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The moon is just past new phase as January opens. Jan. 3 sees Venus 1.4 degrees north of a slender crescent. On the following day, Saturn is 0.7 degrees south of the moon, an occultation for some parts of the world, but not the northern part of North America.

Jan. 5, Neptune is 1.1 degrees south, another occultation, but in the Eastern Hemisphere. The moon is at first quarter Jan. 6, and reaches perigee Jan. 7 at 370,171 kilometres from Earth. By Jan 9, Luna is four degrees north of Uranus, both objects among the stars of the Pleiades. Jupiter, not far away, is five degrees south of the moon Jan. 10. Full moon is Jan. 13, with Mars a scant 0.2 degrees away – this is an occultation for North American viewers, so might be an event to mark on calendars.

Uranus is joined by the moon Jan. 8/9. Jan. 22nd finds Spica 0.1 degrees north of the last-quarter moon, which is also at apogee of 404,298 kilometres from Earth. Antares is 0.3 degrees north of the moon, an occultation in the Â鶹´«Ã½AVern Hemisphere. New moon is Jan. 29.

Mercury is well placed in the dawn sky, becoming ever more gibbous as the month progresses. By month-end, the speedy planet is too near the sun to be seen.

Venus puts on a great show in the first half of 2025, prominently placed in the western evening sky. The thin crescent moon is nearby on Jan. 3, and Saturn is in conjunction Jan. 20, among the stars of Aquarius.

Mars is retrograding in Cancer, moving westward to Gemini by Jan 12, and occulted by the full moon Jan. 13th. The Red Planet also reaches closest approach to Earth Jan. 12. On the following day, the full moon occults Mars. By Jan. 21, Mars has moved to within two degrees of Pollux.

Jupiter is retrograding in Taurus, well overhead throughout the night. The giant gas planet is a great one to watch, noting the constant motions of the four Galilean satellites – the ones first observed with a telescope by Galileo in 1610. The waxing gibbous moon passes by Jan. 10.

Saturn shares the early evening sky with Venus and the waxing crescent moon Jan. 4. The rings will be of great interest, as a ring-crossing event occurs in March. Unfortunately, the planet is too close to the sun then to see the actual crossing. An interesting bit is that we’ll see the southern side of the rings only until 2039. Venus slowly climbs the ecliptic to be in conjunction with Saturn Jan. 20.

Uranus, retrograding in Aries near the Taurus border, is joined by the waxing gibbous moon Jan. 18. Try to spot the distant planet without visual aid – it’s tiny but the blue-green disk is quite distinct. A telling feature is the steady appearance – stars twinkle; planets don’t.

Neptune needs visual aid, usually a telescope, to be seen. The icy blue planet can be found among the stars of Pisces, the Fish, in the southwest after sunset.

The Quadrantid meteors peak on Jan. 3 at 15:00 UT (9 a.m. CST).

Earth is at perihelion on Jan. 4, 147,103,686 kilometres from the sun.

James Edgar has had an interest in the night sky all his life. He joined the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada in 2000, was national president for two terms, is now the editor of the  Observer’s Handbook, and production manager of the bi-monthly RASC Journal. The IAU named asteroid 1995 XC5 “(22421) Jamesedgar” in his honour and he was recently awarded a Fellowship of the RASC.