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| January 2 | Asteroid 40 Harmonia in Full Opposition |
| January 3 | Full Wolf Supermoon |
| January 3–4 | Quadrantids Meteor Shower Predicted peak |
| January 10 | Jupiter in Full Opposition |
The stargazing calendar for 2026 will get off to a little bit of a opposite begin. January is all about opposition, which is the astronomical time period for a configuration where a celestial object is directly opposite the sun in the sky. These configurations usually present nice alternatives for viewing the thing in query, as a result of from our perspective, it will likely be each totally illuminated and likewise far faraway from the solar’s glare. Here’s what’s on faucet for the primary month of the brand new 12 months.
January 2: Asteroid 40 Harmonia In Full Opposition
2026 begins with a chance to try an asteroid: Asteroid 40 Harmonia. The area rock is positioned within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Harmonia is mainly notable for its measurement: at slightly below 70 miles in diameter, it’s within the high 1 p.c of the biggest asteroids ever noticed.
Even so, you’ll want a good telescope to get a take a look at it when it reaches full opposition to the solar on the night of January 2. If you’re possessed of such a telescope, In the Sky recommends searching for the asteroid at its peak elevation above the southern horizon, simply earlier than midnight on January 2.
January 3: Full Wolf Supermoon
The first full moon of 2026 is the Wolf Moon. And it’s a supermoon—the fourth in a row! As per the Farmer’s Almanac, it should attain full illumination at 5:03 a.m. EST on January 3, so set your alarm and get howling.
It additionally goes together with early January’s opposition theme. A full moon can also be principally a case of two celestial our bodies—on this case, the solar and the moon—being on reverse sides of the earth. The moon is tidally locked to the Earth, so one in every of its hemispheres all the time faces in the direction of us. When the moon is full, that hemisphere is straight reverse the solar. In dealing with in the direction of us, it is usually positioned straight towards the solar. This means the whole hemisphere is illuminated by daylight, permitting us to see it.
January 3–4: Quadrantids Meteor Shower Predicted Peak
Unfortunately for meteor lovers, the supermoon will virtually definitely obscure this 12 months’s installment of the Quadrantids. This bathe isn’t tremendous easy to catch at one of the best of occasions—its peak solely lasts just a few hours, though the meteors themselves might be spectacularly fiery and vibrant. This 12 months’s peak is predicted for the night time of January 3 and early hours of January 4. If you’re fortunate, you would possibly nonetheless see a fireball or two within the northeastern sky.
January 10: Jupiter In Full Opposition
As January’s celestial objects in full opposition to the solar theme continues, a brand new challenger arrives on January 10. Look up there within the constellation Gemini! Is it a chook? Is it a aircraft? Is it an absolute unit? Well, technically talking it’s really a colossal ball of hydrogen and helium that weighs greater than twice as a lot as each different planet mixed, and it’s rumbling into the night time sky this month with out an oz of disgrace.
We communicate, in fact, of Jupiter, the stoutest of stout celestial our bodies. January 10 will present top-of-the-line probabilities to see our photo voltaic system’s largest planet in all its glory. Jupiter will rise within the east at sundown and shall be highest within the sky round midnight. Technically, it should attain full opposition at 3:34 a.m. EST on January 10, however it needs to be simply seen to the bare eye all night time.
Anyone with a small telescope (or even some decent binoculars) also needs to have the ability to see Jupiter’s 4 Galilean moons—Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. If you’re questioning, they’re referred to as the Galilean moons as a result of they have been first recognized as moons of Jupiter by Galileo Galilei in early 1610.
Anyway, do not forget that you’ll get one of the best expertise should you get away from any sources of sunshine air pollution,let your eyes acclimatize to the darkness,and try our stargazing suggestions earlier than heading off into the night time.
Until subsequent month!
2025 PopSci Outdoor Gift Guide
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you may go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://www.popsci.com/science/stargazing-guide-january-2026/
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