The Skies

Sun and Moon Data

To find sun and moon rising and setting times for your park or office, go to the U.S. Naval Observatory’s Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day webpage.

Night Skies

An update on the moon, planets and night skies for January.

Visible planets during the period:

• Mars is low in the southwest after sunset all month.
• Jupiter is high in the east after sunset and is visible in the night sky until the early hours.
• Venus rises shortly after twilight in early January but becomes progressively harder to see as the month goes on.
• Saturn rises shortly before 3 a.m. local time on January 1st and then about 30 minutes earlier with each successive week.  

Calendar of upcoming celestial events:

• Sunday, 1/6 – The moon passes a few degrees south of Saturn.
• Thursday, 1/10 – The moon passes three degrees north of Venus.
• Friday, 1/11 – New moon (dark).
• Sunday, 1/13 – The moon passes six degrees north of Mars.
• Monday, 1/21 – The waxing moon passes a half degree south of Jupiter.
• Saturday, 1/26 – Full moon.

For more information on stars, planets and other night sky phenomena, go to “The Sky This Week” page at the U.S. Naval Observatory page at http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/tours-events/sky-this-week

The Weather

Watches and Warnings

The principal watches and warnings posted as of early this morning were as follows. Note that these change over the course of a day and represent only initial daily forecasts. Click on this link for a full-sized map showing these hazards:

• Winter storm watches, warnings and advisories – West Texas and southern New Mexico.
• High wind watches, warnings and advisories – Western New York.
• Flood watches, warnings and advisories – Counties in Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.

For additional information on severe weather, go to the NOAA Storm Prediction Center at http://www.spc.noaa.gov/ .

In Memoriam

There were no NPS line of duty deaths on this date. Click here for a full list of on-duty deaths.

From The Morning Report Archives

Today’s incident from the Morning Report archives:

Organ Pipe Cactus NM – On the afternoon of February 8, 1980, a vehicle with nine illegal aliens entered the park from Mexico. The vehicle was spotted and pursued down Puerto Blanco Drive by Border Patrol officers until it ran off the road and broke down. The occupants jumped from the vehicle and attempted to escape, but all were captured. While arresting the man who was attempting to smuggle them into the US, a shot was fired by a Border Patrol officer that wounded the man in his arm. He was airlifted to Ajo for treatment and the drive was closed off overnight while an investigation into the incident was conducted.

Contact Information
Name: Bill Halainen, Editor