What's Up In The Sky Now?
January, 2025
Our Solar System - notes by DMAS member, JoAnn Cogil
Clear, cold winter skies bring out the brightest stars of any season we have. So, bundle up and head outside if you feel adventurous!!
Mercury
MERCURY - the viewing season for this little planet begins at the end of next month.
Venus
VENUS - in our evening sky. On the 3rd at dusk, the moon will be upper left of the planet in the SW sky. On the night of the 9th, Venus is at its greatest eastern elongation (distance from the Sun) and will provide the best time to see the bright planet as it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the evening western sky. This month it sets up to 4 hours after sunset giving us more time to enjoy this bright gem.
Earth
EARTH - on the 4th, our lovely planet passes through perihelion (closest point to the Sun) at 7:30 AM CST at a distance of 91,405,993 miles. This also creates our latest sunrise of the year.
Mars
MARS - the red planet reaches opposition (with the Earth between Mars and the Sun) mid-month and is visible all night. On the 13th, we find a fun line-up of the Moon, Castor, Pollux and Mars in the evening eastern sky. But even better this night the Moon will eclipse Mars beginning at 8:07 PM CST. The planet will be completely covered within 29-30 seconds and will reappear about 9:16 PM CST. And I hear the color contrast will be something to see!!
On the 15th-16th, Mars is at opposition, when it is closest to the Earth. It will be as bright as Sirius, and the brightest of any time this year. On the 23rd, Mars pairs with Pollux in the eastern sky, finding Mars to the right of Pollux.
Jupiter
JUPITER - this month provides the best viewing of Jupiter until December 2025!! The planet will be visible all night and by mid-month, telescope viewing should nicely reveal the 2 main bands.
Saturn
SATURN - the ringed planet meets up with our Moon twice this month, on the 4th and the 31st. On the 4th, look in the S-SW sky at dusk and find the Moon just to the upper left of Saturn. On the night of the 17th, Saturn will be to the lower left of Venus in the SW evening sky, giving us another lovely sight to be seen!! We know the rings will be totally edge-on by March while the first week of January, the rings are the widest we will see them for 2025.
Uranus
URANUS - this month may provide a nice binocular view of the planet. But as always, best views are with telescopes.
Neptune
NEPTUNE - sits near Saturn much of January. By month’s end, Neptune can be found in the same binocular field as Venus. Use Venus as a starting point to find Neptune in the western evening sky.
The Moon
- 6th – 1st quarter
- 13th – FULL at 4:27 PM CST
- 21st – last quarter
- 29th – NEW at 6:36 AM CST
The January moon is known as the “Wolf Moon”, for a time when hungry wolf packs howled outside Native American camps. It has also been known as the “Old Moon” and “Moon After Yule”.
Moon reaches perigee on the 7th, when it is closest to Earth.
On the 20th, the Moon reached apogee, when it is farthest from the Earth.
A fun event on the 9th – the waxing gibbous moon crosses through the Pleiades, M45.