A video system that makes observers feel like they are flying through the rings of Saturn is part of an impending upgrade at the Bishop Museum’s Watumull Planetarium.

With a state appropriation of $1.5 million, we will install a hybrid system, in which a state-of-the-art star machine will work with a full-dome video system to provide a full astronomical educational experience. The star machine will provide a crisper, more realistic re-creation of the night sky.

The interior dome, seating, carpet, lights and sound system will all be replaced and upgraded.

We are currently working out the renovation schedule; it is likely that we’ll install the all-dome video system in the spring and the star machine in early fall. For now, the current planetarium will remain open through at least February.

January planets

At the start of the month, Venus is about one-third of the way up in the western sky at dusk and will set at 8:30 p.m. Every night, Venus will be a little bit higher when the sun goes down. By the end of January, Venus will be 40 degrees above the western horizon, nearly halfway up. At the end of the month, Venus will not set until 9:15 p.m. Look for a slender crescent moon next to Venus on Jan. 25 and 26.

Jupiter has been our evening companion for months. Jupiter is four times dimmer than Venus, but twice as bright as any other dot of light in the sky. Look for Jupiter near the top of the sky around dusk.

In early January, Jupiter will work its way down the western sky in the course of the evening and will set in the west around 1 a.m. By the end of January, Jupiter will be about two-thirds of the way up in the west at dusk and will set just after midnight. By the end of the month, you’ll be able to take in these two brilliant lights of Jupiter and Venus with one look toward the west. Jupiter will be two-thirds of the way up in the west at sunset, and brighter Venus will blaze away below Jupiter.

Look for the waxing gibbous moon next to Jupiter on Jan. 2. The moon will return to appear close to Jupiter on Jan. 29 as a waxing crescent.

Mars will double in brightness in January. Look for the Red Planet rising in the east at 11:30 p.m. at the start of January. It has a pale orange hue. Early in the month, Mars will rise in the eastern sky in the early hours of the morning and will be high overhead at dawn. By the end of January, Mars rises at 9:30 p.m. and will be high in the west as day breaks.

Look for the waning gibbous moon next to Mars on Jan. 12-13 and 13-14.

Saturn rises at 2 a.m. at the start of January and is about halfway up in the east at dawn. By the end, the planet rises at midnight and is high in the south at dawn. Throughout the month, Saturn is next to the bright star Spica in the constellation Virgo.

Saturn is slightly brighter and slightly yellower than Spica. Saturn is below Spica as the two dots of light rise in the east. By 5 a.m. Saturn and Spica stand side by side, high in the southern sky, with Saturn on the left. Look for the last quarter moon just below Saturn and Spica early on the morning of Jan. 16.

Mercury is visible for the first week of January in the morning sky. The planet rises in the east-southeast at 5:45 a.m. on Jan. 1 and is about 10 degrees above the horizon (one palm at arm’s length) by daybreak. By Jan. 10 it comes up at 6:10 a.m. and is washed out by the rising sun 20 minutes later.

Quadrantid Shower

The first meteor shower of the year occurs on the night of Jan. 3-4. Stay up late on Jan. 3 and look for meteors in the early hours of Jan. 4. The waxing gibbous moon sets around 3 a.m. early on Jan. 4, so the viewing will be better from that time until dawn.

This shower can produce 120 meteors per hour. Meteor showers are named for the constellation that the meteors appear to come from. In this case, "Quadrantids" refers to a part of the constellation of Bootes the Herdsman that used to be called Quadrans Muralis. Bootes rises about 2 a.m. on Jan. 4.

January stars

The map is good for 11 p.m. at the start of January, 10 p.m. in the middle of the month, and 9 p.m. at the end of January.

The familiar constellations of winter are clustered high overhead. Look for Orion the Hunter in the middle of the map. It has a familiar hourglass shape, distinctive belt of three stars, and brilliant stars Rigel and Betelgeuse. Orion is surrounded by a who’s who of bright winter stars and constellations.

This includes Canis Major, the Big Dog. Sirius, the bright star in Canis Major, is called the Dog Star and is the brightest star in the sky. Above Canis Major is the bright blue star Procyon, in Canis Minor, and then the Gemini, with its twin bright stars Castor and Pollux.

Continuing clockwise, look for Auriga the Charioteer (a constellation called Hokulei in Hawaiian, or "lei of stars") with its bright star Capella. Completing the gathering, continue on to Taurus the Bull with bright Aldebaran for its eye.

In the north, we see the cup of the Big Dipper rising. The two stars in the cup that don’t have the handle attached are the pointer stars, and they point you nicely to the North Star.

In the south, Canopus, the second-brightest star in the sky, shines clearly in the Hawaiian sky. This is a star that is not visible north of 34 degrees latitude, roughly the latitude of Los Angeles.

Mike Shanahan is director of Education, Exhibits and Planetarium. For more information, go to www.bishopmuseum.org/planetarium/planetarium.html.