The Night Sky This Month – January 2026
(Looking for last month’s ‘Night Sky’? Find it at this link…)
Happy New Year! The year 2026 arrives with a promising but brief meteor shower and a meeting of the full Moon and Jupiter in the evening sky. Jupiter reaches opposition this month, shining at magnitude -2.7 and presenting a nice fat disk for telescopic observation. Venus and Mercury lie on the other side of the Sun and obscured from view. Saturn lingers in the southwest. And the Sun continues intermittent activity that may trigger auroral displays. Here’s what to see in the night sky this month!
3 January 2026. Full Moon, 10:03 UTC (the ‘Full Wolf’ Moon).
3 Jan. Jupiter and the full Moon congregate just east of Castor and Pollux.
3 Jan. The Earth reaches perihelion, its closest point in its orbit to the Sun at a distance of 147,099,894 km.
3-4 Jan. The brief but sometimes intense Quadrantid meteor shower peaks. The Quadrantids average about 25-40 meteors in dark sky. The predicted time of the peak of the shower is 22h Universal Time on January 3, a time which favors observers in Europe. But look anytime on the early morning of the 4th, especially when the radiant is higher in the sky. The Quadrantids take their name from the defunct northern constellation Quadrans Muralis. They can appear anywhere in the sky, but the radiant lies just north of the bright star Arcturus in the northeastern sky in the pre-dawn hours or just over the north-northwestern horizon after evening twilight. This year, a full Moon obscures all but the brightest meteors. The Quadrantids strongly favor northern-hemisphere observers.
5-6 Jan. A fat gibbous Moon passes close to Regulus in the constellation Leo during the night and early morning.
6 Jan. Venus reaches superior conjunction with the Sun.
9 Jan. Mars is in conjunction with the Sun.
9-10 Jan. Jupiter reaches opposition, rising in the east as the sun sets in the west. The planet lies at a distance of about 4.23 AU (632.8 million kilometers). Jupiter shines at a dazzling magnitude -2.7 tonight, brighter than anything else in the night sky except for the Moon and Venus. Its disk spans nearly 47″. The big planet lies in Gemini, north of celestial equator, ideal for northern observers but still well over the horizon for those in the southern hemisphere. Jupiter’s four largest moons – the Galilean moons – are also at their brightest and largest near opposition, and all four resolve into tiny disks in a telescope at moderate magnification. Jupiter stays well positioned for viewing for the in the coming months as it moves into the evening sky. Learn more about how to observe Jupiter here…
10 Jan. Last Quarter Moon, 15:48 UTC
10-11 Jan. The thinning Moon passes under Spica in the constellation Virgo in the early-morning sky.
14 Jan. The waning crescent Moon lies low in the southeast before dawn. The ghostly band of the Milky Way follows behind giving us a taste of the spring and summer skies to come. Observers in Australia, the south island of New Zealand, and a small band across southern Chile and Argentina see the Moon occult Antares. Detailed timing at this link.
18 Jan. New Moon, 19:52 UTC
21 Jan. Mercury reaches superior conjunction with the Sun.
22 Jan. Saturn lies low in the southwestern evening sky near the waxing crescent Moon. The planet is heading out of the sky for the year and looks fainter and smaller in a telescope. Its rings are slowly opening up to about 2o and will continue to do so in the coming years.
26 Jan. First Quarter Moon, 04:47 UTC
27 Jan. Look high in the south and east to see the waxing gibbous Moon near the Pleiades.