I absolutely love stargazing in January. It’s worth bundling up for. Nights are long with some of the brightest constellations of the year. This January though is really something: Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Saturn are also joining the show!
Venus and Saturn begin January evenings close together in the fairly low southwestern sky. Venus is by far the brighter of the two and is the brightest planet and star-like object in the heavens this month. The planet named after the Roman goddess of love reaches its maximum separation from the sun in our sky on Jan. 9, something astronomers call greatest eastern elongation. Venus will be available most of the early evening, not setting until around 9 pm.
(Mike Lynch)
As bright as it is, Venus isn’t all that exciting through a telescope. It’s totally shrouded in a thick and poisonous cloud cover that’s highly reflective of the sun’s light. That and its proximity to Earth make it so bright. The only truly interesting thing about observing Venus with a telescope is that it changes shape, going through phase changes just like our moon as it orbits around the sun inside our Earth’s orbit. This month it’s shaped like an oval-ish gibbous moon.
Unfortunately, through a telescope, Saturn is not as impressive as it usually is, but you’ll still be impressed. The problem is that the thin ring system is nearly on edge from our view on Earth and unfortunately, that’s pretty much how it will be the rest of the year. From Jan. 2 to Jan. 4, the new crescent moon will pass by Venus and Saturn, making for some great eye candy.
The best show any January is in the eastern half of the evening sky with an amazing collection of bright stars and constellations. The ringleader is the majestic constellation Orion, surrounded by the constellations Taurus the Bull, Auriga the Charioteer, Gemini the Twins, and several more. Even stargazing from light polluted areas, you can’t help but be impressed, but in the dark countryside you’ll say wow! This January it’s extra wowing because the very bright planets Jupiter and Mars are living among the great winter luminaries. Jupiter by far is the brightest star-like object and is beaming brightly above Orion.
Last month Jupiter reached what astronomers call opposition when Earth and Jupiter were at their minimum distance from each other in over a year. Jupiter’s just about as close and bright this month. You can also catch the nightly show put on by Jupiter’s four moons through even a small telescope. They appear like little stars on either side of Jupiter’s disk and continually change their positions as they orbit the enormous planet. You may also see some of Jupiter’s many cloud bands.
We’re also having a Martian invasion to start off 2025. Just like Jupiter, Mars is residing in the great winter constellations but further in the east, rising around sunset. It’s not quite as bright as the Jovian giant, but it outshines every other star among the great winter constellations and has a very distinctive orange-red glow. On Jan. 15, Mars reaches opposition and will be slightly less than 60 million miles away, the closest it’s been to Earth in about two years. During opposition, Mars and the sun are on opposite sides of the sky. So just like a full moon, Mars rises at sunset and sets at sunrise, available all night long. I’ll have a lot more about our Martian invasion in the coming weeks in Skywatch.
If the planets, the moon, and all the great winter constellations aren’t enough for you, January is also home to one of the better annual meteor showers of the year, the Quadrantids, which peaks the night of Jan. 3-4. What’s great about the Quadrantids this year is that there’ll be little or no bright moonlight to whitewash the sky. You may see 10 to 20 meteors or “shooting stars” an hour, and possibly many more in the countryside. The best to view them is after midnight. The radiant for this shower is near the constellation Bootes. That’s the general direction in the sky where the meteors seem to originate. Don’t restrict your meteor hunting just to that area of the sky though. The “shooting stars” can show up anywhere with their trails pointing back toward the general direction of Bootes.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Mike is available for private star parties. You can contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.
Related Articles
Skywatch: Holiday Mars invasion
Skywatch: Jupiter’s on the night shift
Skywatch: The Gemini Twins are on the rise
Skywatch: Celestial holiday traffic jam
Skywatch: A celestial hero is hanging high
Leave a Reply