01/03/2026
** January Stargazer is out **
Quadrantids Shower to peak early January
December 24, 2025
by Paul Morgan for News-Review
But hard to see due to full moon
Only gas giant planets grace January night skies.
Look to the south-southwest tonight to spot bright Saturn. Dim Neptune hides nearby. Very bright Jupiter can be seen low in the east-northeast as the sky darkens. Dim Uranus can be found with binoculars below the Pleiades in Ta**us. Mercury, Venus, and Mars are lost in the sun’s glare.
Saturn will slowly traverse from Aquarius to Pisces. Each night this month, Saturn will appear to drift a bit more westward and set a bit earlier. Best telescope views will be early in the month just as the sky becomes dark. The famous rings appear to slowly tilt narrower and will look like a dark line as January closes.
Jupiter rules January. The largest gas giant planet is up all night in early January. Jupiter is opposite the sun January 10th or at opposition. As the sun sets, Jupiter rises and is visible all night.
Telescope observers than can brave the cold on a clear night may seek to find the Great Red Spot in the middle of Jupiter’s disk from 6-9pm on January 6, 11, 16, 18, 21, and 23.
Another Jupiter observing challenge is watching the large moons cross Jupiter’s disk. Look from 5 to 8:30pm January 5,6,7,12,26, and 28.
Major Meteor Shower
The Quadrantids Meteor Shower peaks on the night of January 2-3. Unfortunately a full moon will spoil this frosty light show. Meteor enthusiasts may want to set their alarm for 3 to 4am to seek a few bright meteors called “fireballs.”
Earth at Perihelion and Sunrise
At 9:00am January 3rd, Earth will be at its closest distance from the sun or at perihelion. On January 3rd we will be only 91.4 million miles from the sun and not the 92,955,807.3 miles average distance aka known as an astronomical unit (AU).
It seems counter intuitive that we earthlings are closest to the sun in January with the cold but the sun appears at its annual lowest altitude in late December and early January each year. This low noon sun angle dramatically reduces the heat from the sun.
As we in the northern hemisphere are tilted away from the sun by 23.5 degrees at perihelion, we experience the cold of winter.
January bring the latest sunrise to Douglas County at 7:45:27am.
We well gain a minuter more of sunshine by January 10th and 16 minutes by month’s close.
Umpqua Community College Observatory
Nearly completed construction and clearing mild late spring skies of 2026 will see a return to public nights at the observatory. The observatory staff will be available to host programs school during winger 2025-26 and spring of 2026.
Donations for the observatory at the UCC Foundation are welcome to support public and school outreach.
Umpqua Astronomers Meeting
Interested is astronomy or perhaps your children about the planets and start? You can contact the observatory message phone and leave a call back number to get a link to the monthly Umpqua Astronomers Zoom meeting. Learn about club activities, constellations, astronomy news and observing targets and tips.
Umpqua Astronomers and the interested public can join a virtual meeting monthly on Zoom. The meeting is 7:00pm, January 13, 2026. Paul Morgan will host and will discuss astronomy news and
winter star gazing.
More information:
Umpqua.edu/observatory, tinyurl.com/38nsrkjs, [email protected] or (541) 440-4719
