Star Almanack
Alexander Ferrari Miller

ISO 2025-W02

Week begins: Monday, January 6, 2025

Notation:

Calendar

DateZodiac dayEvents
Mon, Jan 6, 2025♑ 17
🌓 First Quarter — 23:56:18 UTC
Finest NGC 20 / NGC 1501 · PN G144.5+06.5 — Telescope 12 — Northern Winter
Finest NGC 23 / NGC 1514 · Crystal Ball Nebula — Telescope 11 — Northern Winter
Tue, Jan 7, 2025♑ 18
α Hor — Binoculars 4 — Southern Winter
Finest NGC 22 / NGC 1535 · Cleopatra's Eye — Telescope 9 — Tropical Winter
α Ret — Naked eye 3 — Southern Winter
40 Eridani B (ο² Eridani B) — Telescope — Tropical Winter
Wed, Jan 8, 2025♑ 19
Thu, Jan 9, 2025♑ 20
Fri, Jan 10, 2025♑ 21
C41 / Hyades · Hyades — Telescope 1 — Tropical Winter
Sat, Jan 11, 2025♑ 22
Sun, Jan 12, 2025♑ 23
α Dor — Naked eye 3 — Southern Winter
Aldebaran (α Tau) — Naked eye 1 — Tropical Winter

Weekly Solar-System Ephemeris

Snapshot: Week begins January 6, 2025, 00:00 UTC.

(-90° to +90°; defaults +45°, 21:00 LAT)

Notation:
Body☉︎☽︎☿︎♀︎♂︎♃︎♄︎
Ecliptic♑︎ 15°55′
β −0°00′		♈︎ 2°55′
β +0°13′		♐︎ 26°35′
β +0°25′		♓︎ 3°01′
β −1°02′		♌︎ 0°10′
β +4°05′		♊︎ 12°43′
β −0°35′		♓︎ 14°55′
β −1°58′
ObservingNightNaked eye -9.7☉︎Naked eye -4.5Naked eye -1.3Naked eye -2.7Naked eye 1.1
Rise07:3210:5306:1209:5617:1413:5910:27
Set16:2823:1015:0020:2908:5505:1421:30

Extended targets:

Body⚳︎♅︎♆︎♇︎
Ecliptic♒︎ 10°55′
β −7°01′		♉︎ 23°31′
β −0°15′		♓︎ 27°22′
β −1°17′		♒︎ 1°13′
β −3°17′
ObservingTelescope 9.2Binoculars 5.7Telescope 7.8☉︎
Rise09:3612:5510:5008:45
Set18:0903:3722:3717:30

β = ecliptic latitude (+ north, − south).
Rise and set are Local Apparent Time for the selected latitude.
Naked-eye observing uses the Sun’s altitude at the selected Monday observer time: Daylight (Sun ≥ −0.833°), Civil twilight (−0.833° to −6°), Nautical twilight (−6° to −12°), Astronomical twilight (−12° to −18°), and Night (below −18°).
Solar Glare identifies a body too close to the Sun when the sky-state rule does not already supersede its naked-eye classification.
The Sun’s observing status uses this same five-state sky classification.

Notation:

Planet Finder

Planet Finder — Greek / Symbols
Greek / Symbols
Planet Finder — English
English
Planet Finder — Mixed Learner
Mixed Learner

Sky Notes

Kilroy: Sky Notes · generated 2026-10-23 02:46:30 UTC

View:

ISO 2025-W02 runs from January 6 through January 12. Jupiter is about 2.9° in ecliptic longitude from Aldebaran in Taurus.

Naked eye: 🌓 First Quarter — 23:56:18 UTC. Moderate moonlight makes timing and local sky position important for faint targets. Use α Ret, α Dor, Aldebaran as the week’s fixed-sky framework.

Alpha Reticuli — measuring Rhombus — Named for a vanished constellation, the Reticle’s brightest star reveals its giant proportions when astronomers combine light from separated telescopes.

Alpha Doradus — a bright star with ultraviolet shadows — Dorado's leading star looks steady to the eye, while ultraviolet spectra reveal silicon-rich patches turning through view on a much shorter clock.

Aldebaran — the Bull's eye and an unsettled signal — The orange foreground star that marks Taurus's eye is also a lesson in how a giant's own motions can imitate an orbiting planet.

Planets: Moon: Naked eye; magnitude -9.7; direct motion; 38.9% illuminated. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Conjunction with Jupiter in ecliptic longitude Jan 10 22:00 UTC. Conjunction with Uranus in ecliptic longitude Jan 09 13:59 UTC. Mercury: In solar glare; magnitude -0.4; direct motion; 83.7% illuminated. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Venus: Naked eye; magnitude -4.5; direct motion; 53.1% illuminated. Below the horizon at 21:00 local apparent solar time, 45°N. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Mars: Naked eye; magnitude -1.3; retrograde motion; 99.4% illuminated. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Ceres: Telescope; magnitude 9.2; direct motion; 99.5% illuminated. Below the horizon at 21:00 local apparent solar time, 45°N. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Jupiter: Naked eye; magnitude -2.7; retrograde motion; 99.7% illuminated. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Conjunction with Moon in ecliptic longitude Jan 10 22:00 UTC. Saturn: Naked eye; magnitude 1.1; direct motion; 99.8% illuminated. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Uranus: Binoculars; magnitude 5.7; retrograde motion; 100.0% illuminated. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Conjunction with Moon in ecliptic longitude Jan 09 13:59 UTC. Neptune: Telescope; magnitude 7.8; direct motion; 100.0% illuminated. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Pluto: In solar glare; magnitude 14.5; direct motion; 100.0% illuminated. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot.

Binoculars: Trace Horologium’s charted figure in the finder, then identify α Hor at its charted position.

Alpha Horologii — a giant at the head of the Clock — Horologium’s brightest star introduces a southern constellation named for precision timekeeping, and shows how latitude can matter more than brightness.

Small telescope: PN G144.5+06.5: consult its dedicated finder and observing story for equipment guidance; Crystal Ball Nebula: consult its dedicated finder and observing story for equipment guidance; Cleopatra's Eye: consult its dedicated finder and observing story for equipment guidance; 40 Eridani B: consult its dedicated finder and observing story for equipment guidance; Hyades: consult its dedicated finder and observing story for equipment guidance

NGC 1501 — the Oyster hides a chemical puzzle — A glowing shell in the Giraffe surrounds a pulsating stellar core, while different kinds of spectral lines give astronomers surprisingly different answers about its gas.

NGC 1514 — the Crystal Ball keeps its rings out of sight — Herschel's puzzling haze became a laboratory for stellar mass loss, with infrared rings that even a detailed visible-light view cannot reveal.

NGC 1535 — Cleopatra's Eye has a wind behind its gaze — A bright inner nebula and a fainter outer region frame a hot stellar core whose ultraviolet spectrum reveals material moving away from it.

40 Eridani B — the white dwarf weighed by its companion — A faint companion in Eridanus helped turn an extraordinary idea into a measurable fact: a star can pack roughly the mass of the Sun into a body comparable in size to Earth.

Hyades — the Bull's face is slowly leaving home — The familiar V contains a nearby stellar family, but its bright orange landmark is a foreground visitor and its escaped members spread far beyond the binocular view.

Substantial telescope: No fixed-sky Calendar object is classified as requiring a substantial telescope this week.

Other objects listed this week: None

Mercury

Mercury: in solar glare at the Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Rises 06:12; sets 15:00 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude -0.4. The disk is 83.7% illuminated (gibbous). It is 19.3° from the Sun, on its west side. Motion is direct at 1.387° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Sabik, 10.7° away. Mercury: 10.7° from Sabik in the Pathfinder.

Venus

Venus: naked eye at the Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. At 45°N and 21:00 local apparent solar time, it is 5.9° below the horizon. Rises 09:56; sets 20:29 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude -4.5. The disk is 53.1% illuminated (gibbous). It is 47.1° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is direct at 1.047° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Sadalmelik, 11.7° away. Venus: 11.7° from Sadalmelik in the Pathfinder.

Moon

Moon: naked eye at the Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. At 45°N and 21:00 local apparent solar time, it is 21.9° above the horizon. Rises 10:53; sets 23:10 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude -9.7. The disk is 38.9% illuminated (waxing crescent). It is 77.0° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is direct at 14.024° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Fumalsamakah, 16.5° away. Conjunction with Jupiter in ecliptic longitude Jan 10 22:00 UTC. Conjunction with Uranus in ecliptic longitude Jan 09 13:59 UTC. Moon: 16.5° from Fumalsamakah in the Pathfinder.

Mars

Mars: naked eye at the Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. At 45°N and 21:00 local apparent solar time, it is 37.0° above the horizon. Rises 17:14; sets 08:55 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude -1.3. The disk is 99.4% illuminated (nearly full). It is 165.2° from the Sun, on its west side. Motion is retrograde at 0.370° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Pollux, 7.1° away. Mars: 7.1° from Pollux in the Pathfinder.

Jupiter

Jupiter: naked eye at the Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. At 45°N and 21:00 local apparent solar time, it is 65.5° above the horizon. Rises 13:59; sets 05:14 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude -2.7. The disk is 99.7% illuminated (nearly full). It is 146.8° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is retrograde at 0.094° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Aldebaran, 5.5° away. Conjunction with Moon in ecliptic longitude Jan 10 22:00 UTC. Jupiter: 5.5° from Aldebaran in the Pathfinder.

Saturn

Saturn: naked eye at the Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. At 45°N and 21:00 local apparent solar time, it is 4.6° above the horizon. Rises 10:27; sets 21:30 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude 1.1. The disk is 99.8% illuminated (nearly full). It is 59.0° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is direct at 0.082° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Fumalsamakah, 11.7° away. Saturn: 11.7° from Fumalsamakah in the Pathfinder.

Uranus

Uranus: binoculars at the Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. At 45°N and 21:00 local apparent solar time, it is 61.8° above the horizon. Rises 12:55; sets 03:37 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude 5.7. The disk is 100.0% illuminated (nearly full). It is 127.6° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is retrograde at 0.021° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Menkar, 15.1° away. Conjunction with Moon in ecliptic longitude Jan 09 13:59 UTC. Uranus: 15.1° from Menkar in the Pathfinder.

Neptune

Neptune: telescope at the Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. At 45°N and 21:00 local apparent solar time, it is 16.2° above the horizon. Rises 10:50; sets 22:37 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude 7.8. The disk is 100.0% illuminated (nearly full). It is 71.5° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is direct at 0.017° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Fumalsamakah, 13.3° away. Neptune: 13.3° from Fumalsamakah in the Pathfinder.

Ceres

Ceres: telescope at the Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. At 45°N and 21:00 local apparent solar time, it is 28.5° below the horizon. Rises 09:36; sets 18:09 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude 9.2. The disk is 99.5% illuminated (nearly full). It is 25.9° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is direct at 0.381° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Dabih, 13.3° away. Ceres: 13.3° from Dabih in the Pathfinder.

Pluto

Pluto: in solar glare at the Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Rises 08:45; sets 17:30 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude 14.5. The disk is 100.0% illuminated (nearly full). It is 15.6° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is direct at 0.031° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Dabih, 8.5° away. Pluto: 8.5° from Dabih in the Pathfinder.