What's in January's sky?

The answer, you might say, is in the stars.

Before the advent of modern technology stars and accurate time were the GPS units of sea travel. On the wide, flat ocean, how did sailors know where they were? Knowing how far north or south you were located was relatively easy, particularly in the northern hemisphere.

If Polaris, the North Star, was 45 degrees above the horizon, you were at latitude of 45 degrees. If your home port was Lisbon, Portugal, the ship's navigator knew its latitude was a bit over 38 degrees. Just sail north (or south) until Polaris was 38 degrees above the horizon, and head east.

Knowing how far you were east and west was another matter. That distance could be calculated if you knew the date, time, and your stars.

If you knew that a particular star was directly overhead in Lisbon at 11 p.m. on a specific date, and that same star was 20 degrees east from overhead at your current location in the Atlantic at 11 p.m., you were 20 degrees west of Lisbon. With this information you could calculate the distance.

What does that have to do with seeing in the New Year? We're getting there.

Your east-west location -- your longitude -- is only as accurate as your ship's clock. If the timepiece was off by 20 minutes, you would be mistaken about the location of your ship. Instead of reaching port you might end up somewhere you hadn't planned on. So the accuracy of clocks at seas was of utmost importance.

On land clocks could easily be kept accurate. They were set by using known transit times of the sun and stars at their location. Ships, when anchored in seaports, would synchronize their timepieces with clocks ashore.

Before radio communications, time balls were used to signal ships when a particular time arrived, usually noon or 1 p.m. Sailors on ships would watch for the time ball to be hoisted up the pole, usually 5 minutes before the hour, and synchronize their clocks when the ball dropped.

So there you have it. The time ball in our New Year celebration is a reminder of an age when accurate timekeeping, and an accurate knowledge of the night sky, were critical to worldwide navigation.

January brings us slowly lengthening days, and a dazzling display of stars in the evening sky. Orion, arguably the most recognizable constellation in the sky, is due south during evening hours. Bright stars mark the hunter's shoulders, legs, belt and sword. See if you can detect the reddish hue in Betelgeuse, on Orion's left (as we look at it) shoulder. With binoculars, see if you can detect a hazy cloud in the sword -- the great nebula in Orion. Check it out with a telescope if you have the chance, it is a spectacular sight.

This January, don't confuse Betelgeuse with another bright, red "star" immediately above Orion, in the constellation Taurus. You are looking at the planet Mars. In late December, Mars was as close as it'll be to earth until 2016. At the start of January, it will be brighter than any star in the evening sky, and will remain quite bright for the entire month.