Astrophotography in January 2023: what to shoot in the night sky this month

The Orion Nebula is high in the sky this month. Credit: Alex Andrews/Pexels
(Image credit: Alex Andrews/Pexels)

January is a great month for astrophotography in the northern hemisphere. The nights are long and the bright stars of Orion, Taurus and Gemini are shining in the southeast right after dark. 

Clear skies allowing, the most notable event of the month to capture is a conjunction of Venus and Saturn in the evening sky. It’s a rare opportunity to see the two iconic planets close together in the night sky before the ‘ringed planet’ disappears from view for a few months. Add a full ‘Wolf Moon’, a meteor shower and several chances to grab images of a beautiful crescent moon and there’s something for all kinds of astrophotographers to enjoy this month. Also check out our 10 key events for astrophotographers in 2023.

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Jamie Carter
Astrophotography expert

Jamie has been writing about all aspects of technology for over 14 years, producing content for sites like TechRadar, T3, Forbes, Mashable, MSN, South China Morning Post, and BBC Wildlife, BBC Focus and BBC Sky At Night magazines. 

As the editor for www.WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com, he has a wealth of enthusiasm and expertise for all things astrophotography, from capturing the Perseid Meteor Shower, lunar eclipses and ring of fire eclipses, photographing the moon and blood moon and more.

He also brings a great deal of knowledge on action cameras, 360 cameras, AI cameras, camera backpacks, telescopes, gimbals, tripods and all manner of photography equipment.