The new year is working hard and provides us with a penumbral eclipse of the moon, Venus and Neptune that seem to come close. The sun also comes quite close to us and the quadrantids complete the picture. So sun, moon and stars in the sky in January 2020 make a lot of effort to impress us.
Shooting stars in January?
Shooting stars can be seen all year round. I have already described this in connection with the Perseids . The sky in January 2020 has the Quadrantids ready for us on 04.01.2020. From Berlin you can see up to 24 meteors per hour crashing on our planet around 07:00.
Important for observations and sightings is the so-called radiant. In celestial observation, this refers to the point from which the meteors seem to come.
In the sky in January 2020, this is 71° above the eastern horizon.
It gets warm in January #nicht
What are you most likely to think about in January when you're in Northern Europe? Cold, snow, ice on the puddles, scraping windows… But January holds a day that can prepare us for summer.
The sky in January 2020 is also the sky of perihelion.
On January 5, 2020, the Sun will be 5,000,000 km closer to our probably unique planet. That sounds like a hell of a lot, but it is put into perspective if you take the remaining 147,091,000 km as a basis. So leave the summer clothes in the closet.
The moon treats itself to a shadow
On 10.01.2020 is full moon. So far nothing special, if there would not still be sun and earth play a role. And anyone who can remember the lunar eclipse in 2018 (the one with Mars, which only happens every 100,000 years) also knows from my article on this topic that there are various eclipses . A penumbral eclipse in our latitudes can be observed in clear skies on 10.01.2020.
| Phase | Time |
| Moonrise | 3:46 pm |
| Beginning of the penumbral eclipse | 6:09 pm |
| End of the penumbral eclipse | 10:10 pm |
| Moonset | 08:55 a.m. |
New moon in the sky in January 2020
On 24.01.2020, the moon has once again made its round around the earth and hides something in the sky. For astrophotography, this is the time of celestial observations. The light that the moon then reflects is so small that other celestial bodies are not outshined. In addition, the narrow moonproof is also worth a photo.
Venus and Neptune on cuddle course
At the end of January there is still a spectacle to see that hundreds of years ago terrified mankind. Two planets seem to be getting very close.
In the sky in January 2020, the planets appear at 19:12 on 27.01.2020 on the southwestern horizon at 10° and pass within 0.11°. This is called a conjunction, but it will not be visible from my position. At 21:03 the two meet. Venus and Neptune are very close at 7:12 p.m., so looking southwest may be worthwhile.
Conclusion
Even on a cold January night, it can be worthwhile for astrophotographers to freeze their noses, because the sky in January 2020 has some highlights in store.