What’s Up: January 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA
Posted: 2024-12-30 16:59
Get ready for an exciting month of skywatching in January 2025! NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has released its monthly skywatching tips, highlighting upcoming celestial events and providing tips on how to best observe them.
January 3: Quadrantids Meteor Shower
The Quadrantids meteor shower is one of the most intense meteor showers of the year, producing up to 120 meteors per hour at its peak. This year, the shower will be active from January 1-5, with the peak occurring on the night of January 3. The best time to observe the Quadrantids is after midnight, when the radiant (the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to originate) is highest above the horizon. Observers should face northeast and look for bright, fast-moving streaks of light.
January 10: Earth at Perihelion
On January 10, Earth will reach its closest point to the Sun in its orbit, known as perihelion. At perihelion, Earth will be approximately 147 million kilometers (91 million miles) from the Sun. This is about 5 million kilometers (3 million miles) closer than Earth’s farthest point from the Sun, known as aphelion. While the difference in distance between perihelion and aphelion is relatively small, it does have a slight effect on Earth’s climate, with perihelion generally being associated with warmer temperatures.
January 14: Full Moon
The full Moon for January, also known as the Wolf Moon, will occur on January 14. The Wolf Moon is named after the howling of wolves that was often heard during this time of year. The full Moon is a great time to observe the Moon’s craters, mountains, and other features with binoculars or a telescope.
January 22: New Moon
The new Moon for January will occur on January 22. New Moons are not visible in the night sky, as the Moon is positioned between Earth and the Sun. However, new Moons are a great time to observe other celestial objects, such as stars and planets, as there is no moonlight to interfere.
Other Skywatching Tips
- Venus and Saturn: Venus and Saturn will be visible in the western sky after sunset throughout January. Venus will be the brighter of the two planets, and Saturn will be slightly fainter and located to the right of Venus.
- Mars: Mars will be visible in the eastern sky before sunrise throughout January. Mars will be gradually getting brighter and easier to observe as the month progresses.
- Jupiter: Jupiter will be visible in the southwestern sky after sunset throughout January. Jupiter will be the brightest planet in the night sky and will be easily visible with binoculars or a telescope.
For more information on these and other skywatching events, visit NASA’s Solar System Exploration website: solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatching/
What’s Up: January 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA
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