Welcome to WTOP’s inaugural monthly feature of “What’s up in the sky?” Each month will feature the best the sky has to offer stargazers regarding the moon, planets and stars and space-related events that might interest you taking place in the D.C. region will be included as well.

Maybe you got lucky with Santa and you have new binoculars, an astronomy app and/or telescope to usher in a year of stargazing. If not, it is never too late to get equipped!

Let’s get to the sky for January 2025!

The internet has headlines about what is being hailed as a rare “January 25 parade of planet.” The online stories are full of hype and inaccuracies and some even focus more on astrology than astronomy.

The real deal is that January 2025 is a very exciting month and start to the New Year for stargazers.

Must-see sky sights for January

The bright and glorious constellations of winter will greet you as soon as it gets dark. Take some time to find Orion the Hunter, Taurus the Bull, Gemini the Twins and others.

Jan. 2-3: Quadrantid Meteor Shower

Jan. 3: The crescent moon and bright Venus pair up in the Southwestern sky at dusk. Look for Earthshine on the moon.

Jan. 4: The waxing crescent moon and Saturn pair up high in the Southwestern sky at dusk

Jan. 9: The waxing gibbous moon is in the Pleiades Star Cluster. Binoculars are recommended to see this one.

Jan. 10: The waxing gibbous moon and Jupiter pair up high in the East.

Jan. 12: Mars is closest to Earth 9 a.m. at 59,703,891 miles.

Jan. 13-14: This is the highlight of the month as the moon occults (covers) Mars. Check the list to see the closest city to your location. Be outside before the time listed. Binoculars and telescopes are ideal for this event. Mars disappears at 9:16 p.m. in D.C. and reappears at 10:30 p.m.

Jan. 15-16: Mars is at opposition in the Eastern sky at sunset and visible all night.

Jan. 17: Venus pairs up with Saturn in the Southwestern sky at dusk.

Jan. 17: Bright and reddish-orange Mars lines up with the two brightest stars in Gemini, the Twins — Castor and Pollux — for an eye catching sight of the three of them in a line in the East.

Jan. 31: The waxing crescent moon will be to the lower right of Saturn with Venus above at dusk.

Jan. 31: Once again Mars and the two brightest stars in Gemini, the Twins — Castor and Pollux — join up, this time for an impressive triangle formed by the three of them in the East.

The moon

Jan. 6: First quarter

Jan. 13: January’s full moon is called the full wolf moon

Jan. 21: Last quarter

Jan. 29: New moon

The planets

In January, Mercury is low in the Southeast sky about an hour before sunrise and binoculars will help immensely to find the bright yellowish planet.

Venus blazes above the southwest horizon as it gets dark, you can’t miss it.

Earth is at perihelion (closest to the Sun for the year) on Jan. 4 at 8 a.m. 147,103,686 km.

Mars is closest to the Earth and at its brightest this month and is quite the sight. Mars rises in the East at 8 p.m. as the month begins but reaches opposition, which is directly opposite the Sun and rising at sunset on Jan. 15. In a small telescope some surface features can be spotted and identified with this nifty tool.

Jupiter is bright and located high in the sky all month, only the moon and Venus are brighter than the king of the planets. A pair of 7×50 binoculars will show the four main moons of Jupiter looking like “stars” in a line which constantly changes. You can identify the moons by using this link. A small telescope can reveal features in Jupiter’s atmosphere.

Saturn is high in the southwestern sky. A small telescope will show that Saturn’s rings are currently almost edge on, which is quite the sight.

Uranus can be spotted with binoculars using this star chart to locate it. In small telescopes you can detect the color of the planet but not much else.

Neptune needs a telescope to be viewed and it is worth seeing its deep blue color.

Pluto is way out there in the solar system and requires taking images through a telescope spaced days apart to hunt it down.

DC-area events

January events at Virginia State Parks can be found here.

The NOVAC General Meeting will be at George Mason University at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 12.

The National Capital Astronomers will have its meeting at 7 p.m. on Jan. 11. The topic will be “On the Trail of the Missing Galaxies: The Oldest Stars in the Neighborhood” and will be led by Thomas Brown (STScI), On the Trail of the Missing Galaxies: The Oldest Stars in the Neighborhood.

The Analemma Society will be holding Friday Night Public Viewing Sessions at Observatory Park at Turner Farm in Great Falls, Virginia, from 7:30-9:30 p.m.

The Smithsonian Air & Space in D.C. and Chantilly has a lot of astronomy-related stuff in January.

You can check here and here for astronomy clubs that are outside the DMV.

Added bonus

Download NASA’s 2025 Science calendar, which features out of this world pictures and information.

The Planetary Society’s Space Events 2025 Calendar is another resource for tracking space missions.

Use this useful tool to create a custom star chart for your location to help you find your way around the stars.

You can also send in any space related questions to my email address. Suggestions about this feature are also welcome.

You are starting off 2025 right by enjoying the beauty and serenity of the night sky … and you will be glad you did.

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

WASHINGTON – A mother is pleading for answers nearly a year after her son was shot and killed during an attempted robbery in the District.

The unsolved murder happened on South Dakota Avenue here in Northeast in January of this year. The victim’s mother says her grief is never-ending.

“Every day moving forward is going to be a struggle for me. This does not go away. This is not something that could be easier with time. You learn to live with it. That’s all you do,” Janet Realbuto told FOX 5. 

Realbuto is reflecting on the murder of her 23-year-old son Ryan, a graduate of St. Bonaventure University who was doing a year of post-graduate service in D.C. when he was shot and killed on this snowy street during an attempted robbery.

“I still have not gotten over the shock and the reality that my son was murdered walking down the street in Washington D.C. Not coming from a bar. Not a drug deal that went wrong. Not somebody that he wronged. He was coming from a church service. He did not even know the person that got out of the car and that killed him. And this act…this one split second has completely changed all of our lives,” she said. 

Ryan Realbuto was from upstate New York. He came from a close-knit family and was one of three brothers. His family’s life was shattered on Jan.18, 2024 when he was killed in the 5000 block of South Dakota Avenue, Northeast. His death is one of 115 unsolved murders in D.C. this year.

READ MORE: 23-year-old volunteer fatally shot in DC: “His precious life was taken by senseless violence”

“The pain. The trauma. The horror of what goes on with the family members after somebody is so suddenly and brutally taken. No goodbyes, no nothing. Just like in a split second, he was gone. Gone,” Janet said. 

Ryan had attended a church service with two friends at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Shaw. They’d taken a Metro train to Fort Totten and decided to walk the rest of the way home because it was a beautiful, snowy night.

But on the way, they were robbed at gunpoint and Ryan was shot dead in front of his two friends just after 10 p.m. 

“He was the kindest, most gentle person and I just feel that whoever did this has not been caught. There’s been no justice. There has been no consequence. There’s been nothing and for my 23-year-old beautiful son. He’s in the ground,” Janet said. 

Janet’s 2024 yearbook is a scrapbook of notes and letters and news articles about Ryan.

“I have not read them all,” she said. 

And Janet says the police reaction to the recent murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO in New York City leaves her longing for a larger police response, a year out from her son’s murder. 

“I want to talk to the mayor in D.C. I would like to talk to the higher-ups to see what’s going on. I need some assurance, something to know that this case is not just on the bottom of somebody’s desk right now. That there’s a network of people still trying to find who murdered Ryan,” she said. 

FOX 5 spoke to D.C. police Tuesday. They say this is not a cold case and that it remains a very active case with leads still being pursued but there have been no arrests yet – only one home security camera video and it didn’t provide any helpful information.

Contact Us