Star Almanack
Alexander Ferrari Miller

ISO 2025-W03

Week begins: Monday, January 13, 2025

Notation:

Calendar

DateZodiac dayEvents
Mon, Jan 13, 2025♑ 24
🌕 Full Moon · Moon After Yule — 22:26:55 UTC
α Cae — Binoculars 4 — Southern Winter
Tue, Jan 14, 2025♑ 25
β Cae — Binoculars 5 — Southern Winter
Wed, Jan 15, 2025♑ 26
Thu, Jan 16, 2025♑ 27
α Cam — Binoculars 4 — Northern Winter
Fri, Jan 17, 2025♑ 28
Sat, Jan 18, 2025♑ 29
β Men — Binoculars 5 — Antarctic Winter
Sun, Jan 19, 2025♒ 1
♒ Sun enters Aquarius — 20:00:07 UTC
β Cam — Binoculars 4 — Northern Winter
Finest NGC 25 / NGC 1788 · vdB 33 — Telescope — Tropical Winter

Weekly Solar-System Ephemeris

Snapshot: Week begins January 13, 2025, 00:00 UTC.

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

Notation:
Body☉︎☽︎☿︎♀︎♂︎♃︎♄︎
Ecliptic♑︎ 23°03′
β +0°00′		♋︎ 11°17′
β +4°56′		♑︎ 6°37′
β −0°28′		♓︎ 10°11′
β −0°24′		♋︎ 27°27′
β +4°15′		♊︎ 12°07′
β −0°34′		♓︎ 15°31′
β −1°57′
ObservingNightNaked eye -12.5☉︎Naked eye -4.6Naked eye -1.4Naked eye -2.7Naked eye 1.1
Rise07:2714:5906:3009:3816:2813:2609:58
Set16:3307:2415:0920:3808:1704:4121:03

Extended targets:

Body⚳︎♅︎♆︎♇︎
Ecliptic♒︎ 13°36′
β −7°03′		♉︎ 23°24′
β −0°15′		♓︎ 27°30′
β −1°17′		♒︎ 1°27′
β −3°17′
ObservingTelescope 9.2Binoculars 5.7Telescope 7.8☉︎
Rise09:1312:2410:2008:16
Set17:5403:0622:0817:01

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 03:07:45 UTC

View:

ISO 2025-W03 runs from January 13 through January 19. Jupiter is about 2.3° in ecliptic longitude from Aldebaran in Taurus.

Naked eye: 🌕 Full Moon · Moon After Yule — 22:26:55 UTC. Bright moonlight favors prominent stars and planets while reducing contrast on faint deep-sky objects. No fixed-sky Calendar object is classified for naked-eye observing this week.

Planets: Moon: Naked eye; magnitude -12.5; direct motion; 98.8% illuminated. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Opposition in ecliptic longitude Jan 13 22:27 UTC. Conjunction with Mars in ecliptic longitude Jan 14 03:47 UTC. Mercury: In solar glare; magnitude -0.4; direct motion; 89.8% illuminated. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Venus: Naked eye; magnitude -4.6; direct motion; 49.5% illuminated. Below the horizon at 21:00 local apparent solar time, 45°N. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Conjunction with Saturn in ecliptic longitude Jan 19 01:26 UTC. Mars: Naked eye; magnitude -1.4; retrograde motion; 99.9% illuminated. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Opposition in ecliptic longitude Jan 16 02:38 UTC. Conjunction with Moon in ecliptic longitude Jan 14 03:47 UTC. Ceres: Telescope; magnitude 9.2; direct motion; 99.6% 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; 99.6% illuminated. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Saturn: Naked eye; magnitude 1.1; direct motion; 99.8% illuminated. Below the horizon at 21:00 local apparent solar time, 45°N. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Conjunction with Venus in ecliptic longitude Jan 19 01:26 UTC. Uranus: Binoculars; magnitude 5.7; retrograde motion; 100.0% illuminated. Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. 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 Caelum’s charted figure in the finder, then identify α Cae at its charted position. Trace Caelum’s charted figure in the finder, then identify β Cae at its charted position. Trace Camelopardalis’s charted figure in the finder, then identify α Cam at its charted position. Trace Mensa’s charted figure in the finder, then identify β Men at its charted position. Trace Camelopardalis’s charted figure in the finder, then identify β Cam at its charted position.

Alpha Caeli — the brightest point in a very faint tool — The Engraving Tool's alpha star is an ordinary hydrogen-burning sun whose modest light makes constellation-finding a test of geometry rather than spectacle.

Beta Caeli — a nearby star crossing the Engraving Tool — Caelum's second-lettered star is a fast-moving F star whose changing catalogue position reminds us that constellation lines are only snapshots.

Alpha Camelopardalis — a runaway with an invisible bow — A modest naked-eye point in the Giraffe is a massive supergiant driving a fast wind into the material ahead of it.

Beta Mensae — a distant giant over Table Mountain — The Greek letter suggests a prominent marker, but Beta Mensae is a fifth-magnitude giant in one of the faintest southern constellations—a useful reminder that a Bayer letter is a label, not a ranking guaranteed by the modern sky.

Beta Camelopardalis — a supergiant measured across a milliarcsecond — Beta Camelopardalis looks like a quiet fourth-magnitude point, yet interferometry has resolved its apparent diameter: several telescopes can combine their light to measure a star no single backyard view can turn into a disk.

Small telescope: vdB 33: consult its dedicated finder and observing story for equipment guidance

NGC 1788 — the Cosmic Bat reflects a changing nursery — NGC 1788 does not manufacture most of the light that draws its wings. Dust scatters starlight from a young cluster, while a red rim and an age sequence preserve evidence—still interpreted cautiously—of star formation pushed outward from Orion.

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 06:30; sets 15:09 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude -0.4. The disk is 89.8% illuminated (gibbous). It is 16.4° from the Sun, on its west side. Motion is direct at 1.474° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Nunki, 6.8° away. Mercury: 6.8° from Nunki 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 4.4° below the horizon. Rises 09:38; sets 20:38 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude -4.6. The disk is 49.5% illuminated (half-lit). It is 47.1° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is direct at 1.000° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Sadalmelik, 12.8° away. Conjunction with Saturn in ecliptic longitude Jan 19 01:26 UTC. Venus: 12.8° 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 58.9° above the horizon. Rises 14:59; sets 07:24 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude -12.5. The disk is 98.8% illuminated (waxing gibbous). It is 167.3° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is direct at 13.719° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Castor, 10.6° away. Opposition in ecliptic longitude Jan 13 22:27 UTC. Conjunction with Mars in ecliptic longitude Jan 14 03:47 UTC. Moon: 10.6° from Castor 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 44.8° above the horizon. Rises 16:28; sets 08:17 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude -1.4. The disk is 99.9% illuminated (nearly full). It is 173.9° from the Sun, on its west side. Motion is retrograde at 0.399° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Pollux, 4.6° away. Opposition in ecliptic longitude Jan 16 02:38 UTC. Conjunction with Moon in ecliptic longitude Jan 14 03:47 UTC. Mars: 4.6° 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 66.6° above the horizon. Rises 13:26; sets 04:41 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude -2.7. The disk is 99.6% illuminated (nearly full). It is 139.1° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is retrograde at 0.074° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Aldebaran, 5.3° away. Jupiter: 5.3° 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 0.1° below the horizon. Rises 09:58; sets 21:03 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude 1.1. The disk is 99.8% illuminated (nearly full). It is 52.5° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is direct at 0.090° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Fumalsamakah, 11.5° away. Conjunction with Venus in ecliptic longitude Jan 19 01:26 UTC. Saturn: 11.5° 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 59.0° above the horizon. Rises 12:24; sets 03:06 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude 5.7. The disk is 100.0% illuminated (nearly full). It is 120.4° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is retrograde at 0.015° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Menkar, 15.1° away. 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 11.2° above the horizon. Rises 10:20; sets 22:08 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude 7.8. The disk is 100.0% illuminated (nearly full). It is 64.5° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is direct at 0.020° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Fumalsamakah, 13.4° away. Neptune: 13.4° 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 31.4° below the horizon. Rises 09:13; sets 17:54 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude 9.2. The disk is 99.6% illuminated (nearly full). It is 21.7° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is direct at 0.385° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Dabih, 14.8° away. Ceres: 14.8° from Dabih in the Pathfinder.

Pluto

Pluto: in solar glare at the Monday 00:00 UTC snapshot. Rises 08:16; sets 17:01 (45°N, local apparent solar time). Visual magnitude 14.5. The disk is 100.0% illuminated (nearly full). It is 9.0° from the Sun, on its east side. Motion is direct at 0.032° per day in ecliptic longitude at the snapshot. Position reference: Dabih, 8.4° away. Pluto: 8.4° from Dabih in the Pathfinder.