Bring in the new year with two brilliant planets in the evening sky.

Today, Venus will be 18 degrees above the southwestern horizon, 45 minutes after sunset. Shining at a brilliant magnitude of -4.0, Venus will be easy to spot. By the end of the month, Venus will be 28 degrees above the horizon at the same time of night. On Jan. 25, find a slender crescent Moon just to the right of Venus.

After finding Venus, cast your gaze high in the southeastern sky, where you will find Jupiter, shining brightly at a magnitude of -2.6. Monday, find a waxing Moon just above Jupiter.

Both of these planets are wonderful to view through a telescope. Venus looks like a tiny gibbous Moon phase, while Jupiter has red and white bands on the planet’s surface, and you also should be able to see the four largest moons orbiting the planet.

Mars rises just after 10 p.m. today in the eastern sky and by about 8:30 p.m. by Jan. 31. Mars is getting bigger and brighter each month as the distance between it and Earth shrinks. During January, Mars doubles in brightness, increasing from magnitude +0.2 to -0.5. By the end of the month, you will be able to see the northern polar ice cap on Mars when viewed through a telescope.

Saturn rises in the eastern sky about 1:30 a.m. as January begins and two hours earlier at the end of the month. Find the golden glow of Saturn, shining at a magnitude of +0.6, high in the southern sky just before morning twilight begins.

The Earth is closest to the Sun on Wednesday evening. At this time, the Earth and Sun are about 98.33 percent of their average distance apart. Remember the Earth’s orbit around the Sun is not a perfect circle, but is a bit of an ellipse, which we know thanks to Johannes Kepler (do an Internet search on his name).

Upcoming events

Jan. 13, 20 and 27, the Fiske Planetarium at the University of Colorado-Boulder is holding astronomical shows. Each show starts at 7:30 p.m. and is followed by telescope viewing at the Sommers-Bausch Observatory, weather permitting. For more information, visit http://lyra.colorado.edu/sbo/public/openhouse.html or call 303-492-5002.

The Little Thompson Observatory is having its monthly open house event at 7p.m. Jan. 20. Bryan White will give his 3-D talk on Aurora Borealis. Telescope observing follows the talk, weather permitting. The observatory is at the northeast edge of Berthoud High School. For more information, visit starkids.org or call 970-613-7793.

Both the Sommers-Bausch Observatory and the Little Thompson Observatory will be able to show you Venus, Jupiter and Mars through their telescopes. Ask the telescope operator to show you these planets.

Michael Hotka is an amateur astronomer.