Scruton Sky at Night – January 2025

by Graham Dodds

Some interesting astronomical events to look out for in January. On the 4th we may see a Lunar occultation of Saturn. Our second largest gas giant will disappear behind the Moon, reappearing over an hour later: look to the South around 17:00 hrs. From the early part of the month, ending on the 12th the Quadrantid meteor shower will be active.

On the 16th Mars, the Red Planet, will be at it’s closest, brightest and largest as observed from Earth. Look out for it at late evening, near Gemini (The Twins), as shown on this chart:

Find lots more at: https://in-the-sky.org

Throughout the whole month, the dominant constellation will be Orion. Look below the three stars that make up the ‘belt’ and you’ll see the ‘sword’, a beautiful object to look at through a small telescope or binoculars of above 60 mm diameter. It contains a region known as M42; likely birthplace of future stars, such as our Sun.

The Moon – First quarter 🌓 is on the 6th and a full moon 🌕 occurs on the 21st. The new moon 🌑 is on the 29th.