What's in the night sky for January 2026?

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Happy New Year to you all. I hope your festivities were fun and happy and that you had some periods of clear skies to do some late December stargazing. 

Below is a calendar for January 2026 - variopus sources were used in its compilation including High Scientific, The Sky at Night and The Royal Observatory at Greenwich. 

As alweays, if you feel somethging needs adding in - drop me a comment in teh box at the end of the post and I will update the calendar. 

Night	Astronomers	Astrophotographers
1st	The bright stars of Orion and the Winter Hexagon (Sirius, Betelgeuse, Capella, Aldebaran, Rigel) are prominent all night.	Sirius peaks high in the southern sky after midnight — a great calibration target for wide-field shots of the winter sky. Photo note: Grab star trails or wide Milky Way composites with Orion framing the scene.
2nd	Quadrantid meteor shower begins — the peak will occur overnight into Jan 3. Moon near perigee (closest point to Earth) in evening — bright and large Jupiter’s outermost moon Callisto reappears from behind Jupiter at 0200.	Meteor tip: The radiant (near the Big Dipper area) rises late; set cameras with wide fields covering the NE to maximize captures.
3rd	Quadrantid meteor shower peak after midnight into early morning — strong but mostly bright meteors; the near-full Moon will flood the sky. Full Wolf Supermoon peaks early on Jan 3— appears larger/brighter near the horizon Moon near Jupiter after sunset — bright pairing near Gemini for nightscape compositions. Earth at perihelion (closest to the Sun in orbit) also occurs around this date	Combo shot: Try a wide-field timelapse capturing the full moonrise with Jupiter and bright stars like Pollux and Castor.
4th	Moon wanes slightly; still dominating skies — but sets sooner, opening earlier dark for deep-sky views.	Orion and bright winter stars remain prime targets. Deep-sky tip: With moonlight fading post-midnight, target nebulae/clusters.
5th	Saturn visible low in southwestern evening early in the week
6th	Moon continues to wane each night, progressively better for deep sky. Io starts to transit Jupiter around 0155.	Planetary imaging: These evenings are good for early Jupiter or Saturn capture before moonlight dominates.
7th	Jupiter remains bright in eastern sky after sunset. Ganymede and its shadow transit Jupiter 0150 - 0545
8th	Third quarter Moon approaches; sets earlier in late evening, dark skies follow. Jupiter climbs higher before midnight.	Nightscapes: Jupiter, Orion, and Sirius make dramatic panoramas
9th	Jupiter at opposition, the best view of the year — visible all night with maximum brightness and disk size. Titan transits Saturn’s disc 1650 – 2230	Planetary imaging: Use high-FPS video + stacking to bring out Cumulus bands and Great Red Spot details.
10th	The Moon is in third quarter — good dark intervals for deep sky after moonset. Callisto transiting in front of its shadow 0655 dawn twilight
11th	1750 – 2040 Europa and its shadow touching during Jupitrer transit.	11th and 12th dark sky window for astrophotography
12th	Dark skies before new moon — excellent for deep-sky targets like the Orion Nebula (M42), Pleiades (M45), and Andromeda (M31).	Deep-sky workflow: Stack exposures with tracking for nebulae; use narrowband filters for emission regions.
13th	Jupiter still bright post-opposition; sets later each morning. Io and its shadow touch as they transit planet 0340 to 0600
14th	Ganymede and its shadow transit Jupiter. 0530
15th	Moon wanes toward New Moon on Jan 19 — ever-darkening evenings ideal for deep-sky and wide Milky Way.
16th
17th	Titan comes from behind Saturn’s disc 2022
18th	New moon
19th	The New Moon — prime for faint targets.	Deep-sky prime: Aim long subs on nebulae and galaxies; winter cores like M78 and IC434 (Horsehead Nebula) are perfect now. Darkest night of the month — best for faint galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae unaffected by lunar glare. After new Moon, thin crescent appears — use Earthshine for artistic moon portraits.
20th
21st
22nd
23rd	Crescent Moon near Saturn in the evening southwestern sky; Neptune nearby (requires optics). Saturn sits 2.2 degrees southwest of Neptune.	Conjunction shot: Wide fields with Saturn, Neptune (via telescope or long lens) and the Moon.
24th		Dark(er) evenings resume as Moon wanes — good for deep-sky or star trails.
25th	Jupiter still visible in early evening; rises later each night. Titan transits Saturn 1734 – 2135 – final chance to see a Titan transit for around 12 years
26th	Callisto transits Jupiter’s disc 2105 – 0110. Callisto’s shadow then follows suit 0055 – 0510
27th	Moon passes near the Pleiades — striking for wide-angle and binocular observation – around 2130	Photo idea: Frame Moon with M45 and a landscape foreground.
28th	Venus returns low after sunset late in January — emerging near the western horizon after sunset. View only with equipment fitted with suitable filters
29th	Venus climbs higher after sunset — bright beacon near western twilight
30th	**Waxing gibbous Moon near Jupiter — spectacular evening pair in Gemini. Jupiter & Moon remain close through late night/early morning.	Twilight duo: Use short telephoto (100–300 mm) for Moon–planet landscapes at twilight.
31st

Blogger isn't always the most intuitive platform to navigate - but it is free and simple to use and manage. To help you find information quickly on this blog, you can use the search bar using key words e.g. Asiair mini use the blog menu list by date use this page which will be regularly updated https://undersouthwestskies.blogspot.com/2025/12/want-to-find-something-quickly-on-my.html