Fantastic and Rare Celestial Event Visible Throughout Month of January

Fantastic news for New York stargazers!

January started off with a bang, with a brilliant Northern Lights display on New Year's Eve to the dazzling Quadrantid meteor shower that peaked last Friday.

Of course, Central New Yorkers might have missed all that due to the extreme lake effect weather event that dumped more than 5 feet of snow in areas across the state.

Read More: Mind Boggling CNY Snow Totals from First Snowstorm of 2025

The good thing is, January has a rare celestial surprise for us and it takes place all month long.

NASA says New York will get to enjoy "a sweeping view of four bright planets at once" every night through the end of the month.

The planets that'll be in view throughout January are Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.

Here's how the planetary alignment will pan out in the night sky. Mars and Venus will appear in the southwest while Jupiter will seemingly hover above them. Mars will be visible to the east.

Those with a telescope may be able to see 2 more planets that aren't visible to the naked eye this month: Uranus and Neptune.

NASA explained:

Planets always appear a long a line on the sky to the 'alignment' isn't special. What's less common is seeing four or five bright planets at once, which doesn't happen every year.

Mars will be the brightest in the month-long parade of planets. It will be in a state at "opposition," which means the Red Planet will be directly opposite of the sun all month long and catch its spectacular rays.

Not only that, this will mark the closest Mars is to Earth, so it'll look even bigger and brighter than usual.

NASA notes that if the skies are clear on January 13, the full moon will be at its closest point to Mars and even appear to pass in front of it over a span of several hours.

Meanwhile, Venus and Saturn will appear to get closer to Earth and their brightness will intensify until January 18, when their approach ends with them parting ways.

In all, this is a celestial event you will likely not miss since it runs all month long. Mother Nature can't make every night overcast, can she?

Considering January is set to be one of the coldest and snowiest months in recent history, chances are you'll want to dig out that telescope and do some star gazing whenever you can.

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