Planets Visible in January 2027: Night Sky Calendar With Moon and Quadrantids

Venus reaches its greatest western elongation, 46° 57’, on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2027, at about 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), and the Quadrantid meteor shower peaks near 10:30 p.m. EST that same day, according to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and the American Meteor Society (AMS). The Moon phases come from the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO). This guide puts them in one table, with the planets that are in the morning and evening sky.

All times are Eastern Standard Time, which applies all of January. Print the Quadrantid night on one page with the January 2027 night sky sheet.

January 2027 night sky calendar by date

Date	Event	Time (EST)	Source
Fri., Jan. 1	Mercury at superior conjunction	12:08 p.m.	NAOJ
Sun., Jan. 3	Venus at greatest western elongation, 46° 57’	About 1 p.m.	NAOJ
Sun., Jan. 3	Quadrantid meteor shower peak (3:30 UT on Jan. 4)	About 10:30 p.m.	AMS
Thu., Jan. 7	New Moon	3:24 p.m.	USNO
Mon., Jan. 11	Mars stationary	11:10 a.m.	NAOJ
Tue., Jan. 12	Last day of the Quadrantid activity window	All day	AMS
Fri., Jan. 15	First quarter Moon	3:34 p.m.	USNO
Fri., Jan. 22	Full Moon	7:17 a.m.	USNO
Fri., Jan. 29	Last quarter Moon	5:55 a.m.	USNO

The NAOJ publishes its table in Japan Standard Time (JST), nine hours ahead of Universal Time (UT), and lists the Venus event by the hour only (“03h” on Jan. 4 JST). We converted every NAOJ time to EST, so Venus is “about 1 p.m.” The USNO and AMS times are in UT, which we also converted. For what comes next, the NAOJ table has Jupiter’s opposition on Feb. 10 at 7:29 p.m. EST and Mars’s on Feb. 19 at 10:51 a.m. EST, and the USNO has the next new Moon on Feb. 6 at 10:56 a.m. EST.

Which planets are visible in January 2027?

NAOJ gives dates for conjunctions, elongations and oppositions, not rise and set times. The evening and morning column below is our reading of those dates, not a sourced visibility claim.

Planet	NAOJ date	Where to look, our reading
Venus	Greatest elongation west, Jan. 3	Morning sky, before sunrise
Mars	Stationary Jan. 11; opposition Feb. 19	Evening and night sky, heading toward opposition
Jupiter	Opposition Feb. 10	Evening and night sky, heading toward opposition
Saturn	Opposition Oct. 17	Morning sky
Mercury	Superior conjunction Jan. 1	Lost in the Sun’s glare early in the month

An elongation is the angle between a planet and the Sun in the sky. A planet “west” of the Sun rises before it, which is why Venus belongs to the dawn. A planet near opposition is opposite the Sun, so it is up most of the night. We did not publish rise or set times for the planets, because the USNO service we use covers only the Sun and Moon. For exact rise and set times in your city, use a planetarium app.

Are the Quadrantids worth watching in 2027?

The AMS lists the Quadrantids as active from Dec. 28, 2026 through Jan. 12, 2027, with a peak predicted near 3:30 UT on Jan. 4, which is 10:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, Jan. 3. It puts the average rate under dark skies at 25 an hour. The AMS says the Moon is 18% illuminated and a waning crescent on the peak night, so moonlight is low. The printable lists the USNO’s Jan. 3 moonset for New York, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles. Its “Moon up all night” cell is the sheet’s wording for a Moon that sets after sunrise; on Jan. 3 the USNO has it setting around 1 p.m. in each city, so the evening is Moon-free. Peak times for Central, Mountain and Pacific time are in our Quadrantid 2027 guide.

What are the Moon phases in January 2027?

The USNO table lists four primary phases. They are the table above: new Moon Thursday, Jan. 7, first quarter Friday, Jan. 15, full Moon Friday, Jan. 22 and last quarter Friday, Jan. 29. Dark-sky observing is easiest around the new Moon on Jan. 7, and the Quadrantid peak comes four days before it. For all of 2027, see the Moon phases 2027 guide.

What time are sunrise and sunset in New York in January 2027?

The USNO gives these Sun times for New York in January 2027, in EST.

Date	Sunrise	Sunset
Fri., Jan. 1	7:20 a.m.	4:39 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 15	7:18 a.m.	4:53 p.m.
Sun., Jan. 31	7:07 a.m.	5:12 p.m.

Venus is a morning planet, so the sunrise time is your deadline. On Jan. 1 the USNO has civil dusk in New York at 5:10 p.m., the time the evening planets start to show.

Where do these dates come from?

The Moon phases are from the USNO table for 2027, labeled in Universal Time. The planet events are from the NAOJ Koyomi table, and the Quadrantid dates and rate are from the AMS meteor shower calendar. NASA’s “What’s Up” guide for January 2027 was not online on Nov. 4, 2026. For the whole year of planet events, see our planets in 2027 calendar, and the earlier December 2026 night sky calendar. Mark the dates on a January 2027 printable calendar or a 2027 yearly calendar.