2026, January 31: Nearly Full Snow Moon Aligns with Jupiter and Pollux

January 31, 2026: Before sunrise, the nearly Full Snow moon appears between bright Jupiter and Pollux. See where to look, how far apart they are, and what changes after sunset.

2019, February 28: Morning Star Venus, Saturn, Moon, and Jupiter arch across the southeastern morning sky. The moon as about midway between Jupiter and Saturn.
Photo Caption – 2019, February 28: Morning Star Venus, Saturn, Moon, and Jupiter arch across the southeastern morning sky. The moon as about midway between Jupiter and Saturn.

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.

Daylight Increases

As the first month of the new year ends, daylight lasts 10 hours, 1 minute at Chicago’s latitude.  From Miami, the sun shines for 10 hours, 59 minutes, while daylight spans 7 hours, 43 minutes in Anchorage.  Since New Year’s Day, in Chicago daylight increased 48 minutes, 25 minutes in Miami, and 2 hours, 3 minutes in Anchorage.

Early Morning View of Jupiter, Moon, and Pollux

Jupiter, Moon, Pollux, January 31, 2026
Chart Caption – 2026, January 31: In the west-northwest, three hours before sunrise, the moon is between Jupiter and Pollux, a Gemini Twin.

This morning the nearly Full Snow moon appears between bright Jupiter and Gemini’s Pollux, one of the Twins.  To see this takes an early alarm in North America.  At three hours before sunrise, the moon, 97% illuminated, is about one-fourth of the way from the west-northwest horizon to overhead.  It is 4.5° above Jupiter and 4.3° below Pollux.  Jupiter, Moon, and Pollux span nearly 8.9°, too wide to fit into the same binocular field of view.  Last September when the moon was a morning crescent, the group of three tightly fit into a standard binocular field (7.5°).

This morning the moon sets about 40 minutes before daybreak, but view this interesting display of Jupiter, Moon and Pollux, about 90 minutes before the start of morning twilight.

Evening Moon

Jupiter, Moon, Gemini, January 31, 2026
Chart Caption – 2026, January 31: An hour after sunset, the moon is below Pollux, a Gemini Twin, and bright Jupiter in the eastern sky.

The moon revolves eastward about 13° every 24 hours.  That distance is more that distance across a hand’s knuckles extended to arm’s length, that are about 10° across from thumb to pinky finger.

After sunset this evening, the 99% lit lunar orb is about 20° above the east-northeast horizon, and nearly 15° to Jupiter’s lower left and less than 10° below Pollux.

The moon is Full tomorrow at 4:09 p.m.

Set an early alarm to see the bright moon between Jupiter and Pollux.  Look again after sundown so see the eastward direction the moon moved since this morning.

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