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What’s up in the sky? What DC stargazers should watch for in January – WTOP News

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What’s up in the sky? What DC stargazers should watch for in January – WTOP News


Welcome to WTOP’s inaugural monthly feature of “What’s up in the sky?” Here’s what D.C. stargazers can watch for regarding the moon, stars and planets in January.

“What’s up in the sky?” is a recurring feature and publishes on the first of every month. You can find it on WTOP’s The Space Place. Email Greg your space questions and he might answer them in the next edition.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

Follow Greg Redfern on Facebook, Bluesky and his daily blog to keep up with the latest news in astronomy and space exploration.

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.

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Washington, D.C

12th Honor Flight Tallahassee returns home from successful trip to Washington D.C.

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12th Honor Flight Tallahassee returns home from successful trip to Washington D.C.


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Seventy-two veterans took a trip Saturday to our nation’s capital to visit memorials honoring their service in the armed forces.

This year marks the 12th trip to Washington, D.C. for Honor Flight Tallahassee.

Early Saturday morning, veterans and their guardians met to take a charter flight up to D.C.

Throughout the day, veterans were taken to the World War II memorial, as well as the Korean and Vietnam War memorials. The veterans also visited Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

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More Tallahassee news:

The day ended with a wonderful welcome home celebration.

Our Jacob Murphey, Julia Miller, Taylor Viles, and Grace Temple accompanied the veterans, capturing moments from throughout the day.

The team will have live coverage from Washington, D.C. on Monday to share more from the day’s events.

We will continue to have coverage throughout the month of May, leading up to our Honor Flight special on Memorial Day.

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To keep up with the latest news as it develops, follow WCTV on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Nextdoor and X (Twitter).

Have a news tip or see an error? Write to us here. Please include the article’s headline in your message.

Be the first to see all the biggest headlines by downloading the WCTV News app. Click here to get started.

Copyright 2026 WCTV. All rights reserved.





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Washington, D.C

Storm Team4 Forecast: A chilly, gusty Sunday before a cool start to the week

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Storm Team4 Forecast: A chilly, gusty Sunday before a cool start to the week


4 things to know about the weather:

  1. Chances of rain in the morning
  2. Gusty Sunday
  3. Chilly Monday
  4. Temps will rise again through the work week

Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.

After a nice and warm Saturday, changes arrive for part two of the weekend.

The first half of your Sunday will have a chance for showers. Winds will pick up with our next system and are expected to gust to about 20-30 mph. Cooler air will settle in, and lows Sunday night fall into the 40s.

Highs temps Monday will reach only into the mid to upper 50s.

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However, temperatures will rise through the week, so you won’t need your jackets every day.

QuickCast

SUNDAY:
Showers, then partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 30 mph
HIGH: Lower 60s

MONDAY:
Partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 25 mph
HIGH: Upper 50s

Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.



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‘It’s a twilight zone’: Iran war casts deep shadows over IMF gathering in Washington

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‘It’s a twilight zone’: Iran war casts deep shadows over IMF gathering in Washington


The most severe energy shock since the 1970s, the risk of a global recession and households everywhere stomaching a renewed surge in the cost of living – hitting the most vulnerable hardest.

In a sweltering hot Washington DC this week, the message at the International Monetary Fund meetings was chilling: things had been looking up for living standards around the world. But then came the Iran war.

“Some countries are in panic,” said the fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, addressing the finance ministers and central bank bosses in town for the IMF and World Bank spring meetings. “The sooner it [the Iran war] ends, the better for everybody.”

Such gatherings are not typically used to fight geopolitical battles. “You don’t get people shouting at one another at these things,” one senior figure remarked. But, as a record-breaking April heatwave swept the US capital, no one could ignore the mounting damage from the Iran war.

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Those familiar with the mood over breakfast at a meeting of the G20’s representatives on Thursday, which included Donald Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and the outgoing US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell – said the atmosphere in the room was sombre amid an open exchange of serious views.

“It is such a twilight-zone meeting,” said Mohamed El-Erian, a former IMF deputy managing director who is now chief economic adviser at the Allianz insurance group. “There are several shadows hanging over it: one is the shadow that comes from concern about the global economy as a whole.

“The second is that some countries are going to be particularly hard hit, and it’s mostly countries that very few people are talking about. But the third concern is the adding of insult to injury: the fact that the US, which started a war of choice, is going to be hit, but by a lot less than elsewhere in relative terms.”

Before Thursday’s breakfast, Rachel Reeves had started her day with an early-morning jog. Joined by her counterparts from Spain, Australia and New Zealand for a run down the iconic National Mall, she posted an Instagram selfie with a not-so-subtle dig: “Friends that run together – work together.”

A day earlier, the chancellor had told a CNBC conference that she thought “friends are allowed to disagree on things” as she criticised Trump’s Iran war as a “mistake” and a “folly” that had not made the world safer.

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Rachel Reeves posted this image on Instagram from Washington DC on Thursday with the message: ‘Friends that run together – work together.’ Photograph: Rachel Reeves/Instagram

Speaking at a venue just steps away from the White House, before a one-on-one meeting with Bessent, she said this “fair message” was needed because UK families and businesses were feeling the pain from higher energy prices triggered by the conflict.

Those close to Reeves insist her meeting remained cordial. Britain and the US have significant shared interests in AI, financial services and trade. The chancellor also said the UK government had little time for the Iranian regime.

But with the IMF having warned on Tuesday that the Iran war could risk a global recession – in which Britain would be the biggest G7 casualty – it was clear Reeves had travelled to Washington ready to pick a fight.

“I’m struck by how vocal she has been and the words she used,” said one global financier. “We know the disagreement between Bessent and [European Central Bank president] Christine Lagarde earlier in the year. But that was in private.”

At a cocktail party held at the British ambassador’s residence for hundreds of diplomats and financiers – including the Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of Barclays, CS Venkatakrishnan, and dozens of senior figures – this transatlantic tension, weeks before King Charles’s US state visit, was a major topic of conversation.

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The other, in the balmy residence gardens, was one of its former occupants, Peter Mandelson, as revelations about the former ambassador’s appointment threatened to further rock the UK government.

Before the war, the agenda for the IMF had been about global cooperation; the adoption of AI, jobs and work to eradicate poverty. Each of those tasks had now been complicated, but not least the task of countries working together.

For many at the meetings, the focus was on forging closer global cooperation without the world’s pre-eminent superpower.

“Everybody is talking about how you hedge against American decisions,” said David Miliband, the former UK foreign secretary, who now runs the International Rescue Committee. “You can’t do without them, because they’re 25% of the global economy. But, in a lot of fora, they’ve pulled out.

“So everyone has to think, how does one structure international cooperation? The old west is not coming back. And so everyone has to figure out how to position themselves for that world.”

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For those gathering in Washington, there was irony in the fact that they were meeting in the halls of institutions founded, under US leadership, to promote global cooperation after the second world war. The whole idea of the Bretton Woods institutions was to avoid the dire economic conditions and warfare of the 1930s and 1940s. Yet this year’s meeting was taking place amid these intertwining problems.

In their conversations about the best economic policy response to the shock of conflict, the economists also knew the real power to make a difference lay two blocks across town from the IMF and the World Bank – behind the security cordons and construction equipment blocking the White House from public view. “It is not clear they can do anything about it,” said El-Erian.

Still, with a booming economy driven by AI – including Anthropic’s powerful Mythos model, the topic of much conversation – most countries cannot afford to completely break off US ties.

“People want to find ways to insulate themselves from the mess. But, on the other hand, they admire the US private sector,” El-Erian said. “The best way I’ve heard it put, is: they want to go long the private sector and short the mess. But it’s almost impossible to do.”





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