Top astronomy events for January 2025

From a new year's meteor shower to a trio of planets in the night sky, here are the top astronomy events to mark in your January 2025 calendar.

Transcript

00:00The New Year kicks off with a celestial fireworks show on the morning of January 3rd.

00:12The Quadrantid meteor shower will peak just before dawn, lasting only six hours.

00:18The first full moon of 2025 rises on the night of January 13th.

00:24Known as the Wolf Moon, it is named after the time of year when wolves are more active

00:28and can be heard howling.

00:30On January 16th, Mars will reach opposition with Earth.

00:34This will be your best chance to observe the red planet in the night sky until 2027.

00:41On the very next night, January 17th, Venus and Saturn will form a conjunction.

00:45They will appear very close to each other in the southwestern sky at 9pm local time.

00:51A telescope is not required for the opposition or the conjunction.

00:55If you do have one, enjoy getting a closer look at the planets in better detail.

01:01Reporting for AccuWeather, I'm Jeff Cornish.