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All January long, four of the five planets visible to the naked eye will appear in the night sky

Sky chart showing the planetary lineup visible after dark in January 2025.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Sky chart showing the planetary lineup visible after dark in January 2025.

Go outside on a clear night right after sunset and you’ll be able to see Venus and Saturn to the southwest, Mars to the east, and Jupiter straight overhead.

The planets will appear in a long line roughly along the ecliptic plane - which is the path the sun and moon also appear to follow in the sky, thanks to our perspective from an orbiting earth.

If you’re an early bird rather than a night owl, you’ll also be able to catch Mars in the morning - it will cross the sky to set in the southwest at dawn. And, on the 13th, between about 9 and 10 pm in Lexington and central Kentucky, the full moon will appear to pass directly in front of the red planet.