this page print this page email this page
  • share this page

Outside magazine, January 1996


Stargazing
By David N. Schramm

Earth and Sun will come together for the new year: On the fourth, Earth will be at perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun, a mere 91.3 million miles away. The full Moon will appear the next day, farther from Earth than any other full Moon in 1996. The closest new Moon of the year will occur on the 20th.

Venus is the evening planet to watch, very bright in the southwest sky for most of the month. January is also the time to view the bright constellation Orion; the hunter's celebrated "sword" region is frequently the birthplace of new stars. The 28th is the anniversary of the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.