Events, Moon, Planets in January Home Page Evènements du mois Monthly Sky Charts

still need the previous edition?

.Events .Moon .Planets .Major Events .Minor Planets, NEOs .Comets .Shooting Stars .Occultations .Sun .check more! (occultations observers are advised to check in 'Events', and to turn to such dedicated sites like the I.O.T.A). don't forget to check the weather! For the US: the NOAA . color codes: Wwd worldwide, UsA USA-Americas, EuA Europe-Africa, AsP Asia-Pacific, Chk Check for Your Zone. check the site's concept and the instructions of use

Editor's Choice Fine Picture Archives Editor's Choice Sky At Tech News color codes: Wwd worldwide, UsA USA-Americas, EuA Europe-Africa, AsP Asia-Pacific, Chk Check for Your Zone. check the site's concept and the instructions of use

Events Home Page

.Events Seen All Month Long .Ephemerides Proper

(data from the former yearly ephemerides generator at Fred Espenak's NASA's eclipse website; miscellaneous data with the 'Astronomical Phenomena for The Year 2017,' a joint work by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and the U.S. Naval Observatory; to be found at the latter's site; all time UT except otherwise stated)

Wwd In the northern hemisphere only, the three main stars to the Summer Triangle, that distinctive feature of the summer skies, are seen like evening stars northwest!

Wwd At the Tropics and the southern hemisphere only, a whole set of fine constellations are seen embedded into the Milky Way on the southern horizon by dawn! Fine visual, or photographic opportunities as Moon will also come to add! The show is higher in the southern hemisphere!

Milky-Way embedded fine constellations seen South by dawn at the Tropics and the southern hemisphere! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium

Wwd Mars is interestingly journeying atop Antares, in constellation Scorpius, the Scorpion like a morning star. The show is coming close by Jan. 12-25! Fine visual and photographic views, and Moon will come to add!

Mars is seen journeying relatively to Antares Jan. 12-25, like a morning star! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software

Wwd That's a amazing month in terms of bright planets at night, as most bright planets are absent from our night sky! Uranus and Neptune only are available West after twilight, worldwide

1 (1) Wwd The Quadrantids, one of the most important meteor showers of the year, usually begin to be active today as they are until next Jan.5. They usually are peaking on Jan. 2-3. more at the date of the peak

2 (1) Wwd The Quadrantids are peaking on Jan 2-3 more back

2 (2) Wwd Moon is at its apogee at 01:30 UT (distances non available)

5 Wwd Earth, like each year by about this date, is at is perihelion today by 09:59 UT. The Earth is at its closest to the Sun as it paradoxically is winter days in the northern hemisphere. check more details about the aphelion-perihelion concepts with our tutorial Seasons

7 Wwd Waxing gibbous Moon by all latitudes, is seen close to Aldebaran tonight, the bright star to constellation Taurus, the Bull

Waxing gibbous Moon close to Aldebaran, the bright star to constellation Taurus, the Bull! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software

9 Wwd Moon is at a ascending node at 23:29 UT

10 (1) Wwd The first major astronomical event in 2020 is occurring today, the January 10th, 2020 penumbral lunar eclipse. check more

10 (2) Wwd Moon reaches a northernmost declination at 06:03 UT

13 Wwd Moon is at its perigee at 20:20 UT (distances non available)

19 UsA Tomorrow morning in the twilight sky for latitudes, last crescent is seen close to Mars which itself is close to Antares, Scorpius' bright star! Fine!

20 EuA AsP Tomorrow morning by all latitudes, in the twilight sky, last crescent is seen close to Mars which itself is close to Antares, Scorpius' bright star! Fine!

By the morning of Jan. 21, Moon is seen close to Mars and Antares! Fine! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software

22 Wwd Moon is at a descending node at 20:31 UT

23 (1) Wwd Moon reaches a southernmost declination at 03:37 UT

23 (2) Wwd There is a occultation of Jupiter today by Moon! check more at Occultations; check more too at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

28 Wwd First crescent is seen close to Venus in twilight for all latitudes,! Fine! The show is barely distended for the USA-Americas area but it's seen also the following day

First crescent close to Venus by twilight! Fine! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software

29 Wwd Moon is at its apogee at 21:28 UT (distances non available)

Occultations observers are advised to turn to such dedicated sites like the I.O.T.A as they may also check below at our Occultation section

Moon Home Page

First Quarter is on January 3rd, at 04:45 UT
Full Moon is on January 10th, at 19:21 UT
Last Quarter is on January 17th, at 12:58 UT
New Moon is on January 24th, at 21:42 UT

(source: ephemeris generator at Fred Espenak's NASA's eclipse website)

Planets Home Page

for what a remarkable configuration of a planet is, check our tutorial 'Planets Apparent Motion'

Mercury is reaching a superior conjunction on January 10th, 2017 by 15:01 UT. The swift planet is unavailable worldwide

Venus keeps a evening star. It's a fine one in the northern hemisphere, the Tropics as the show is barely lower in the southern hemisphere

Venus keeping a evening star! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software

Mars now keeps a morning star worldwide. A Mars observation campaign, the Mars Observation Campaign 2020-2021 is unfolding from March 19th, 2020 when Mars will reach 6" of apparent diameter, until March 10th, 2021 when Mars will be back to that value, a value afficionados deem the least observable. check more at our Mars Observation Campaign 2020-2021 page

Jupiter after its conjunction last December 2019, is not reappearing enough like a morning star in the northern hemisphere. It is barely more at the Tropics or the southern hemisphere

Saturn is reaching its conjunction on January 13th, 2020 by 14:23. Saturn thus will be unobservable worldwide. Following a ring aperture maximum, rings now are closing

Uranus keeps sufficiently high, West, to be observed in the northern hemisphere, and the same at the Tropics. The same may be said for the southern hemisphere

Neptune due to a early twilight in the northern hemisphere, keeps observable, ditto at the Tropics. That's not true in the southern hemisphere where Neptune is not observable, or barely (for the afficionados)

Pluto is now reaching a conjunction, on January 13th, 2020. Pluto thus is unobservable worldwide (according to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) since 2006, Pluto is not considered a planet anymore, but categorized like a dwarf planet instead along with Ceres, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea, and the prototype of a new category of 'trans-Neptunian', 'Pluto-class' objects)

Major Events Home Page

The January 10th, 2020 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

The January 10th, 2020 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

That first lunar eclipse of the year is a penumbral lunar eclipse, the January 10th, 2020 penumbral lunar eclipse. The whole of the eclipse is observable in a area extending from Europe to Japan, and central and southern Africa to Indonesia, with a band of western Australia also concerned. Either side of that area, the eclipse will either be visible by moonrise or by moonset. check our page dedicated to that event

Minor Planets, NEOs Home Page

.Minor Planets .Nearest NEOs

Minor Planets

Minor planets are those biggest asteroids in the Asteroid Belt which may be easily observed by amateurs from the Earth, namely Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta (due to the new categorization by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) by 2006, Ceres belongs to the 5 dwarf planets in the solar system with Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea). check data and charts at our section Minor Planets on the yearly Calendar page as our tutorial 'Asteroids and Asteroid Hunting' is of help too. Any remarkable event linked to a minor planet may have a notice here below

Nearest NEOs

Some small asteroids dubbed Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are regularly making close approaches at Earth. People interested in such close approaches may obtain recent and upcoming data at NASA (JPL) site Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) (their section "Close Approaches"). Miscellaneous data are available. For further observational purposes, check at their ephemeris Generator (via Tools/Neo DB Query) . For more about NEOs see tutorial "About NEOs"

Comets Home Page

Once every time, the solar system treats us with a remarkable comet, a eery view spanning up to thirty degrees of sky! Most of the time however comets are the domain of dedicated observers as mostly weak and, at the most, hovering at the limit of the naked-eye visibility. A good site to get information about current such comets is the British Astronomical Association Comet Section page or also the Weekly Information about Bright Comets page (which often points to comets close to the visual magnitude). Our 'Comets and Comet Hunting' tutorial will also be helpful. Remarkable comets otherwise usually will be presented below!

Shooting Stars Home Page

->note: shooting stars afficionados will be aware of checking Moon at the dates of the showers

• Quadrantids back are usually active Jan. 1-5 with their peak usually on Jan. 2-3. Their radiant is at R.A. 230° and dec. +49°. They have a hourly rate of 120, which makes them one of the most important meteor shower of the year
• Shooting stars afficionados may turn to such dedicated sites like IMO, The International Meteor Organization for more about the above and about possible minor showers this month

for more about the meteor showers of this month, for possible other meteor showers for this month, and for more about shooting stars, generally, see our tutorial "Shooting Stars"

Occultations Home Page

Each month, Moon occults some relatively bright stars, that is the Moon, beginning either with its bright or its dark visible face, is passing in front of a star. This is called an occultation. The Pleiades, on the other hand, due to their position near the eclipic, are often occulted by Moon too. Some planets, at last, along the year, may be occulted by Moon or they themselves, or their satellites, may be seen too occulting a star. The asteroids too may occult stars. Yearly lists of such phenomenons are to be found at Sky & Telescope/SkyTonight.com, either in their newsstand issues or at their site, as a list of occultations of most brilliant stars, the planets and the Pleiades are available at the I.O.T.A site (I.O.T.A. stands for "The International Occultation Timing Association"). Most notable occultations are signaled below. Outside the occultations of planets as mentioned here, Moon is also occulting miscellaneous bright stars, of about the 3.5rd magnitude. For those occultations, check at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

Jupiter back is occulted by Moon on Jan. 23rd, 2018 by 03:00 UT! The show is available for Madagascar, Kerguelen Islands, southern and eastern Australia, New Zealand, south and eastern Melanesia, south western Polynesia. check more at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

check on this site for more about occultations, theoretically

Sun Home Page

click to last Sun