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- Written by: Preston Dyches
What's up for January? The planets have some close encounters, the bright stars of winter, and a chance to catch a comet.
All month after sunset, you can see four planets without the aid of binoculars or a telescope.
You'll find Mars in the east, Jupiter high overhead, and Saturn in the southwest with Venus.
From about Jan. 18 to the 24, watch Venus cross paths with Saturn as the glow of sunset fades. Look for the pair low in the southwest about 45 minutes after the Sun dips below the horizon.
The two planets appear at their closest on Jan. 22, when they'll be only a third of a degree apart on the sky. You'll be able to capture both of them in the same field of view through binoculars or a small telescope.
On Jan. 23, the two planets are still only a degree apart, and will be joined by a slim crescent moon.
And on Jan. 25, looking to the southwest 30 to 45 minutes after sunset, look high above Venus and Saturn to find the Moon only a degree apart from Jupiter, about halfway up the sky.
January nights are filled with bright stars. Looking toward the south or southeast in the first few hours after dark, you'll spy the bright constellations of winter in the Northern Hemisphere: Of course there's Orion the hunter; the big dog constellation Canis Major; and the lesser known little dog, Canis Minor with its bright star Procyon.
Y-shaped Taurus, the bull, includes the bright Hyades and Pleiades star clusters. And just east of Orion, you'll find the bright stars Castor and Pollux, which form the heads of the twins in Gemini.
Make sure you take a moment to appreciate the beauty of the January sky, which more than meets the definition of "star studded," with so much to marvel at.
A recently discovered comet is now passing through the inner solar system and should be visible with a telescope and likely with binoculars.
The comet, which has a mouthful of a name — C/2022 E3, or ZTF — was first sighted in March last year, when it was already inside the orbit of Jupiter.
It makes its closest approach to the Sun on Jan. 12, and then passes its closest to Earth on Feb. 2.
Comets are notoriously unpredictable, but if this one continues its current trend in brightness, it'll be easy to spot with binoculars, and it's just possible it could become visible to the unaided eye under dark skies.
Observers in the Northern Hemisphere will find the comet in the morning sky, as it moves swiftly toward the northwest during January. (It'll become visible in the Southern Hemisphere in early February.)
This comet isn't expected to be quite the spectacle that Comet NEOWISE was back in 2020. But it's still an awesome opportunity to make a personal connection with an icy visitor from the distant outer solar system.
Stay up to date with all of NASA's missions to explore the solar system and beyond at nasa.gov.
Preston Dyches works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The National Weather Service's Eureka Office is predicting up to 12 inches of additional rain from Saturday through Tuesday for portions of Lake County.
The forecast also predicts strong southerly winds, heavy high elevation snow, and a new widespread flooding threat from heavy rainfall atop of already saturated ground.
The National Weather Service placed all of Lake County under a flood watch from 4 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10. Forecasters also issued a hazardous weather outlook for Lake County.
Areas including Lakeport and the Northshore are expected to have up to 7 inches of rain in that time.
Cobb, Kelseyville and southern Lake County are forecast to get more rain, with predictions putting Cobb at more than 11 inches in that time frame.
The winds in the forecast for Lake County could be as high as 25 miles per hour, with gusts in the 40s. Across the region, ridges could see gusts of up to 60 miles per hour.
Temperatures into next week will mostly hover in the high 40s, moving into the low 50s on Sunday, Monday and then on Thursday, with nighttime lows in the low 40s.
Pacific Gas and Electric on Friday continued to restore power around Lake County and the rest of its service areas.
By Friday night, the company reported that about 50 Lake County customer accounts were still waiting for restoration, which the company reported was expected to be complete by Saturday.
Even after a minor break in the rain on Friday, Clear Lake’s level continued to move up, according to the United States Geological Survey gauge.
By late Friday, Clear Lake was at -0.63 feet Rumsey, the special measure for the lake.
The lake level had been hovering around -2.34 feet Rumsey just before Christmas.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
Early Saturday morning, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04) was officially sworn in as United States Representative for California’s Fourth District in the 118th Congress.
He and other members were delayed in taking their oaths of office over the last several days as votes took place for the Speaker of the House job, which finally was settled on the 15th vote with the election of Kevin McCarthy.
“Serving the people of California’s Fourth District is an immense honor and I appreciate the faith and confidence of the people of our community to carry this responsibility of representing them in Congress. This Congress, I am focused on building on the bipartisan victories we accomplished over the last two years and continuing to advocate for the policies that matter most to our district,” said Thompson.
“That means lowering costs for working families, combating climate change, lowering health care costs, increasing access to affordable care through telehealth, ensuring fire survivors are not taxed on settlements, securing financial relief for growers impacted by drought and other natural disasters, ending the scourge of gun violence, and more,” he added.
“I’m ready to get to work,” Thompson said.
Following the 2020 Census, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission released new Congressional district lines for California, renumbering Rep. Thompson’s district from California’s Fifth to California’s Fourth.
California’s Fourth District includes all of Lake and Napa counties and parts of Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The City of Clearlake Animal Association also is seeking fosters for the animals waiting to be adopted.
Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email
Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
The following dogs are available for adoption. The newest dogs are at the top.
‘Aoki’
“Aoki” is a male Siberian husky mix with a white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50905477.
‘Athena’
“Athena” is a female American pit bull mix terrier with a short brindle coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 49934476.
‘Atlas’
“Atlas” is a male German shepherd with a black and tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 51331471.
‘Babs’
“Babs” is a female Labrador retriever mix with a short black coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 49505856.
‘Bella’
“Bella” is a female American pit bull with a short black and tan coat.
She has been spayed.
She’s dog No. 51462856.
‘Bruce’
“Bruce” is a 2-year-old American pit bull mix with a short gray coat with white markings.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50684304.
‘Buster’
“Buster” is a male pit bull mix with a short tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50762164.
‘Chogi’
“Chogi” is a male American pit bull mix with a short tan and white coat.
He has been spayed.
He is dog No. 51373225.
‘Dennis’
“Dennis” is a male Labrador retriever mix with a short black coat.
He is neutered.
Dennis is dog No. 51682977.
‘Domino’
“Domino” is a male terrier mix with a short white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50815541.
‘Eros’
“Eros” is a male Rottweiler mix with a short black and tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50754504.
‘Foxie’
“Foxie” is a female German shepherd with a red, black and white coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 49702845.
‘Goliath’
“Goliath” is a male Rottweiler mix with a short black and tan coat.
He is dog No. 50754509.
‘Hakuna’
“Hakuna” is a male shepherd mix with a tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50176912.
‘Herman’
“Herman” is a 7-year-old male American pit bull terrier mix with a brown coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 51236411.
‘Hondo’
“Hondo” is a male Alaskan husky mix with a buff coat.
He has been neutered.
He’s dog No. 50227693.
‘Jack’
“Jack” is a 9-month-old male terrier mix with a short black and brindle coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50992658.
‘Kubota’
“Kubota” is a 4-year-old male German shepherd with a short brown coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50184421.
‘Little Boy’
“Little Boy” is a male American pit bull terrier mix with a short tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50075256.
‘Mamba’
“Mamba” is a male Siberian husky mix with a gray and cream-colored coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49520569.
‘Matata’
“Matata” is male shepherd mix with a tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50176912.
‘Maverick’
“Maverick” is a male pit bull-border collie mix with a short black and white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 51027806.
‘Maya’
“Maya” is a female German shepherd with a black and tan coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 50428151.
‘Mikey’
“Mikey” is a male German shepherd mix with a short brown and tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 51012855.
‘Molly’
“Molly” is a female Samoyed mix with a long white coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 50933031.
‘Noah’
“Noah” is a male pit bull terrier mix with a short white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 51286102.
‘Paige’
“Paige” is a female American pit bull mix with a short brown coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 51194668.
‘Rascal’
“Rascal” is a male shepherd mix with a black and brown coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50806384.
‘Snowball’
“Snowball is a 1 and a half year old male American Staffordshire terrier mix with a short white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49159168.
‘Tanner’
“Tanner” is an American Staffordshire mix with a short tan coat.
He has been neutered.
Tanner is dog No. 51150982.
‘Terry’
“Terry” is a handsome male shepherd mix with a short brindle coat.
He gets along with other dogs, including small ones, and enjoys toys. He also likes water, playing fetch and keep away.
Staff said he is now getting some training to help him build confidence.
He is dog No. 48443693.
‘Trike’
“Trike” is a male border collie-Australian shepherd mix with a black and white coat and blue eyes.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 51029972.
‘Willie’
“Willie” is a male German shepherd mix with a black and tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50596003.
‘Zeus’
“Zeus” is a male Samoyed mix with a long white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50933068.
Email Elizabeth Larson at