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Ephemeris: 01/01/2026 – Previewing January’s skies
Happy New Year, this is Ephemeris for New Year’s Day, Thursday,
January 1st 2026. The Sun will rise at 8:20. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 52 minutes, setting at 5:13. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning.
As we start a new year let’s take a look at the calendar we’ve adopted from the Romans. When first adopted there were only 10 months, and it began in March. That’s why the months September through December actually means 7 through the 10th month respectively. Originally they didn’t count January and February, (I kind of agree with them there). But eventually they added them to the calendar. And starting in 153 BCE the Romans moved the beginning of the year to January 1st. January was named for the Roman god Janus, who also had a face on the back of his head, looking both forward and backward, as we too look back at the year past and ahead at the year just starting, hoping for a happier one.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
January Evening Star Chart
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 PM EST in the evening and 6 AM on the 16th for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian, West 75° longitude. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT), so the skies may not exactly match as seen from other locations.
January Morning Star Chart
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- The leaky bowl of the Big Dipper drips on Leo.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, then
- Follow the spike to Spica.
- QuadR on the star charts is the radiant of the Quadrantid meteor shower which peaks on the 3rd at 4:34 PM EST (21:14 UT).
Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical
| EST | |||||||
| Morning | Twilight | Evening | Twilight | Dark | Night | Moon | |
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2026-01-01 | 6h35m | 7h11m | 18h22m | 19h01m | – | – | 98% |
| 2026-01-02 | 6h35m | 7h11m | 18h23m | 19h02m | – | – | 100% |
| 2026-01-03 | 6h35m | 7h11m | 18h24m | 19h03m | – | – | 99% |
| 2026-01-04 | 6h35m | 7h11m | 18h25m | 19h04m | – | – | 96% |
| 2026-01-05 | 6h35m | 7h11m | 18h26m | 19h05m | 19h05m | 20h10m | 90% |
| 2026-01-06 | 6h35m | 7h11m | 18h27m | 19h06m | 19h06m | 21h26m | 82% |
| 2026-01-07 | 6h35m | 7h11m | 18h27m | 19h07m | 19h07m | 22h37m | 74% |
| 2026-01-08 | 6h35m | 7h10m | 18h28m | 19h08m | 19h08m | 23h45m | 64% |
| 2026-01-09 | 6h35m | 7h10m | 18h29m | 19h08m | 19h08m | – | 54% |
| 2026-01-10 | 6h35m | 7h10m | 18h30m | 19h09m | 19h09m | 0h51m | 45% |
| 2026-01-11 | 6h35m | 7h10m | 18h31m | 19h10m | 19h10m | 1h57m | 35% |
| 2026-01-12 | 6h35m | 7h10m | 18h33m | 19h11m | 19h11m | 3h03m | 27% |
| 2026-01-13 | 6h34m | 7h09m | 18h34m | 19h12m | 19h12m | 4h09m | 19% |
| 2026-01-14 | 6h34m | 7h09m | 18h35m | 19h14m | 19h14m | 5h14m | 12% |
| 2026-01-15 | 6h34m | 7h08m | 18h36m | 19h15m | 19h15m | 6h15m | 7% |
| 2026-01-16 | 6h33m | 7h08m | 18h37m | 19h16m | 19h16m | 6h33m | 3% |
| 2026-01-17 | 6h33m | 7h08m | 18h38m | 19h17m | 19h17m | 6h33m | 0% |
| 2026-01-18 | 6h32m | 7h07m | 18h39m | 19h18m | 19h18m | 6h32m | 0% |
| 2026-01-19 | 6h32m | 7h07m | 18h40m | 19h19m | 19h19m | 6h32m | 2% |
| 2026-01-20 | 6h31m | 7h06m | 18h41m | 19h20m | 19h42m | 6h31m | 6% |
| 2026-01-21 | 6h31m | 7h05m | 18h43m | 19h21m | 20h53m | 6h31m | 12% |
| 2026-01-22 | 6h30m | 7h05m | 18h44m | 19h22m | 22h05m | 6h30m | 19% |
| 2026-01-23 | 6h29m | 7h04m | 18h45m | 19h24m | 23h17m | 6h29m | 29% |
| 2026-01-24 | 6h29m | 7h03m | 18h46m | 19h25m | – | 6h29m | 39% |
| 2026-01-25 | 6h28m | 7h03m | 18h47m | 19h26m | 0h32m | 6h28m | 50% |
| 2026-01-26 | 6h27m | 7h02m | 18h49m | 19h27m | 1h50m | 6h27m | 62% |
| 2026-01-27 | 6h27m | 7h01m | 18h50m | 19h28m | 3h10m | 6h27m | 73% |
| 2026-01-28 | 6h26m | 7h00m | 18h51m | 19h29m | 4h30m | 6h26m | 82% |
| 2026-01-29 | 6h25m | 6h59m | 18h52m | 19h31m | 5h43m | 6h25m | 90% |
| 2026-01-30 | 6h24m | 6h58m | 18h54m | 19h32m | – | – | 96% |
| 2026-01-31 | 6h23m | 6h57m | 18h55m | 19h33m | – | – | 99% |
Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2018/09/27/.
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
Date Time Event
Jan 1 Th Venus: 1.3° W
1 Th 4:43 PM Moon Perigee: 360300 km
2 Fr 3:20 AM Moon North Dec.: 28.3° N
3 Sa 5:03 AM Full Moon
3 Sa 11:59 AM Perihelion: 0.9833 AU
3 Sa 4:34 PM Quadrantid Shower: ZHR = 120
3 Sa 5:01 PM Moon-Jupiter: 3.7° S
4 Su 8:09 PM Moon-Beehive: 1.3° S
6 Tu 10:58 AM Venus Superior Conj.
6 Tu 11:20 AM Moon-Regulus: 0.5° S
7 We 6:22 AM Moon Descending Node
9 Fr 4:58 AM Mars Conjunction
10 Sa 3:22 AM Jupiter Opposition
10 Sa 10:48 AM Last Quarter
10 Sa 6:50 PM Moon-Spica: 1.8° N
13 Tu 3:47 PM Moon Apogee: 405400 km
14 We 2:28 PM Moon-Antares: 0.6° N
16 Fr 12:25 AM Moon South Dec.: 28.3° S
18 Su 2:52 PM New Moon
21 We 10:45 AM Mercury Superior Conj.
21 We 7:03 PM Moon Ascending Node
23 Fr 7:31 AM Moon-Saturn: 4.5° S
25 Su 11:47 PM First Quarter
27 Tu 4:07 PM Moon-Pleiades: 1.1° S
29 Th 12:02 PM Moon North Dec.: 28.4° N
29 Th 4:53 PM Moon Perigee: 365900 km
30 Fr 9:31 PM Moon-Jupiter: 3.9° S
Feb 1 Su Venus: 6.3° E
All event times are given for UTC-5 Eastern Standard Time.
Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html.
If you go to the above site you can print out a list like the above for the entire year or calendar pages for your time zone.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
January, 2026 Local time zone: EST
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM |
| | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Thu 1| 08:20a 05:13p 08:52 | 06:23p 07:09a | Set 08:00a 97%|
|Fri 2| 08:20a 05:14p 08:53 | 06:24p 07:09a | Set 08:57a 100%|
|Sat 3| 08:20a 05:14p 08:54 | 06:25p 07:09a |Full Rise 05:28p 99%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 4| 08:20a 05:15p 08:55 | 06:26p 07:10a | Rise 06:50p 96%|
|Mon 5| 08:19a 05:16p 08:57 | 06:26p 07:10a | Rise 08:10p 91%|
|Tue 6| 08:19a 05:18p 08:58 | 06:27p 07:09a | Rise 09:25p 84%|
|Wed 7| 08:19a 05:19p 08:59 | 06:28p 07:09a | Rise 10:37p 75%|
|Thu 8| 08:19a 05:20p 09:00 | 06:29p 07:09a | Rise 11:45p 66%|
|Fri 9| 08:19a 05:21p 09:02 | 06:30p 07:09a | Rise 12:51a 56%|
|Sat 10| 08:18a 05:22p 09:03 | 06:31p 07:09a |L Qtr Rise 01:57a 47%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 11| 08:18a 05:23p 09:05 | 06:32p 07:09a | Rise 03:02a 37%|
|Mon 12| 08:17a 05:24p 09:06 | 06:33p 07:08a | Rise 04:08a 28%|
|Tue 13| 08:17a 05:26p 09:08 | 06:35p 07:08a | Rise 05:13a 20%|
|Wed 14| 08:17a 05:27p 09:10 | 06:36p 07:08a | Rise 06:14a 13%|
|Thu 15| 08:16a 05:28p 09:12 | 06:37p 07:07a | Rise 07:09a 8%|
|Fri 16| 08:15a 05:29p 09:13 | 06:38p 07:07a | Rise 07:54a 3%|
|Sat 17| 08:15a 05:31p 09:15 | 06:39p 07:06a | Rise 08:31a 1%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 18| 08:14a 05:32p 09:17 | 06:40p 07:06a |New Set 05:19p 0%|
|Mon 19| 08:13a 05:33p 09:19 | 06:41p 07:05a | Set 06:30p 1%|
|Tue 20| 08:13a 05:35p 09:21 | 06:42p 07:05a | Set 07:42p 5%|
|Wed 21| 08:12a 05:36p 09:23 | 06:44p 07:04a | Set 08:53p 10%|
|Thu 22| 08:11a 05:37p 09:26 | 06:45p 07:04a | Set 10:04p 18%|
|Fri 23| 08:10a 05:39p 09:28 | 06:46p 07:03a | Set 11:17p 26%|
|Sat 24| 08:09a 05:40p 09:30 | 06:47p 07:02a | Set 12:31a 37%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 25| 08:09a 05:41p 09:32 | 06:48p 07:01a |F Qtr Set 01:49a 48%|
|Mon 26| 08:08a 05:43p 09:35 | 06:50p 07:01a | Set 03:10a 59%|
|Tue 27| 08:07a 05:44p 09:37 | 06:51p 07:00a | Set 04:29a 70%|
|Wed 28| 08:06a 05:45p 09:39 | 06:52p 06:59a | Set 05:43a 80%|
|Thu 29| 08:05a 05:47p 09:42 | 06:53p 06:58a | Set 06:44a 89%|
|Fri 30| 08:04a 05:48p 09:44 | 06:55p 06:57a | Set 07:31a 95%|
|Sat 31| 08:02a 05:50p 09:47 | 06:56p 06:56a | Set 08:07a 99%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise
Generated using my LookingUp for DOS program.
Ephemeris: 12/31/2025 – A last look at the naked-eye planets for 2025
This is Ephemeris for New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, December 31st. The Sun will rise at 8:20. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 52 minutes, setting at 5:12. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 6:49 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take our last weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets for 2025. Saturn is the brightest star-like object in the southwestern sky as soon as it gets dark. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, one degree from being edge on and is slowly opening. Jupiter will rise at 5:54 PM in the east-northeast, below and right of Castor and Pollux, the bright stars of Gemini. The giant planet is slowly moving westward with its retrograde motion. Jupiter’s 4 brightest moons can be seen even in binoculars, and shift position night to night. In the morning sky, only Jupiter can be seen, descending in the western sky. It will leave the morning sky, officially on January 10th, as it reaches opposition with the Sun.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 12/25/2025 – Christmas night stars
Merry Christmas! This is Ephemeris for Christmas Day, Thursday, December 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:07, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:19. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 11:01 this evening.
The real star of Bethlehem is probably not what is popularly depicted as a bright star in the sky, rather it was something subtle, only noticed by some astrologers. However, gracing our skies tonight we do have, in the evening, a brilliant star-like object, and our usual winter sprinkling of bright real stars in the southeastern sky. I call the one star-like because it’s a planet, Jupiter to be specific. The term “planet” we get from the Greeks, meaning wanderer. Planets don’t actually wander. Their paths can be determined, and are affected by the Sun, mainly and the other planet’s gravitational attraction. Perhaps the Magi, thought the cause was by divine action, to set them on their journey. Again have a Merry Christmas!
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 12/24/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets
This is Ephemeris for Christmas Eve, Wednesday, December 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:06, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:18. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 9:51 this evening.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Saturn is the brightest star-like object in the southwestern sky as soon as it gets dark. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, eight tenths of a degree from being edge on and slowly opening. Jupiter will rise at 6:26 PM in the east-northeast, below Castor and Pollux, the bright stars of Gemini. The giant planet is slowly moving westward with its retrograde motion. Jupiter’s 4 brightest moons can be seen even in binoculars, and shift position night to night. In the morning sky, only Jupiter can be seen, descending in the western sky. It will leave the morning sky, officially on January 10th, as it reaches opposition to the Sun.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
A note about transits of Jovian moons: A transiting moon is extremely difficult to pick up, however the moon’s shadow falling on the planet is much more easily spotted.
Ephemeris: 12/18/2025 – Orion and Scorpius
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, December 18th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:16. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 8:22 tomorrow morning.
The wonderful constellation of Orion the hard luck hunter is seen rising in the east as twilight fades. According to one Greek myth he was killed by the sting of a giant scorpion, thus he can only rise after the summer constellation of Scorpius the scorpion sets in the southwest, and he must set as the scorpion rises on early spring evenings. By 9 pm, he is located in the southeast. His three belt stars are nearly vertically arranged in a line and equally spaced. They point down to the horizon, at the brightest nighttime star Sirius which rose 13 minutes before. The belt stars lie within a large rectangle of stars tilted to the left. His shoulders and knees. The top left star is the bright red Betelgeuse. The bottom right star is blue-white Rigel.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 12/17/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:15. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 7:26 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Saturn is the brightest star-like object in the southern sky as soon as it gets dark. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, six tenths of a degree from being edge on and slowly opening. In a couple of months the rings will be much more visible in telescopes. Jupiter will rise at 7:02 PM in the east-northeast, below Castor and Pollux, the bright stars of Gemini. Jupiter’s 4 brightest moons can be seen even in binoculars, and shift position night to night. In the morning sky, Mercury just might be spotted very low in the east-southeast by 7:30. The next opportunity to spot Mercury will be in the evening in mid-February.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 12/16/2025 – Finding Orion and the Wintermaker
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, December 16th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:14. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 6:19 tomorrow morning.
In the east, the central winter constellation Orion the hunter throws a leg over the horizon around 7 PM as Robert Frost told in his poem Star-Splitter. The upright rectangle that is his body is tilted to the left as he rises on December evenings. A bright red star, Betelgeuse, is at the top left of the rectangle, his shoulder. At the opposite corner is blue-white Rigel, a knee. In the center of the rectangle is a line of three stars nearly vertically aligned as he rises, which represents his belt. The stars of Orion’s belt are how many folks can find him. The Anishinaabe native peoples of this area call him the Wintermaker whose arms are held wide to encompass the winter stars. His rising in the evening heralds the coming of winter, five days from now.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 12/15/2025 – Capella, the winter star that never quite leaves us*
This is Ephemeris for Monday, December 15th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:14. The Moon, halfway from last quarter to new, will rise at 5:13 tomorrow morning.
Capella is the northernmost first magnitude stars. Tonight it shines in the northeastern sky. First magnitude stars are the 21 brightest stars in the night sky. Capella is the 6th brightest. Although I’ve always known it as the little she-goat, Capella’s name literally translates to “little goat.” Her three Kids are represented by a narrow triangle of stars positioned to the right of her in tonight’s evening sky. Capella is in the topmost corner of the pentagonal constellation of Auriga the Charioteer. Capella is actually a system of four stars only 43 light years away. And never sets for listeners in the Interlochen Public Radio transmission area who have a low northern horizon.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
* If you live north of 44° north latitude.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 12/12/2025 – The most active meteor shower of the year will peak Sunday morning
This is Ephemeris for Friday, December 12th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:11. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 1:58 tomorrow morning.
We are ramping up to the most active meteor shower of the year, the Geminid meteor shower. And it has been getting more active over the years. The peak will be about 2 AM Sunday morning with a 30% Moon rising shortly after 3. The radiant is the point in space where the meteors seem to come from, which is near the star Castor in the constellation Gemini from which the shower gets its name. Unlike most meteor showers, the Geminids will be visible all night. The meteors will be seen all over the sky, but they all can be traced back to the radiant. The body responsible for this meteor shower is an asteroid rather than a comet with the name 3200 Phaethon, which comes very close to the Sun.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 12/11/25 – The constellation of the guy with the goats
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, December 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:11. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 12:53 tomorrow morning.
The first constellation of winter is in the northeastern sky, called Auriga the charioteer. It’s to the upper left of Orion and directly left of Taurus. Auriga actually never really quite leaves us, because its brightest star, Capella is the star that never leaves us even in the heat of summer, Though for most of us it’s in the trees in the north. Auriga is a pentagon of stars with the Capella on top. Just right of Capella is a thin triangle of three faint stars, an asterism or informal constellation called the Kids, baby goats. Capella is their mother. For some reason they are all held by a charioteer, who is shown without his chariot. Ptolemy, last of the great Greek astronomers called Auriga the coachman. If so, he did have room for the goats.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 