January skies will feature conjunctions among Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and the moon. A conjunction is a very close approach in the sky between two bodies. (We say “in the sky” because conjunctive bodies, such as two planets or a planet and the moon, are nowhere near each other physically.)

On January 22, Venus and Saturn, low in the southwest at sunset, will come within a third of a degree of each other. They will be visible as the sun sets at 5 p.m., themselves setting by 7 p.m. An extremely thin crescent moon might be visible directly below them. The next evening, January 23, the moon will be a nice crescent above them and to their left. Two nights later, on January 25, the waxing moon will conjunct with Jupiter in the SSW.

Another nice show this month will be put on by Mars. The Red Planet, close to earth since its December opposition and now low in the east at sunset, will form a kite-shaped diamond with three other bright stars: white Elnath to the left, red Aldebaran to the right, and orangish Betelgeuse below.

Also in January skies:

The sun begins the month in Sagittarius, entering Capricornus on January 20. Days are getting longer since the December solstice, but only slowly. At mid-month, daylight will last about 9.5 hours and darkness will extend through 14.5 hours.

The moon’s dates are: Full (Wolf Moon) January 6; Third Quarter January 14; New January 21; First Quarter January 28.

December Meteor Showers: The Quadrantid shower (associated with asteroid 2003 EH1) peaks just before dawn on January 4. The Gamma Ursae Minorid shower (from an unidentified short-period parent) peaks in the predawn hours of January 19. Moonlight will degrade the Quadrantids, but lack of moon later in January will make for good Ursae Minorids viewing.

Best Sky Viewing Nights (Minimal Moon): January 14-27.

Sunset (Mid-Month): In the east, the Pleiades, Orion and Castor and Pollux are rising, with Mars joining Betelgeuse, Aldebaran and Elnath to make a nice display. Capella is bright-white in the ENE. Red Fomalhaut is very noticeable in the Southern Fish, low in the southeast. The Andromeda Galaxy is directly overhead, with Cassiopeia (a squashed “W”) a bit northward. The Great Square of Pegasus is just westward of overhead. Deneb is high in the northwest, Vega is below it, and Altair is lower yet, to the left and due westward.

Midnight (Mid-Month): Orange Arcturus and brilliant white Spica are rising in the east. To find them, first find the Big Dipper high in the northeast. Follow the arcing curve of the Dipper’s handle rightward and downward to Arcturus (“Arc to Arcturus”) and then continue that same arcing path onward to Spica. Leo, with burnt-orangish Regulus, is mid-height in the eastern sky. The front of the lion is easy to find, looking like a backward-facing question mark. Procyon is high in the south, to the left of Orion and well above Sirius. Cassiopeia is low in the northwest.

Sunrise (Mid-Month): Altair is rising in the east and Scorpius’Antares (looking like the Scorpion’s angry eye) is low in the southeast. Vega has returned, now high in the northeast, with Deneb below it and to the left. The great square of Corvus is low but striking-looking in the southwest. Leo is low in the west while Capella sets in the northwest.

Mercury is at its highest altitude above the eastern horizon in the morning sky just before dawn on January 24. A low horizon, such as looking eastward across Barker Reservoir, is necessary for seeing this elusive planet.

Venus is coming back, emerging from the sun’s rays and becoming fairly visible low in the WSW at sunset by mid-month. Night by night, Venus will rise higher and move leftward in the post-sunset sky.

Mars shines brightly in Taurus all month. It’s part of a temporary celestial triangle with white Elnath to its left, red Aldebaran to its right and the Pleiades cluster above it and to the right. Mars’ retrograde motion (rightward) toward the Pleiades ends on January 12 as we move away from it in our own orbit around the sun.

Jupiter moves into the evening southwestern sky, high above the horizon but setting by about 10 p.m.

Saturn is disappearing, getting low in the SSW at sunset. It sets before 7 p.m.

Notable Space Missions: Space-X Commercial Resupply Mission 27 (CRS-27) is scheduled to launch a Cargo Dragon capsule from Cape Canaveral to the International Space Station on January 10. NASA will launch the Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) satellite, to measure North American air pollution on an hourly basis, from Cape Canaveral later in the month. From its Tanegashima (Tanega Island) facility, Japan will launch a reconnaissance satellite for observations of North Korea. Germany will launch a radar reconnaissance satellite into a polar orbit from Vandenburg Air Force Base.

Frank Sanders is a spectrum scientist with the U.S. Department of Commerce in Boulder. He takes astronomy-related inquiries at backyardastronomy1@gmail.com.