Rejoice, amateur and professional astronomers: This January is a fantastic time for looking up at the sky.
The flashiest event of the season is also one of the easiest to see without binoculars or a telescope. A “parade of planets”—Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars—will be visible, and recognizable by their incredible brightness against the night sky. Uranus and Neptune will also be visible, but with a telescope. This string of planets will be visible for all of January.
Additionally, the ATLAS comet, discovered last year by NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, has come close enough to the sun—8.3 million miles away—to be visible with binoculars or a telescope. Be careful, though: looking at sunrise or sunset could hurt your eyes.
Astronomer Dean Regas, host of the podcast “Looking Up with Dean Regas,” joins Ira from Cincinnati, Ohio, to discuss the best things the winter night sky has to offer this year, with or without a telescope.
Further Reading
- Take a look at January’s skywatching tips from NASA.
- Lean more about the ATLAS comet via BBC.
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Segment Guests
Dean Regas
Dean Regas is an astronomer and host of the “Looking Up With Dean Regas” podcast. He’s in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Segment Transcript
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Meet the Producers and Host
About Kathleen Davis
Kathleen Davis is a producer and fill-in host at Science Friday, which means she spends her weeks researching, writing, editing, and sometimes talking into a microphone. She’s always eager to talk about freshwater lakes and Coney Island diners.
About Ira Flatow
Ira Flatow is the founder and host of Science Friday. His green thumb has revived many an office plant at death’s door.