“What’s Up?”, updated 6 January 2026
Starting January 2026, this section will feature a monthly summary of what is happening in the skies above us. It will be updated during the first days of each month to include celestial events for that particular month. We are almost one week into the New Year, and this is the time of year where northern hemisphere locations are experiencing their latest sunrise of the year (except for the “artificially” later sunrises in late October due to daylight saving time). Days have begun to lengthen, with the sun going down noticeably later each evening these days. The effect is more significant the further north one goes.
The planet Jupiter reaches opposition on the night of January 10th. It is already visible in the early evening low in the east northeast as it gets dark, and it continues to rise earlier and earlier until it rises at almost exactly sunset on January 10th. The planet is brightest, appears largest through telescopes, and is nearest to the Earth for this year. As the weeks continue to speed by, the planet will rise earlier and earlier each day, soon already being visible in the sky as the first stars come out.
Venus is passing behind the Sun as seen from Earth today, something known as Superior Conjunction. It is actually about the sun’s own diameter south of the star and virtually invisible. It will reappear very low in the evening sky next month, around February 2nd. Mars follows 3 days later, passing just south of the Sun. It will take much longer to return to view, becoming visible in the predawn sky sometime in May. Mercury is also behind the Sun, passing conjunction about one week after Mars, and will become visible in the evening sky sometime in February. Saturn is visible high in the southern sky these early January evenings, but works its way westward with each passing week.
The waning Moon is a gibbous visible mainly in the predawn sky. It passed close to (less than 3 degrees from) Regulus in Leo this morning (January 6), and on January 10th, it will be about 5.5 degrees right of Spica in Virgo as it passes last quarter phase. On the morning of January 14, the waning crescent Moon comes within 3 degrees of Antares, the red heart of the Scorpius constellation. As the dawn brightens the eastern sky, the Moon will inch closer and closer to Antares. As seen from Australia, the Moon covers (eclipses) Antares. The next opportunity for the US to view an Antares eclipse is not until May 10, 2028. The crescent Moon is last visible in the dawn sky as a very thin crescent on January 16.
Over the next several days, the Moon transitions from the morning to the evening sky. It appears low in the west southwest by the 20th and slides past Saturn on the 22nd of January. By January 27th, the Moon has become a waxing gibbous, positioned less than 2 degrees left of the Pleiades as seen looking high in the southeast sky about one hour after sunset. On the 30th of January, the Moon is found near Jupiter. This provides an opportunity to watch the Moon’s eastward orbital drift. The Moon is a 96% illuminated waxing gibbous passing closest to Jupiter around 9 pm CST. At dusk the Moon forms a lopsided box that includes itself, Jupiter, and the twin stars Pollux and Castor. At around 11 pm CST, the Moon crosses an imaginary line connecting Jupiter and Castor. Then at 2 am CST (on the morning of the 31st), it is situated in the middle of a row it forms with Pollux and Jupiter. The Moon drifts about its own diameter east each hour due to orbital motion, but is usually unnoticed–unless it passes by and makes shapes with conspicuous landmarks (skymarks).
Images of the March 14, 2025 total lunar eclipse can be viewed here.
We observed two solar eclipses less than six months apart. Check out images from these celestial events at this site.
We observed and imaged the total lunar eclipsed that occurred during the predawn hours of 8 November 2022. The images and report can be viewed at https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/cosmic-corner/total-lunar-eclipse-2022-1-2/. Partial lunar eclipse began at 3:09 am CST, total eclipse started at 4:16 am CST, maximum eclipse (when the Moon should appear darkest) at 4:59 am CST, total eclipse ended at 5:42 am CST, and partial eclipse finished at 6:49 am. The subtle penumbral shading was detectable some 30 to 40 minutes before and after the partial stages. Lots more information can be found at Sky and Telescope’s eclipse page.
Over a year ago, a Total Lunar Eclipse, with totality lasting nearly 85 minutes, was visible across North and South America (except the far northwest part of North America). Partial eclipse began at 9:28 pm CDT (May 15), totality began at 10:29 pm, mid eclipse was 11:12 pm, total eclipse ended at 11:54 pm and partial eclipse ended at 12:56 pm, CDT (May 16). We did observe the event and got pictures, check out this website for these.
Jupiter was hit by a meteor in 2021, see https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/jupiter-whacked-again-japanese-astronomers-record-possible-impact/, for more information on what is the 11th confirmed observation of a fireball to burn up in its atmosphere. We plan to organize a campaign to watch for fireballs in Venus’ atmosphere early this summer; check back for more details in the near future. There was another event documented on 28 August 2023. You can read all about it at this website.
The Perseverance rover continues to perform wonderful feats of science, from finding evidence of a raging river, to making 10 g of pure oxygen from the Martian air to watching a small drone helicopter take its 51st flight over the Martian wasteland. For more information on it and other activity on Mars, visit mars.jpl.nasa.gov. Also, Curiosity has returned some beautiful sunset pictures of cirrus-like clouds in the Martian sky.
Observations of the partial phase of the May 2021 lunar eclipse (taken with smartphone and a University telescope), along with unfiltered, stacked galaxy and cluster images, can be viewed from the project update website https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/cosmic-corner/project-summary-2/. We are currently experiencing an extended spell of inclement weather, preventing much observing, but as conditions improve we plan to resume nighttime observations along with regular solar observations. Information on all the eclipses that will occur in 2022 can be found at this link.
The PVO complex has 3 domes, including the existing “Classic” Solar Observatory, and two new domes. For updates on this progress check out https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/cosmic-corner/project-summary-2/. Also, more information and images can be viewed at https://sites.google.com/view/saganti-astro/home. The two newer domes contain our Meade 16-inch advanced telescope (east dome, an Astrohaven clamshell-type dome) and a new 0.6 meter (24-inch) PlaneWave Corrected Dall-Kirkham telescope (west dome, an Ash dome). The design features these two domes situated east and west of a visitor’s center, which is immediately north of the existing Solar Observatory. Work is planned to resume on the 24-inch in early 2024.