On January 19, 20 and 21, 2021, watch for the waxing moon to sweep near the bright planet Mars and the exceedingly faint planet Uranus. Mars is the fourth planet – and Uranus the seventh planet – outward from our sun. Mars and Uranus appear so close together on the sky’s dome now that – for the coming week or so – you could see them in a single binocular field of view, if the moon weren’t in the way. Mars will pass 1.75 degrees to the north of Uranus on January 21. More about that below.
The moon will reach its first quarter phase on January 20, at 21:02 UTC. For us in North America, that means the exact moment of first quarter moon comes during our daytime hours on January 20 (4:02 p.m. EST, 3:02 p.m. CST, 2:02 p.m. MST and 1:02 p.m. PST). But guess what? You can still see the moon from North America at this time, because first quarter moons tend to rise around noon and set around midnight. Thus this month’s first quarter moon will be above our North American horizons