The new year opens with a better than average meteor shower and a great display of planets, including a six-planet alignment. Venus, Jupiter and Mars shine brightly among the stars in January. Venus, which outshines all the stars and planets, is at its greatest eastern elongation. Because Venus is about 47 degrees offset from the sun from our perspective, with good binoculars it shows a disk that is slightly more than half lit. It may be seen high above the southwestern horizon shortly after the onset of twilight. On Jan. 2 and 3, Venus is within 10 degrees of the waxing crescent moon. A fist width on an outstretched arm is approximately equal to 10 degrees. The pair make for a stunning early evening sight.

In mid-January, Jupiter is a month past opposition, the position when the planets outside Earth’s orbit are opposite the Sun in the celestial sphere. Jupiter, at magnitude -2.7 for most of January, is at its closest and brightest to Earth, the best view in a decade. Jupiter may be observed about 40 degrees above the southeast horizon after dusk and in the southwest at midnight. It shines brightly among the stars in the eye-popping constellations of Taurus and Orion. Those two constellations have three of the top 20 brightest among stars and the most dazzling array of bright stars, asterisms, star clusters and nebulae in the entire northern hemisphere sky.

Mars also puts on a show during January, reaching opposition by mid-month and reaching a peak brightness at -1.4, nearly as bright as Sirius, the brightest star. Look for the red planet in the east during early evening and high in the southern sky among the stars of Gemini at midnight. Saturn may be observed in the southwest during early evening sky, but the rings are not favorable for viewing since they are nearly edge on from our perspective. Mercury is visible in the southeast morning sky, and Uranus is in the west. Binoculars, knowing where to look, and a dose of patience are needed to spot the outer two gas giants Uranus and Neptune.

It is helpful to understand the origin and nature of the magnitude scale when observing the brightness of celestial bodies. The light from celestial bodies that we observe is apparent magnitude; how bright objects are to the observer. However, that does not tell you how intrinsically bright the star is if all stars were observed from a standard distance. The intrinsic brightness of a star depends upon on its mass, temperature and size and is also referred to as absolute magnitude. The lower the number the brighter the object.

The magnitude scale dates back to 190 B.C. to the days of the Greek astronomer Hipparchus. He developed a qualitative brightness scale where a first magnitude star is the brightest; a 1, down to the faintest object the eye can see under dark conditions with minimal light pollution, magnitude 6. Astronomers developed a logarithmic scale from 0 to 6, where the fifth power of 2.512 = 100. An object with a zero magnitude is approximately 2.5 times brighter than one with a magnitude of 1. Objects brighter than 0 magnitude are given minus designations. The following table shows a sample of the magnitudes of the brightest planets and stars along with some fainter stars for comparison.

Object ——— Magnitude

Sun  ——— 26.7

Full Moon ——— 12.7

Venus ——— 4.9

Mars  ——— 2.9

Sirius (Canis major) ——— 1.5

Saturn ——— 0.5

Arcturus (Bootes) ——— 0.05

Vega (Lyra) ———    + 0.03

Capella (Auriga) ———        + 0.08

Rigel (Orion) ——— + 0.03

Betelgeuse (Orion) ———    + 0.50

Polaris (Ursa Minor) ———  + 1.98

Uranus ——— + 5.7 *

* approximate limit of unaided eye visibility under dark skies

The new year also begins with a great meteor shower called the Quadrantids, named after a grouping of stars no longer recognized as a constellation. However, you will need to be a night owl or set your alarm for midnight when they are most visible. This shower results from a now extinct comet that left behind a debris cloud of dust grains. It reaches a maximum on Jan. 3 and 4, and should put on a good show with over 40 meteors per hour. The crescent moon will have set, giving good views in a dark sky. The meteors will radiate from the constellation Bootes (shaped like a kite and near the Big Dipper’s handle), but can also appear in other parts of the sky. Look high in the northeastern sky for the region where most of the meteors radiate. Lastly, don’t forget to look out for the Wolf Moon, the full moon occurring on Jan. 12, so named for the howling hungry wolves in the cold depth of winter.

Key Events to watch out for during 2025: Total Lunar Eclipse on March 14 and several good meteor showers throughout the year. Astronomers also expect another great year for aurorae, since the sun is still at the end of the solar maximum in the 11-year cycle. We will also experience three super moons in 2025; October, November, and December.

Ken Corey, Ph.D., is a retired professor and science teacher, and conducted research for NASA in the field of Astrobiology. He now resides in Vergennes. Look for his column on the first Thursday of the month in Arts+Leisure.