January 12, 2026: Four planets and a waning crescent moon shape the mid-January night sky. Find Jupiter after opposition, Saturn and Neptune after sunset, and Uranus near the Pleiades.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:17 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:42 p.m. CST. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
Four planets and a waning crescent moon shape the mid-January night sky. Find Four planets, two bright and two dim, along with the moon, are visible during nighttime hours.
Before Sunrise
An hour before sunrise, the crescent moon, 33% illuminated, is less than 30° above the south-southeast horizon. This morning it is 6.1° to the lower right of Libra’s Zubenelgenubi, although the star’s name refers to its earlier association with Scorpius as one of the arachnid’s claws. The lunar orb is 19° to Spica’s lower left, Virgo’s brightest star.
While displaying a crescent phase, the moon is still bright enough to illuminate the landscape and cast shadows.
At this hour, Jupiter, brighter than all the stars in the night sky, is low in the west-northwest, below Castor and Pollux, the Gemini Twins. Just two nights after opposition, when Earth is between Jupiter and the sun, the Jovian Giant completes its all-night arc caused by Earth’s rotation.
After Sunset
After sunset, Saturn is about 45° up in the south-southwest an hour after nightfall. The planet is considerably dimmer than Jupiter and about the same visual intensity as Fomalhaut, the mouth of the Southern Fish, about 30° to the lower right.
Through a telescope, Saturn’s rings appear nearly as a line, a once-every-fifteen-year view when the rings are seen nearly edge-on from Earth.
Beginning about 90 minutes after sundown and lasting for roughly 90 minutes, look for Neptune in the same binocular field with Saturn. Place Saturn toward the lower right edge of the field. Neptune appears above the center of the view. Appearing as a very dim blue star, use averted (peripheral) vision by looking toward the center of the field.
Jupiter rises in the west-northwest a few minutes before sunset. Wait until it is higher in the sky. The planet continues to retrograde, appearing to move westward compared to the starry background near Castor and Pollux. This motion continues for another two months.
Uranus is easier to see than Neptune and can be spotted from dark rural locations without a binocular. Find Taurus’ Pleiades star cluster, high in the east-southeast during the early evening. The stellar bundle resembles a tiny dipper and is often first noticed with peripheral vision.
The Tilted World resembles an aquamarine star near 13 and 14 Tauri (Tau) and in the same binocular field with the Pleiades. Track the planet as it retrogrades.
As mid-January approaches, look for the bright planets and the moon. Use a binocular to find dim Uranus and Neptune.
Jupiter after opposition, Saturn and Neptune after sunset, and Uranus near the Pleiades.
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