If you stepped outside just after sunset this evening and looked toward the east, you probably noticed something. A light. Not just a flickering, distant star, but a steady, unblinking beacon that looks almost too bright to be real.
That is Jupiter.
Honestly, if you've ever wanted to get into stargazing, this is your week. We are currently in a "sweet spot" for the solar system's biggest planet. On January 10, 2026, Jupiter reached opposition. Basically, that means Earth sat directly between the Sun and Jupiter. Because we’re still so close to that date, Jupiter is essentially at its maximum brightness and will stay visible all night long.
Which planet can you see tonight and where is it?
Right now, Jupiter is the undisputed king of the night sky. It’s hanging out in the constellation Gemini, which is high in the sky for most of the northern hemisphere.
You don't need a fancy map to find it. Just wait for the sun to drop. Look east. If it's the brightest thing you see and it isn't moving like a plane, you've found it. It will spend the entire night marching across the sky, reaching its highest point around midnight before setting in the west just as the sun starts to peek out tomorrow morning.
But Jupiter isn't traveling alone. While it's the most obvious one, Saturn is also putting on a bit of a farewell tour in the western sky.
The Saturn Situation
If you want to catch the "Ringed Planet," you have to be quick. Saturn is currently in Pisces (it just crossed over from Aquarius on January 15). Unlike Jupiter, which is up all night, Saturn is getting ready to tuck in early. You'll find it in the southwest shortly after dusk. It’s yellowish and much dimmer than Jupiter, but still very much visible to the naked eye. By about 10:00 PM local time, it’ll be gone, dipping below the horizon.
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One weird thing about Saturn right now: the rings. In 2025, they were "edge-on," meaning they looked like a thin, flat line through a telescope. This year, they are slowly starting to "open up" again, but they still look incredibly narrow.
What happened to the other planets?
You might be wondering where the "superstars" like Venus or Mars are.
Kinda nowhere, unfortunately.
- Venus: It's currently transitioning from a morning object to an evening object. Technically, it's in the sky, but it’s so close to the sun's glare that it’s nearly impossible to see. Give it a few weeks. By late February, it’ll be that "Evening Star" everyone talks about.
- Mars: Total no-show. It reached solar conjunction on January 9, meaning it’s currently on the far side of the sun from our perspective. It’s literally hidden behind the sun's massive light.
- Mercury: Also too close to the sun. It’s playing hide and seek and mostly winning.
The "Invisible" Giants: Uranus and Neptune
If you happen to have a decent pair of binoculars or a backyard telescope, you can actually hunt down the ice giants tonight.
Uranus is sitting in Taurus, not far from the famous Pleiades star cluster (that little "mini-dipper" of stars). It looks like a tiny, pale greenish dot. Neptune is much tougher. It’s near Saturn in Pisces, but at magnitude 7.8, you won’t see it without help. It just looks like a faint, bluish star, even through a good lens.
Why Jupiter looks so different right now
When we talk about which planet can you see tonight, Jupiter stands out because of its "magnitude." In astronomy-speak, the lower the number, the brighter the object. Jupiter is currently rocking a magnitude of roughly -2.7.
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To put that in perspective, Sirius—the brightest actual star in the sky—is about -1.46. Jupiter is significantly brighter than the brightest star.
If you have binoculars, even cheap ones, please go look at it. You won’t see the "Great Red Spot" with binoculars, but you will see the Galilean Moons. These are the four largest moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They look like tiny pinpricks of light perfectly lined up on either side of the planet.
What’s cool is that they move fast. If you look tonight and then look again tomorrow, they’ll be in completely different spots. It’s like watching a mini solar system in real-time.
Seeing the "Winter Hexagon"
Since Jupiter is in Gemini, it’s surrounded by some of the most famous stars in the sky. If you look at Jupiter, you’re also looking at the heart of the Winter Hexagon.
This is a massive shape made of:
- Sirius (in Canis Major)
- Procyon (in Canis Minor)
- Pollux and Castor (the twins of Gemini, right next to Jupiter)
- Capella (in Auriga)
- Aldebaran (the red eye of Taurus)
- Rigel (the foot of Orion)
Basically, the sky is currently a high-definition map of the best stuff space has to offer.
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Tips for the best view tonight
Don't just walk out, squint, and go back inside. Give yourself about 15 minutes in the dark. Your eyes need time to produce rhodopsin—a pigment that helps you see in low light. If you check your phone every two minutes, you'll ruin your night vision and miss the subtle colors of the stars.
Also, check the moon. We are just past the Full Wolf Moon of early January. Because the moon is waning, the sky is getting darker earlier, which makes the planets pop even more. On January 23, the crescent moon will actually swing by Saturn for a really pretty "conjunction" (a close approach).
Your stargazing checklist
If you're heading out, here is what you should actually do to make it worth it.
First, download an app like Stellarium or Sky Safari. They use your phone's GPS to show you exactly what you're looking at. Honestly, it’s a game changer.
Second, if you're using binoculars, try to brace yourself against a car or a fence. Your hands shake more than you realize, and at high magnification, that shake makes Jupiter look like a blurry streak instead of a solid disc.
Third, look for the color. Stars twinkle; planets generally don't. Jupiter will be a steady, creamy-white light. Saturn will have a slight yellowish or golden tint. Mars (when it returns later this year) is unmistakably orange-red.
Actionable steps for tonight
- Check the weather: A 10-minute window of clear sky is all you need.
- Find a "South-to-East" view: This is where the action is from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
- Identify Jupiter first: Use it as your "anchor" to find the surrounding constellations like Orion and Gemini.
- Hunt for Saturn: Do this before 9:00 PM while it’s still high enough above the horizon to avoid the "muck" of the atmosphere near the ground.
- Note the moons: If you have binoculars, count how many of the four Galilean moons you can spot tonight.
The sky changes every single night, but this particular week in January 2026 is one of the best for planet-watching. Jupiter won't be this big or this bright again until 2027, so it's worth the five minutes of shivering in the cold to see it.