Astroblog: Thursday January 22 to Thursday January 29

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Thursday January 22 to Thursday January 29

The First Quarter Moon is Monday January 26. Saturn is low in the western sky and close to the thin crescent Moon on the 23rd. Jupiter is rising before astronomical twilight and was at opposition, when it biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 10th. Uranus can be seen in binoculars above the Pleiades cluster.

The First Quarter Moon is Monday January 26.

Eastern sky on the evening of Saturday, January 24 as seen from Adelaide at 22:07 ACDST ( 90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

The planet Uranus is theoretically visible to the unaided eye from Dark sky locations, as it is magnitude 5.7, but it is best seen with binoculars. The beautiful and obvious Pleiades cluster is the signpost to the faint planet.

The inset is the binocular view of the Pleiades and Uranus at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time ( 90 minutes after sunset).

Western sky on Friday, January 23 as seen from Adelaide at 21:31ACDST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Saturn is lowering in the west and is just above the crescent Moon.

The inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).

North-eastern sky on Saturday, January 24 as seen from Adelaide at 22:07 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Jupiter was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 10th, but will be bright for many months.

The inset shows the telescopic view of Jupiter at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

Whole sky on Saturday, Saturday, January 24 as seen from Adelaide at 22:07 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Saturn is lowering in the northwest. Jupiter is rising in the northeast.

Bright Canopus and Sirius are rising. Orion is now high in the north-western sky.

The Southern Cross is low in the Southern sky. The moon is waxing and the fainter clusters and nebula are becoming harder to see.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury is lost in the twilight.

Venus is lost in the twilight glow.

Mars is lost in the twilight.

Jupiter climbs in the morning twilight and is now rising before astronomical twilight. Jupiter forms a triangle with the bright stars Castor and Pollux, and Procyon. Jupiter was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 10th.

Saturn is the brightest object in the north-western skies but is getting lower. Saturn is just above the crescent Moon on the 23rd.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky