Current Night Sky: January 2019

Earth reaches perihelion – its closest distance to the Sun – at midnight EST on January 3, when the two bodies will be separated by 91.4 million miles (147.1 million km).

There is a partial solar eclipse on January 5-6, visible from parts of eastern Asia and the western Pacific.

There is a total lunar eclipse on January 20-21, visible in its entirety from the Western Hemisphere.

The Moon & Planets: 
Earth orbit

Earth is at perihelion – its closest distance to the Sun – on January 3. It reaches aphelion – its furthest distance – in July. So why do we have winter in January and summer in July? Consider the fact that these seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere. Also, the variation between aphelion and perihelion is only 4% - not enough to cause significant seasonal changes. It turns out that seasons are not caused by changes in the Earth-Sun distance, but by the tilt of the Earth on its axis. The hemisphere of our planet most tilted toward the Sun experiences summer; the other one goes through winter. Six months later, the situation is reversed. (Credit: timeanddate.com)

Quadrantid meteor chart

The Quadrantid meteors peak on the evening of January 3. Like most meteor showers, this one is named after the constellation the meteors appear to radiate from – the "radiant;" in this case, though, the constellation Quadrans Muralis is no longer recognized. The display in 2019 occurs without the Moon in the sky to interfere. You may be able to see more than 100 meteors per hour under dark skies. This may be the best meteor shower of the year (January 3, 2019; 11:30 pm EST).

Moon and Venus

The Moon and Venus make an unusually tight pairing on January 31. At their closest, they are less than ½° - or one Moon-diameter apart. The Moon is a very narrow waning crescent, with only 15% of its surface illuminated. Earthlight – sunlight reflected from the Earth and illuminating the dark portion of the lunar disk – may make a ghostly version of familiar surface features visible.

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

Comet 46P Wirtanen should remain above the threshold of naked eye visibility until mid-January. It is circumpolar for observers at mid-northern latitudes. The Moon may swamp the comet's faint glow during the second half of the month.

Meteors: 

The Quadrantid meteors peak on January 3. The narrow crescent Moon doesn't rise until almost sunrise, so the shower should be a good one; expect to see up to 60 – 200 meteors per hour under ideal conditions.

Phases of the Moon: 
New Moon January 5 8:28 pm EST
First Quarter Moon January 14 1:46 am EST
Full Moon January 21 12:16 am EST
Last Quarter Moon January 27 4:10 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