January 31 - Beehive Cluster

M44 - The Beehive Cluster or Praesepe
Open Cluster
Magnitude: 3.0
Size: 95 arc min
Constellation: Cancer

Comet: Neat

January 30 - Peafowl Muster

Sirius - The brightest star visible from Earth, second only to the Sun, has an apparent magnitude of -1.46.

BrightStars - The winter sky has some of the brightest stars visible from Earth. Of the twelve brightest stars, seven shine in winter: Sirius, Capella, Rigel, Procyon, Betelgeuse, Aldebaran, and Pollux.

13.7 Billion Years since the Big Bang

January 27 - Sooty Fox Sparrow

SaturnNearest - On January 27, Saturn rises in the east as the sun sets, and is at it's closest point to Earth.

SaturnJoinsMars - Beginning around January 27, Saturn can be seen in the evening sky. This will be true throughout the winter.

January 23 - Diamond Dust

WhaleSongs - To attract females during the winter mating seasons, male whales sing intricate thirty-minute songs in eight octaves.

JupiterMoon - These two celestial bodies appear together in the morning of January 23.

January 20 - Cloud Veil

BabyDelay - Elephant seals have a nine-month gestation period, but they delay the growth of embryos for three months so that they can give birth and mate again on an annual cycle.

January 19 - Ice Feather

SnowCover - At this time of year, approximately 35% of Earth's total land area is covered with snow; Since the Northern Hemisphere is 71% land, most of that is covered in snow.














VenusJoinsJupiterSaturn - Beginning around January 19, Venus will be visible in the morning sky throughout the winter.

January 18 - Frost Hoar

SnowFleas - Tiny springtail fleas (really not fleas at all, but members of the order Collembola, Earth's oldest most diverse non-insect hexapods) come up to the surface when the snow has melted around the bases of trees.

January 15 - Frost Flower

SaturnMoon - These two celestial bodies appear together in the evening of January 15.

January 13 - Common Loon

OwlHears - Hearing prey moving under the snow from as far as 30 yards, a great gray owl dives, punching it's fists through snow crust, burying the rodents and then sifting the snow with it's talons until it nabs it's dinner.

January 12 - Porcupine

FrostBite - When a plant or animal cannot keep part of it's surface from freezing, that part dies.

MercuryLeavesMornings - Beginning around January 12, Mercury appears too close to the Sun to be seen.

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun

January 11 - Pronghorn

CloudCover - Low cloud cover traps ambient heat and makes for warmer winter nights.

Infrared Satellite image shows Cloud Cover movement over the earth

January 10 - Pitch Pine

WeakLight - The Sun's low angle forces light and heat to travel through the maximum amount of atmosphere before reaching Earth's surface. More atmosphere tends to diffuse or block the Sun's rays; thus winter is dimmer as well as colder.

Sun tracks low on the horizon yielding short gray days.

January 9 - Buck Thorn

MarsMoon - These 2 celestial bodies appear together in the evening.

VenusLeavesEvenings - Beginning this evening, Venus will be too close to the Sun for observation.

January 6 - Cold Sink

ColdSink - Low temperatures and the presence of water vapor in the usually cloudless stratosphere trigger the formation of ice clouds.

Satellite image showing Ice Cloud formations over the Earth's surface

January 5 - Glacier Valley

WinterSky - Winter nights are long and dark and filled with the brightest and most abundant stars.

Visible Planets - Mars and Venus can be seen in the evening sky. Venus disappears around January 8, but Mars can be seen throughout the winter.

January 4 - Sun Closest (Ecological day name)

Perihelion - Earth reaches it's closest orbital point to the Sun for this year. Earth is 3 million miles closer to the Sun at Perihelion than it is at it's furthest point (aphelion) in July.