January 6, 2025: During the night the First Quarter moon and five bright planets – Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars are visible.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:18 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 4:36 p.m. CST. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.
During the night, the moon and five bright planets are visible.
Mercury and Mars before Sunrise
Mercury and Mars are visible before sunrise, nearly in opposite directions. The innermost planet is receding into bright sunlight. At 45 minutes before daybreak, it is nearly 5° above the southeast horizon and nearly 20° to Antares’ lower left, Scorpius’ brightest star.
Find a view toward the southeast, free from obstructions and use a binocular to initially locate it. While it is mixed with dawn’s early light, it is bright enough to see without the binocular’s optical assist.
Farther westward, bright Mars, outshining all other starlike bodies in the sky this morning, is 20° up in the west-northwest, 6.9° to Pollux’s upper left, a Gemini Twin. The other brother, Castor, is 11.1° to Mars’ lower right.
Venus and Saturn after Sundown
Four bright planets and the moon are visible after sunset. Begin with brilliant Venus, nearly one-third of the way from the southwest horizon to overhead. The planet nears its greatest elongation, when it appears farthest from the sun, in three evenings. Through a telescope, the planet is slightly gibbous.
Venus steps eastward toward a slow-moving Saturn, 11.0° to the Evening Star’s upper left. The gap between them is noticeably smaller each evening. From night to night, Venus moves eastward about two full moon widths.
First Quarter Moon
The moon is at its evening half-full phase (First Quarter) at 5:56 p.m. Central Time. One hour after sundown, it is over halfway up in the south, nearly 25° to the lower right of Hamal, Aries’ brightest star.
Jupiter, Taurus
Farther eastward, bright Jupiter is nearly halfway up in the east. It retrogrades in front of Taurus, 5.5° to Aldebaran’s upper left, the Bull’s brightest star. During the next two months, watch its movement compared to the star.
Mars Approaches Opposition
At this hour, Mars is above the east-northeast horizon. By two hours after sunset, it is over 10° up in the sky, 6.7° to Pollux’ lower left. The Red Planet retrogrades in front of dim Cancer as it nears the closest approach to Earth on the 12th and opposition three nights later. The planet ranks as the fourth brightest in the sky this evening after Venus, Jupiter and Sirius after the Dog Star rises.
Look for the four bright planets and moon from west-northwest to southwest. They seem to hang along an arc of the solar system’s plane, known as the ecliptic. The background stars are called the zodiac or circle of animals.
During the night Mars is farther eastward from Earth’s rotation. Around midnight, it is high in the southern sky and in the west-northwest tomorrow morning, slightly lower than this morning’s view.
During the night look for the five bright planets and the First Quarter moon.
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