A stellar month for starwatchers finds Orion prominent in the SE at our map times in the heart of a region cluttered with bright stars. The highlights, though, come on the morning of the 4th when the sharp but intense Quadrantids meteor shower hits its peak and when a partial solar eclipse is visible across Europe and parts of Asia and Africa.

The latter is already well underway when the Sun rises for Britain. As viewed from London, the upper-left 67% of the Sun's disc is hidden from by the Moon at sunrise, while Manchester and Edinburgh see obscurations of 59% and 42% respectively. The eclipse ends when the Moon leaves the disc soon after 09:30.

During the preceding morning hours look for Quadrantid meteors streaming from their radiant point which lies below and left of the handle of the Plough as it climbs through the NE and E.

Our nights are bookended by two conspicuous planets: Jupiter in the evening and Venus before dawn. The former stands near the meridian at nightfall and sets in the W two hours after the map times. Look for it below the Moon on the 10th when it is mag -2.3 and 38 arcsec in diameter. Uranus, easily seen through binoculars at mag 5.9, lies 0.6° due N of Jupiter on Sunday and 1.2° W of Jupiter by the 13th.

Venus rises in the ESE more than 3 hours before the Sun and is brilliant (mag -4.5 to -4.3) in the SSE before dawn where it is near the Moon on Hogmanay and January 30. Its width shrinks from 27 to 20 arcsec as its phase waxes from 46% to 61%. Mercury stands more than 5° high in the SE forty minutes before sunrise until the 13th and should be easy to spot through binoculars at about mag 0.

Saturn, mag 0.8 and above-right of Spica in Virgo, rises in the E four hours after the map times and crosses the meridian before dawn.

January diary

2nd 14h Jupiter 0.6° S of Uranus; 15h Moon 4° S of Mercury

4th 00h Peak of Quadrantids meteor shower; 09h New moon and partial solar eclipse

8th 16h Venus furthest W of Sun (47°)

9th 14h Mercury furthest W of Sun (23°)

10th 17h Moon 7° N of Jupiter

12th 11h First quarter

19th 21h Full moon

25th 10h Moon 8° S of Saturn

26th 13h Last Quarter

27th 08h Saturn stationary

30th 04h Moon 3° S of Venus