Evening sky, looking south at 7PM EDT on Saturday 04 January 2020 Sky Safari star chart annotated (Annotable) by Peter Tagatac

January’s Evening Planets

Bright Venus will be in Capricornus the Sea-Goat until 7 PM in the first half of January, and in Aquarius the Water Bearer until 8 PM in the second half of the month. Find Mercury in Capricornus the Sea-Goat until 6 PM in the last week of January. Find Uranus in Pisces the Fish until 2 AM and setting earlier every night. Neptune will be in Aquarius the Water Bearer until 10 PM and setting earlier every night.

January’s Evening Stars

The Winter Triangle of Sirius (the brightest star viewed from Earth) in Canis Major the Great Dog; Betelgeuse in Orion the Hunter; and Procyon in Canis Minor the Small Dog will be up all night. Find Castor and Pollux in Gemini the Twins, Rigel in Orion, Aldeberan in Taurus the Bull, and bright Capella in Auriga the Charioteer. See the stars of constellations Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Perseus, Cepheus, Draco, Aries, Taurus, and Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (the Big and Little Dippers).

January’s Morning Planets

Red Mars will be moving between Libra the Scales and Sagittarius the Archer in January, it will be up as of 4 AM. Jupiter will be in Sagittarius the Archer 5 AM in the last week of January, and Saturn will be in Sagittarius the Archer 6 AM in the last week of January.

January’s Morning Stars

The Winter Triangle of Sirius, Betelgeuse, and Procyon will be up until morning. Find Capella in Auriga, Arcturus in Boötes the Herdsman, Spica in Virgo, Vega in Lyra, and Aldeberan in Taurus until the morning. See the stars of Leo, Gemini, Cassiopeia, Hercules, Hydra, Cepheus, Draco, Libra, and the two Dippers.

January Skylights

Jan 1 Moon at apogee (251,400 miles away)
Jan 2 First Quarter Moon at 11:45 PM
Jan 4 Quadrantids Meteor Shower peaks- predawn
Jan 5 Earth at Perihelion (91.4 million miles form Sun)
Jan 10 Full Moon at 2:20 PM
Jan 13 Moon at perigee (227,400 miles away)
Jan 17 Last quarter moon at 7:15 AM
Jan 22 Jupiter is 0.5° north of Moon 10 PM
Jan 24 New Moon at 4:40 PM
Jan 29 Moon at apogee (251,900 miles away)
Jan 31 Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Spica are lined, Dawn