January 15, 2026: The waning crescent moon appears near Antares in the southeastern sky before sunrise. Learn when to see it and how to photograph earthshine during morning twilight.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:16 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:45 p.m. CST. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
Morning Moon and Antares
The waning crescent moon is ending its lunation. Find it in the southeastern sky during morning twilight.
At 45 minutes before sunrise, the moon, 10% illuminated, is nearly 10° above the southeast horizon.
The moon is 8.8° to Antares’ lower left, Scorpius’ brightest star. They are too far apart to fit into the same binocular field.
The New Moon phase occurs on January 18 at 1:52 p.m. Central Time, beginning lunation 1275, the number of lunar cycles counted since the system began over a century ago. The lunar orb reappears after sunset in the west-southwest on the 20th.
Photograph Earthshine
Capture earthshine — sunlight reflected from Earth’s clouds, oceans, and land that softly illuminates the lunar night — with a tripod-mounted camera or a steady handheld smartphone camera. Experiment with several exposures at this level of twilight, from one-quarter second up to a few seconds.
Look for the crescent moon near Antares during morning twilight.
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