The bright object to the right of the Moon is Jupiter. A small telescope or a steady pair of binoculars can bring Jupiter’s brightest moons into view. To the left are Castor and Pollux, the brightest stars in the constellation Gemini. Together, they form a noticeable L shape in the January sky.

The month brings a strong lineup of celestial sights, including a supermoon, meteor activity, and several close moon-planet encounters.

Jupiter is about to dominate the night sky, lining up with Earth and the Sun in a way that makes the giant planet appear bigger and brighter than at any other time this year. Around January 10, Jupiter reaches opposition,

The final night of 2025 is the perfect time to watch the moon close to the Pleiades, find the brightest star in the night sky and see Jupiter close to its best.

On Dec. 28, 2000, NASA’s Galileo spacecraft discovered auroras on Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon. Galileo launched in 1989 on a mission to study Jupiter and its moons. It also flew by Venus and Earth on its way there.

Jupiter is about to dominate the midwinter sky, turning January evenings into a showcase for the biggest planet in the solar system. As Earth lines up almost perfectly with Jupiter and the sun, the gas giant will shine at its brightest and stay visible all night,

The ocean on Ganymede may have more water than all the water on Earth. In this artist’s concept, the moon Ganymede orbits the giant planet Jupiter. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observed aurorae on the moon generated by Ganymede’s magnetic fields.