Current Night Sky: January 2020

Earth reaches perihelion – its closest distance to the Sun – at 3:00 am EST on January 5, when the two bodies are separated by 91.4 million miles (147.1 million km).

There is a penumbral lunar eclipse on January 20, visible from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

The Moon & Planets: 
sky chart

By the time the Sun comes up in late January, Mars will have climbed high up in the south-southeast. Jupiter and Saturn are not far behind (January 28, 2020; 7:00 am EST).

On the same date as the image above, the thin crescent Moon makes a close pass to Venus. Venus and Neptune, in turn, are making an unusually close approach (January 28, 2020; 5:00 pm EST).

Evening Planets (after sunset): 
  • Mercury, SW
  • Venus, SW
  • Neptune, SW
  • Uranus, S
Morning Planets (before sunrise): 
  • Jupiter, SE
  • Saturn, SE
  • Mercury, SE
Comets: 

There are no comets brighter than magnitude 8 currently visible.

Meteors: 

The Quadrantid meteors peak on January 4. The Moon will not be in the sky, and rates under ideal circumstances may reach 120 meteors per hour.

Phases of the Moon: 
First Quarter Moon January 2 11:45 pm EST
Full Moon January 10 2:21 pm EST
Last Quarter Moon January 17 7:58 am EST
New Moon January 24 4:42 pm EST

Text, graphics, and animations by John Sheff. Graphics courtesy of Starry Night(©) Pro Plus 7 / Imaginova(©) Corp. Starry Night images are used with permission from Imaginova Corp. Starry Night is a registered trademark of Imaginova Corp. Star charts generated by Starry Night Pro Plus 7 © Imaginova Corp. All rights reserved. www.StarryNight.com