2026, January 22: Moon Near Saturn as Jupiter Rules the Winter Night

January 22, 2026: A waxing crescent moon with earthshine approaches Saturn while brilliant Jupiter shines all night, retrograding in front of Gemini after evening twilight.

Venus, Saturn, Moon, January 3, 2025
Photo Caption – Venus, Saturn, Moon, January 3, 2025

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:12 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:53 p.m. CST.  Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.

This evening the moon approaches Saturn and bright Jupiter begins in nearly all-night westward journey.

Evening Moon Approaches Saturn

Saturn and Moon, January 22, 2026
Chart Caption – 2026, January 22: At 45 minutes after sunset, the crescent moon is to Saturn’s lower right in the southwestern sky.

Beginning 45 minutes after sunset, find the crescent moon, 17% illuminated, nearly 35° above the southwest horizon.  The lunar orb displays earthshine, a gentle light on the moon’s night portion from sunlight reflected from Earth’s features.  It is visible to the eye, but nicely seen through a binocular, and captured with a tripod-mounted camera or steady smartphone camera and exposures up to a few seconds.

Saturn is 6.8° to the moon’s upper left.  It is the brightest starlike body in the region, although it does not dominate the night like Jupiter.  To our eyes the bright planets appear as stars, while their surface or cloud details are seen through a telescope. Saturn’s rings are seen nearly edge on so that they resemble a line in the eyepiece.

Jupiter in Eastern Sky

Jupiter and Gemini, January 22, 2026
Chart Caption – 2026, January 22: At 90 minutes after sundown, bright Jupiter is in the east with the Gemini Twins.

At this hour bright Jupiter is low in the east-northeast, about 20° above the horizon.  At the end of evening twilight, 90 minutes after nightfall, the Jovian Giant is over one-third of the way from the horizon to overhead.  It is 8.3° to the upper right of Pollux and 10.0° to the lower right of Castor, the Gemini Twins. 

Jupiter retrogrades – appears to move westward – against the distant starfield. It is 0.6° to the upper left of Wasat (Delta Geminorum).  Use a binocular to see the planet and the star.

During the night, Jupiter and Gemini appear farther westward.  Before midnight, they are high in the southern sky and by the beginning of twilight tomorrow, they are in the west-northwest.

Tomorrow evening, the moon is to Saturn’s upper left.  Jupiter continues to dominate the night sky during its all-night trek westward.

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