Night sky January 2027 UK: planets, Moon and meteor showers
What to see from Britain in January 2027, with times worked out for UK skies rather than copied from American guides.
January has the longest dark evenings after December and the winter constellations at their best. Saturn is in the evening sky, and Venus, Mars and Jupiter are best before dawn in mid-January 2027. Uranus and Neptune are also up for anyone with binoculars or a telescope. The full Moon, the Wolf Moon, is on Friday 22 January 2027. The Quadrantids peak on the night of 3 to 4 January, with the Moon 13% lit.
January 2027 night sky: key dates
| Date | What's happening |
|---|---|
| Friday 1 January | Mercury passes behind the Sun (conjunction) and can't be seen |
| Sunday 3 January | Quadrantids meteor shower peaks on the night of 3 to 4 January (Moon 13% lit) |
| Sunday 3 January | Venus at greatest western elongation, 47° from the Sun in the morning sky |
| Thursday 7 January | New Moon at about 20:25 GMT |
| Friday 15 January | First Quarter at about 20:40 GMT |
| Friday 22 January | Full Moon, the Wolf Moon at about 12:15 GMT |
| Sunday 24 January | The Moon passes near Jupiter before dawn |
| Friday 29 January | Last Quarter at about 10:55 GMT |
Times are UK local time, rounded to five minutes. For what's up on a particular night, see the UK night sky this week and the 7-night astronomy weather forecast.
When does it get dark in January in the UK?
On 15 January the Sun sets at about 16:25 GMT in central England and the sky is dark enough for stargazing from about 17:45 until 06:50. True astronomical darkness, which faint galaxies and the Milky Way need, lasts from about 18:25 to 06:05.
| Date | Sunset | Dark enough to stargaze | Astronomical darkness |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January | 16:05 GMT | 17:30 to 06:55 | 18:10 to 06:10 |
| 15 January | 16:25 GMT | 17:45 to 06:50 | 18:25 to 06:05 |
| 31 January | 16:50 GMT | 18:10 to 06:30 | 18:50 to 05:50 |
For Birmingham. "Dark enough" means the Sun is 12° below the horizon; astronomical darkness means 18°. Around midsummer it never gets that dark in Edinburgh or anywhere further north. In midwinter Edinburgh is dark about 5 minutes earlier than Birmingham and Plymouth about 15 minutes later; in spring and autumn the whole country is within about 15 minutes of these times.
Planets visible in January 2027
Saturn is in the evening sky, and Venus, Mars and Jupiter are best before dawn in mid-January 2027. Uranus and Neptune are also up for anyone with binoculars or a telescope. The details below are for 15 January from central England; times move by a few minutes from night to night.
Not well placed this month: Mercury.
Moon phases January 2027
| Phase | Date and time |
|---|---|
| New Moon | Thursday 7 January, about 20:25 GMT |
| First Quarter | Friday 15 January, about 20:40 GMT |
| Full Moon | Friday 22 January, about 12:15 GMT |
| Last Quarter | Friday 29 January, about 10:55 GMT |
The best evenings for faint targets this month are 1 to 10 and 24 to 31 January, when the Moon is out of the sky for at least the first hour after dark. The full Moon is the Wolf Moon; our moon phase tonight page shows the Moon for any night.
Meteor showers in January 2027
- Quadrantids: peak on the night of 3 to 4 January. Up to 110 an hour under a perfectly dark sky with the radiant overhead; from a UK garden expect a fraction of that. The Moon is a waning crescent (13% lit) and does not rise until about 06:00.
For a quick verdict on any night, see is there a meteor shower tonight, and the UK meteor shower calendar for the year ahead.
Constellations and deep-sky objects in January
Orion stands due south in mid-evening, with Taurus and the Pleiades above it to the right, Gemini to the upper left and Auriga almost overhead. Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, sparkles low in the south-east below Orion's Belt.
- The Orion Nebula (M42), a misty patch below the Belt that binoculars show easily
- The Pleiades (M45), the best star cluster for binoculars
- The three Auriga clusters M36, M37 and M38, in a line across the Milky Way
To find your way around, our constellation guides show each star pattern, and binocular astronomy explains how to star-hop to clusters like these. For the darkest skies near you, try the UK dark sky sites map.
Kit for a month of stargazing
Kit we've reviewed in full
Nothing on this page needs more than your eyes, but a star chart and a red light make finding things far easier, and binoculars show the Moon's craters, Jupiter's moons and the best star clusters.
Philip's Planisphere (latitude 51.5° North)
Turn the wheel to the date and time and it shows exactly which constellations are up. Made for 51.5° north, so it matches the sky over Britain.
Lepro Rechargeable Head Torch with Red Light (2 pack)
Red light lets you read a chart without undoing the 20 minutes your eyes need to adapt to the dark.
The UK astronomy forums' standard first pair: waterproof, bright and the right size for clusters, the Moon and the Milky Way.
Our best binoculars for stargazing
Honest, research-based recommendations for every budget.
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Every figure on this page is calculated for central England (52.5° north) when the site rebuilds each night, using the same methods as our stargazing tonight tool, checked against the JPL ephemeris. Each month's page moves on to the following year once the month ends.