January 30, 2026: The nearly Full Snow Moon shines near Jupiter tonight, with Saturn low in the southwest. See where to look and what changes overnight.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:05 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:04 p.m. CST. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
Tonight, Jupiter and the nearly Full (Snow) moon dominate the night sky, while Saturn slowly departs the southwest.
Jupiter and Snow Moon
Step outside about an hour after sunset. The bright moon, 95% illuminated, is less than halfway up in the eastern sky. The Full phase occurs on February 1 at 4:09 p.m. Central Time. The lunar orb is bright enough to illuminate the ground for a nighttime walk, especially when snow covers the landscape.
Bright Jupiter is 3.7° to the moon’s lower left. The Jovian Giant is the brightest starlike body in the sky, outshining all other stars, including Sirius — the night’s brightest star. Venus retakes that ranking when it emerges from bright sunlight later next month. Through a telescope, Jupiter’s cloud features and its four largest moons are easily visible.
Jupiter Retrogrades
Jupiter retrogrades in front of Gemini, nearly 9° to Pollux’s upper right and over 10° to Castor’s lower right, the Gemini Twins. Retrograde is an illusion that occurs when faster-moving Earth passes a planet farther from the sun. Normally, Jupiter moves eastward in front of the sidereal background. When Earth overtakes and passes Jupiter every 399 days, the large planet appears to reverse direction against the starfield. This year, Jupiter’s retrograde ends on March 10. The planet then resumes its eastward ramble.
As Earth rotates and the celestial scene appears farther westward, look later tonight for the gap between the moon and Jupiter to shorten. Tomorrow morning before sunrise, the moon passes between the planet and Pollux.
Saturn in Southwest
An hour after sunset, Saturn is the other bright planet in the sky tonight. The moon is too bright to easily see Uranus and Neptune. The Ringed Wonder is about 30° above the southwest horizon. Each night it begins the evening farther westward and lower in the sky. In a week, Saturn is noticeably lower than it is tonight.
While considerably dimmer than Jupiter, Saturn displays its rings through a telescope — now viewed nearly edge-on — along with up to eight of its moons.
Saturn sets about four hours after sun, about an hour before Jupiter and Moon are in the southern sky.
Tonight, after sunset, find the Jupiter, Saturn, and the bright moon.
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