Winter is here. Notwithstanding the fact that since the passing of the winter solstice in late December, and the indiscriminate increasing length of daylight, by approximately one minute per day, the northern hemisphere days remain short with nights that stay deep and long.
The chilly irony of winter is that while the months of January, February, and March are mind-numbingly cold at night. Simultaneously, spectacular gems, gorgeous celestial events, and unique colorful objects beckon you to come out and view them. Darkness arrives earlier, celestial objects are visible sooner, lower humidity in cold air lend to sparkling, clear, inky black dark skies.
Now step outside, and look up. The King of the Sky, Jupiter, remains in his throne at the top of the sky. A flood light shining. Straight below Jupiter and close to the horizon, there awaits an enchanting twinkling blue gem. The star Sirius, the brightest star in our northern winter sky. Then, look to the east, and there is Mars. The God of war stands red and steady. Now, traverse the sky to the west, and there with distinction and beauty is the planet Venus. Take in this view; start at the top and then look down, then look to your left and then to you right. Their beauty is distinct and unique. You’ll stand in amazement, and the view will take your breath away.
What else is there to see in our January night sky? There are three major conjunctions between the Moon and one terrestrial planet and two of our solar system’s gas giants. Mars gets up close and personal with the Earth and achieves opposition with the Sun. The first Full Moon of the year takes center stage mid-month, and two meteor showers shoot off fireworks to bookend the month. Stargazing is a year round activity; so bundle up, get outside, and look up.
Quadrantids Meteor Shower Peak: January 3rd
The annual Quadrantids meteor shower began in mid-December and showers through mid-January. The meteor shower reaches its peak ZHR (zenithal hourly rate) on January 3rd. Some 500 years ago, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean astronomers observed comet C/1490 Y1. It is thought that this comet is responsible for the trailing debris stream that the Earth passes through resulting in the meteors we see today.
Your chance of seeing meteors from the Quadrantids’ is better whenever the constellation Bootes is above the horizon. This means that there are two shows of the Quadrantids showers each night; an early matinee, and then a late, late show. Specifically, the Quadrantids is active in the western sky from dusk till approximately 7:33pm when the radiant point falls below the northwestern horizon. Recall that the radiant point is the area from where most of the meteors will originate. The image above shows the radiant point’s position at 4:30pm. Approximately two hours later, near 9:15pm the radiant point once again rises above the eastern horizon. As it continues to rise into the new day of January 3rd, it reaches a peak altitude of 70 degrees above the horizon in the predawn night sky. At that time it is estimated the ZHR to be approximately 113 meteors per hour. Not all meteor showers are equal. The Quadrantids are fainter than most showers, so keep a sharp eye out in the area of the radiant point. Yet, always remember to scan the entire sky for meteor flashes, steaks, streamers, and bombs.
A Conjunction of Saturn and the Moon with a Little Earthshine: January 4th
Saturn’s lengthy sojourn across our night sky from east to west began last year and now begins drawing to a close. Before then, the Roman god of agriculture and wealth, and the father of Jupiter as well as our 6th planet, passes 18 degrees south of the Moon resulting in an astronomical conjunction. A conjunction is when two or more celestial objects share the same right ascension in the celestial dome overhead. On Earth we’d say they share the same longitude. Informally, this sharing of the same area in the night sky is also called an appulse. On the 4th, the waxing crescent Moon that rises and then falls in the western sky is 7-days old. Go outside shortly after sunset to see it. Saturn just over one finger width southwest of the Moon presents itself with an ever so slightly soft green tint to it. It will be dim, but you’ll see it. The Moon is ~30% illuminated that night and if it is clear, you’ll notice that you can faintly see the entire Moon.
What? Yep, and that’s possible because of Earthshine. It is the dim illumination of the otherwise unilluminated portion of the Moon. Earthshine is the indirect sunlight bouncing off the Earth, then bouncing off the Moon and then bouncing back to Earth. You follow that? That brightness of the crescent comes from sunlight shining directly on the Moon’s surface that’s then reflected back towards Earth, and is called Moonlight. How cool is that?
Conjunction of Jupiter and the Moon: January 10th
Following the conjunction of the Moon and Saturn, next arrives the conjunction between the Moon and Jupiter. What a difference 6-days makes. For this conjunction, Jupiter and the Moon are separated by 5 degrees (closer to one another than the earlier Saturn / Moon conjunction), the Moon is 11-days old now, and Earthshine is significantly reduced. What makes this conjunction spectacular is that Jupiter is positioned almost directly below and to the right of the Moon. Some say a conjunction like this reminds them of a hot air balloon rising in the night sky. What do you see? The pair will glide east to west high across the night sky and be visible throughout the night; from sunset till early in the morning of the 11th. The pair will be too wide apart to fit within the field of view of a telescope, but can be seen together through binoculars, and of course, your naked-eye.
Mars Swings By Close, Big and Bright: January 12th – 15th
This month, Mars is the fourth brightest object in the night sky behind the planets Jupiter and Venus, and then the bright blue star, Sirius. Without question, when you look at Mars, you’ll see red. Especially if you look at it after viewing Jupiter, Venus and Sirius. Its rusty red color becomes immediately evident. Three important moments take place for our second smallest planet in our solar system. First, on the 12th, Mars achieves perigee. On that day, Mars’ elliptical orbit is at a point where it is closer to the Earth than any other point in its orbit. By the numbers, Mars is 59.7 million miles away from the Earth; or, 0.64 astronomical units. (One astronomical unit is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, or 92,955,807 miles) On that day it will take the light reflected off of Mars 5.3 light minutes to reach the Earth.
Second, Mars is in conjunction with the Moon the next day, January 13th. That night is the Full Moon. Mars will be washed over by moonlight, but the keen observer can see Mars passing one finger width, a slim 13 degrees above (north) the Moon. Pro tip: This night, the Moon and Mars will occupy the same field of view if you look through a telescope, or binoculars. Using optics will mitigate some of the blinding light of the Full Moon.
Third, on January 15th, Mars achieves opposition with the Sun. At opposition, Mars lies opposite of the Sun in the sky, and the Earth is in the middle, in-between them. Mars rises at sunset with the constellation Gemini around 5:30pm in the north-eastern horizon. It will be visible most of the night reaching its highest point in the night sky near midnight at 75 degrees north of the southern horizon. After a long night of commanding attention, Mars will set the next morning close to 7am local time behind the north-western horizon. This month, keep your eye on Mars.
Y-Ursae Minorid Meteor Shower Peak: January 19th
While the annual Quadrantids meteor shower began in mid-December and showers into the beginning of January, the y-Ursae are correctly the first meteor shower of the year. The y-Ursae shower runs from January 15th through January 25th, peaking this year on the 19th during daylight hours. Even if you could see it at its peak, the y-Ursae Minorid meteor shower isn't the most prolific in our index of our annual meteor showers. On average you’ll see about three meteors per hour under dark skies when the radiant highest altitude of 62 degrees is reached above the southern horizon.
If you have fortitude and a willingness to stave off the bitter cold of a January night, take heart your courage is rewarded. Good fortune will smile upon you that night since this year the y-Ursae meteor shower arrives when the Moon is 22-days old, nearing its New Moon phase and ushering in an almost completely dark night. This will help you see fainter meteors. And since this is a circumpolar meteor shower, the radiant point never falls below the horizon, making the shower visible all night long. Here is a tidbit for you. The small bits of comet debris (most the size of a grain of rice) are estimated to be traveling nearly 76,000 miles per hour when they hit the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up between 60 to 100 miles above us.
First Full Moon of the Year: January 13th
The first Full Moon of 2025 peaks at 3:26pm on the 13th. It is called the full Wolf Moon, named after howling wolves. This full Moon is also called the “Moon After Yule '' in the Anglo-Saxon culture as it is the first Full Moon to follow the winter solstice festivals. In Celtic and Old English lore, the first Full Moon of the year is also referred to as the Quiet Moon, and the Stay Home Moon. (That makes sense.) Some North American indigenous cultures reference it as the Severe Moon or Center Moon. Prior to time being measured in the solar year of 12-months, time was tracked by the seasons, and consequently the lunar months. Today we use many of these month’s names as the names of Full Moons. Oh, and do wolves really howl at the Moon? Here’s a factoid for you. Wolves howl in the direction of the Moon to project their howl upward so as to carry their sound farther and in doing so, mark their territory.
Traditionally January is a quiet stargazing month. Thank goodness. Damn it’s cold at night. It’s a challenge for even the hardiest of stargazers to step outside and look up, for any length of time. It takes real commitment and thoughtful preparation. So what’s to motivate you to stargaze this month? Let me count the ways: there’s two meteor showers; three quite close lunar and planetary conjunctions; Mars achieves perigee, conjunction, and opposition in a 3-day period; and there’s even some Earthshine bouncing back to your smiling face. That’s nothing to sneeze at, unless you have a head cold.
Make a date with the night sky. Write it on your calendar. Carve out a little time to get into the night, get cold, and get inspired by the beauty, mystery, and synchronicity of our solar system and the universe overhead. See the planet Jupiter dominating the night sky in brilliance and boldness throughout January. Might be a good time for you to look up and schedule a personal audience with the God of the Sky. Jupiter awaits.
Clear skies to you!
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