JANUARY 2025 (Northern Hemisphere)
3 – Moon near Venus at 17h UT (evening sky). Mag. –4.4.
3 – Quadrantid Meteor Shower peaks at 17:45h UT. Active between December 26 and January 16. Expect up to 25 meteors per hour under dark skies. Radiant is in northern Boötes. NortherN hemisphere only.
4 – Earth at Perihelion (closest to Sun) at 13h UT. The Sun- Earth distance is 0.983327 a.u. (147.1 million kilometers).
4 – Moon near Saturn at 18h UT (evening sky). Mag. 1.2.
6 – First Quarter Moon at 23:56 UT.
8 – Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) at 00:24 UT
distance 370,171km; angular size 32.3′).
10 – Moon near the Pleiades at 2h UT (evening sky).
10 – Venus at greatest elongation east at 5h UT (47° from Sun, evening sky). Mag. –4.4.
10 – Moon near Jupiter at 23h UT (evening sky). Mag. –2.7.
12 – Venus at dichotomy (D-shape) at 2h UT (evening sky). Mag. –4.4.
12 – Moon near M35 star cluster at 9h UT (evening sky).
12 – Mars nearest to Earth at 14h UT, 0.642 a.u.
13 – Moon near Castor at 17h UT (evening sky).
13 – Moon near Pollux at 22h UT (evening sky).
13 – Full Moon at 22:27 UT.
14 – Moon near Mars at 5h UT (midnight sky). Mag. –1.4.
15 – Moon near Beehive cluster M44 at 0h UT (morning sky).
16 – Mars at Opposition at 3h UT. Mag. –1.4.
16 – Moon near Regulus at 18h UT (morning sky).
18 – Venus 2.2° NNW of Saturn at 18h UT (evening sky). Mags. –4.5 and 1.2.
21 – Moon at apogee (farthest from Earth) at 5h UT (distance 404,298km; angular size 29.6′).
21 – Moon near Spica at 5h UT (morning sky).
21 – Last Quarter Moon at 20:31 UT.
25 – Moon near Antares at 1h UT (55° from Sun, morning sky).
29 – New Moon at 12:36 UT. Start of lunation 1263.
More sky events and links at http://Skymaps.com/skycalendar/
All times in Universal Time (UT). (USA Eastern Standard Time = UT – 5 hours.)
More sky events and links at http://Skymaps.com/skycalendar/
Visit my YouTube Page for captures of many of the Night Sky events for each month.
MOON PHASES
New Moon: 29th
First Quarter: 6th
Full Moon: 13th
Last Quarter: 21st
EASILY SEEN BY THE NAKED EYE
Capella Aur The 6th brightest star. Appears yellowish in color. Spectroscopic binary. Dist=42 ly.
Sirius CMa The brightest star in the sky. Also known as the “Dog Star”. Dist=8.6 ly.
Procyon CMi Greek name meaning “before the dog” – rises before Sirius (northern latitudes). Dist=11.4 ly.
δ Cephei Cep Cepheid prototype. Mag varies between 3.5 & 4.4 over 5.366 days. Mag 6 companion.
Deneb Cyg Brightest star in Cygnus. One of the greatest known supergiants. Dist=1,400 ±200 ly.
Castor Gem Multiple star system with 6 components. 3 stars visible in telescope. Dist=52 ly.
Pollux Gem With Castor, the twin sons of Leda in classical mythology. Dist=34 ly.
Vega Lyr The 5th brightest star in the sky. A blue-white star. Dist=25.0 ly.
Rigel Ori The brightest star in Orion. Blue supergiant star with mag 7 companion. Dist=770 ly.
Betelgeuse Ori One of the largest red supergiant stars known. Diameter=300 times that of Sun. Dist=430 ly.
Algol Per Famous eclipsing binary star. Magnitude varies between 2.1 & 3.4 over 2.867 days.
Pleiades Tau The Seven Sisters. Spectacular cluster. Many more stars visible in binoculars. Dist=399 ly.
Hyades Tau Large V-shaped star cluster. Binoculars reveal many more stars. Dist=152 ly.
Aldebaran Tau Brightest star in Taurus. It is not associated with the Hyades star cluster. Dist=66.7 ly.
Polaris UMi The North Pole Star. A telescope reveals an unrelated mag 8 companion star. Dist=433 ly.
SEEN BY TELESCOPE
γ Andromedae And Attractive double star. Bright orange star with mag 5 blue companion. Sep=9.8″.
γ Arietis Ari Impressive looking double blue-white star. Visible in a small telescope. Sep=7.8″.
M67 Cnc Contains 500+ stars mag 10 & fainter. One of the oldest clusters. Dist=2,350 ly.
η Cassiopeiae Cas Yellow star mag 3.4 & orange star mag 7.5. Dist=19 ly. Orbit=480 years. Sep=12″.
61 Cygni Cyg Attractive double star. Mags 5.2 & 6.1 orange dwarfs. Dist=11.4 ly. Sep=28.4″.
γ Delphini Del Appear yellow & white. Mags 4.3 & 5.2. Dist=100 ly. Struve 2725 double in same field.
θ Eridani Eri Striking blue-white double star. Mags 3.2 & 4.3. Visible in a small telescope. Sep=8.2″.
β Monocerotis Mon Triple star. Mags 4.6, 5.0 & 5.4. Requires telescope to view arc-shape. Sep=7.3″.
2264 Mon Christmas Tree Cluster. Associated with the Cone Nebula. Dist=2,450 ly.
σ Orionis Ori Superb multiple star. 2 mag 7 stars one side, mag 9 star on other. Struve 761 triple in field.
M1 Tau Crab Nebula. Remnant from supernova which was visible in 1054. Dist=6,500 ly.
M33 Tri Fine face-on spiral galaxy. Requires a large aperture telescope. Dist=2.3 million ly.
M81 UMa Beautiful spiral galaxy visible with binoculars. Easy to see in a telescope.
M82 UMa Close to M81 but much fainter and smaller.