The first month of the new year brings with it several astronomical events not to be missed. After the first “supermoon” of the year and the peak of the meteor shower Quadrantids on January 3rd, in January we expect theopposition of Jupiter January 10th and the comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) which will reach its minimum distance from the Sun on January 20th.
Peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower
The Quadrantids they are the first large meteor shower of the year. They are generated by the debris of theasteroid 2003 EH1 through which the Earth finds itself passing between 28 December 2025 and 12 January 2026therefore corresponding to the activity band of the swarm. This year the peak is expected around January 3rd eveningwith an expected rate of meteors, coming from the direction of constellation of Bootesequal to approximately 120 at the peak.
Unfortunately, this year the apparent activity will be seriously affected by the presence of the “super wolf moon”. The bright moonlight, in fact, will increase the background brightness of the sky, obscuring all but the brightest meteors, so it is expected that the best hourly frequencies will be less than 10.
Jupiter’s opposition on January 10th
January will be the best month of the year to observe the planet Jupiter. The gas giant, in fact, will be atopposition on January 10ththat is, in a celestial direction opposite to the Sun with respect to the Earth. This causes the planet arises in conjunction with the setting of the Sun around 5pm, making it therefore observable for the entire night. Jupiter will be visible to the naked eye in the constellation Gemini with a magnitude of -2.7 and with a apparent diameter of 45.7 arcseconds. The best time to observe it will be starting two hours after sunsetwhen it has reached a height of at least 30 degrees above the eastern horizon, until about 1 amthat is, when the Moon rises in the east/south-east. Although the event is visible to the naked eye, using good binoculars or a small telescope it will be It is also possible to observe the Medici satellites of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
The perihelion of the comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) of 20 January
The first interesting comet of this 2026 is the C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos). Discovered on March 3, 2024 by the Polish astronomer Wierzchos, this comet fromhyperbolic orbit will reach the perihelionminimum distance from the Sun, on January 20, 2026when according to estimates it should shine with one magnitude around 8 at a distance of 85 million km from our star. The perigeehowever, is scheduled for February 17when the comet will pass by 150 million km from Earth. Given its orbit, the comet will reach these minimum distances when it is at south of the plane of the eclipticmaking the observations from our impossible latitudes.
