January 1: Earth closest to Sun (perihelion) at 147, 0900,100 km
January 3: Last Quarter Moon; Quadrantid meteor shower peaks in morning hours (7:00 a.m., EST); expect 10-15 meteors per hour
January 4: Waning Moon 5° below Jupiter in predawn sky
January 5: Comet Machholz closest to Earth
January 7: Comet Machholz near Pleiades star cluster; waning crescent Moon, Antares and Mars within 5° of each other, low in southeast at dawn
January 8: Waning crescent Moon 8° to right of Mercury-Venus paring, low in the southeastern dawn sky
January 10: New Moon, 7:03 a.m., EST; Moon at closest perigee (356,570 km) until 2008, creating unusually high tides
January 12: Mercury and Venus within 20 arc minutes of each other today and tomorrow, low in southeastern dawn sky
January 13: Saturn at opposition (rises at sunset, sets at sunrise)
January 14: Huygens probe lands on Titan (about 6:00 a.m., EST)
January 17: First Quarter Moon
January 19: Gibbous Moon 3° below Pleiades
January 23: gibbous Moon 5° above Saturn
January 24: Comet Machholz closest to Sun
January 25: Full Moon, 5:32 a.m., EST
January 30: Gibbous Moon passes 1° below Jupiter (best after midnight)
February 2: Last Quarter Moon
February 5: Waning crescent Moon 5° below Mars, low in southeastern dawn sky
February 7: Mars passes between Lagoon and Trifid Nebulas today and tomorrow, very low in morning twilight
February 8: New Moon, 5:28 p.m., EST
February 15: First Quarter Moon; Moon 2° below Pleiades
February 23: Full Moon, 11:54 p.m., EST
