Check out the night sky this month, January 2026. Here are videos and links to websites highlighting the top sights to observe.
** What’s Up: January 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA | NASA JPL
What are some skywatching highlights in January 2026?
Jupiter is at its biggest and brightest all year, the Moon and Saturn pair up, and the Beehive Cluster buzzes into view.
0:00 Intro 0:11 Jupiter at opposition 0:50 Moon and Saturn conjunction 1:11 The beehive cluster 2:00 January Moon phases
Additional information about topics covered in this episode of What’s Up, along with still images from the video, and the video transcript, are available at https://science.nasa.gov/skywatching/whats-up/.
Phases of the Moon for January 2026. Credits: NASA JPL
In this month’s episode, start with one of the year’s best meteor showers, then spend some time with Jupiter, and check out a mythical queen and hunter who have ego problems. So bundle up, grab your curiosity, and come along on this month’s Sky Tour.
** The Night Sky | January 2026 | Jupiter Close to Earth | Quadrantid Meteor Shower | Late Night Astronomy
The Quadrantid Meteor shower peaks and the king of the planets makes it’s closest pass to Earth. Let’s take a look at what you can go out to see in the night sky for January of 2026!
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Timestamps: 0:00 Quadrantid Meteor Shower 1:05 Jupiter Opposition 2:27 The Moon 3:05 The Planets 3:52 Comet 24P/Schaumasse 4:26 Comet C/2024 E1 Wierzchos 4:48 Deep Sky Challenge
** Step Inside the International Space Station (POV Tour) | NASA
What’s it like to float through the International Space Station?
Come along with us for a guided tour! Our astronauts in low Earth orbit recorded this tour on Oct. 10, 2022, while NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 and Crew-5 missions were aboard.
As you glide through the ISS, pop-ups will appear highlighting each part of the station and what it’s used for—wrapping up with a view of Earth and space through SpaceX’s Dragon capsule. If you’d like even more information, visit our NASA Johnson YouTube account for a version of this video with audio commentary by astronauts Nicole Mann and Kjell Lindgren: • Tour the International Space Station: 25 Y…
For more than 25 years, humans have been living and working on the International Space Station 24/7, helping us learn how to live in space (and prepare for missions to the Moon and Mars) while doing scientific research to make life better back on Earth.
** How Do Astronauts Unwind in Space? | NASA Johnson
After busy workdays aboard the International Space Station, crew members need time to relax and de-stress. From playing musical instruments and exercising to taking photos of our home planet, watch how astronauts practice some of their favorite hobbies 250 miles above Earth.
** Connecting Classrooms to Space: Ham Radio Explainer by NASA Astronaut Nichole Ayers | NASA Johnson
ARISS (Amateur Radio on the ISS). In this video, NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers walks through the step-by-step p rocess of setting up a live ham radio contact, showing how schools and organizations bridge the gap between Earth and orbit. Learn how amateur radio technology makes these inspiring conversations possible and why ham radio is a powerful tool for sparking curiosity about STEM and space exploration.
Celebrating 25 unbroken years of humans living in space, former international director of the UK Space Agency Dr Alice Bunn charts how nations put aside differences to create the ultimate symbol of human ingenuity and collaboration – a space station orbiting our planet that has been home to more than 300 people from 24 different nations.
Using mission control audio, news archive and personal stories, Alice illuminates acts of epic survival, humour and selflessness that made the station a reality. She investigates why a near fatal disaster on the Russian Mir space station spurred nations to commit to the ISS, and reveals how a Moscow basement and Hollywood royalty sparked bonding between Russians and Americans. She also discovers how quick thinking and plastic tape saved the station, allowing it to grow to the size of a football pitch, and how one astronaut came within seconds of drowning in space.
Looking into the future, Alice explores how the legacy of the ISS will be carried on by a new generation of private space stations, which have the power to push back the boundaries of science for the good of all humanity. The reduced gravity offers enormous possibilities, including creating materials impossible to create on Earth.
When developing living accommodations on #AxiomStation, our engineers often depend on the expertise of our astronaut staff regarding station design. Collaborating with our VR team allows the crew to visualize the designs in real-time. @Astro_Wakatapic.twitter.com/vENcieYUor
#AxiomStation progress continues with the first software integrated, propulsion thruster hot-fire demonstration. The flight software development team successfully designed and executed a program capable of controlling module propulsion thrusters, proven with multiple five-second… pic.twitter.com/Lzyzc6CcrR
See how Max Space’s Thunderbird Station launches compactly and expands 20x once deployed in space, greatly increasing habitable volume while radically reducing the cost per m3. This is an evolutionary leap in space real estate for LEO, Moon and Mars.
2025 marked a major step forward for Starlab Space!
From advancing our design and technology to strengthening partnerships across the global space community, each milestone moved us closer to a full capability commercial space station in low Earth orbit.
When the ISS retires, continuity matters. @Starlab_Space is the only platform designed to ensure continuity with a permanent crew AND 100% of ISS payload capacity. From Day One, Starlab has next-generation power and systems to support U.S., international and commercial missions… pic.twitter.com/aHnU8NT9Pc
That’s a wrap on 2025: the year Vast became the only operational commercial space station company to fly and operate its own spacecraft in orbit with Haven Demo. Onward to 2026. pic.twitter.com/SMdkrHIW9c
NASA Commercial Crew veteran @KathyLueders joins Vast as an advisor. From helping pioneer NASA’s public-private commercial model to advancing a new era in low Earth orbit, Kathy’s experience is a powerful addition to the Vast team. https://t.co/15nyjzrhxjpic.twitter.com/dnH4RX8uUS
Docking is one of the most critical and complex parts of building a space station. In October, we completed a successful docking adaptor fit check, marking another key milestone toward launch. Haven-1’s fully tested passive docking adapter, built to international docking system standards and likely the first-ever manufactured for a commercial station, will enable precise crew-vehicle docking.
=== Chinese space habitats
— Shenzhou-21 Crew Smoothly Push for Experiments in Multiple Fields | CCTV Video News Agency
Almost two months into their mission, the Shenzhou-21 crew have been smoothly pushing for experiments in multiple domains aboard China’s Tiangong space station.
According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), four mice were sent into space with the Shenzhou-21 (神舟二十一) crewed spacecraft on 31 October 2025, were housed in a specialised habitat on the China Space Station (中国空间站), and returned to Earth on 14 November 2025, along with the Shenzhou-20 (神舟二十) crew on the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft. Since returning, a female mouse has successfully given birth to healthy offspring. Credit: Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)/China Central Television (CCTV)
** Hotel Mars presents Rick Fish on Chinese space safety concerns due to stranded Taikonauts on a recent Chinese Space Station mission | John Batchelor and Dr. David M. Livingston of The Space Show +
** NSS | The Future of Space Stations: Building Humanity’s Neighborhood in the Stars with Isaac Arthur | National Space Society on Youtube
From the ISS to the next generation of commercial and deep-space habitats, humanity is building a permanent presence in orbit—our first real neighborhood among the stars.
As humanity pushes deeper into the solar system and eventually toward interstellar space, reliable long term power infrastructure becomes a critical challenge.
In this IRG 2025 Symposium talk, geophysicist Ken Wisian explores the potential of geothermal energy as a durable, low maintenance power source for planetary bodies and moons far beyond the reach of efficient solar power. Drawing on decades of terrestrial geothermal experience and emerging research in closed loop systems, Wisian outlines how subsurface oceans on icy moons could be tapped to generate continuous electrical power.
The talk compares geothermal energy to traditional deep space power sources such as radioisotope thermoelectric generators, solar panels, and nuclear reactors, highlighting geothermal’s advantages including indefinite operational lifetime, minimal logistics requirements, and scalability. Wisian presents conceptual designs for drilling through ice crusts to subsurface oceans on bodies such as Europa, Enceladus, and other icy moons, leveraging temperature differentials of more than 150 degrees Celsius.
This presentation also examines engineering challenges including drilling techniques, melt probes, directed energy drilling, working fluid selection, thermoelectric versus turbine based power generation, planetary protection concerns, and the role geothermal power could play in future communication nodes, scientific outposts, and interstellar infrastructure.
Learn more about the Interstellar Research Group and upcoming symposia at https://irg.space
How do you feed, sustain, and grow a human population on a multi century interstellar journey?
In this IRG 2025 Symposium talk, Boris Petrovic presents a detailed simulation and systems level approach to feeding future space settlers aboard a hypothetical interstellar generational ship. Drawing on NASA life support data, hydroponic agriculture, algae bioreactors, and closed loop environmental control systems, this work explores how a fully plant based food system could support a crew growing from hundreds to nearly one thousand people over a 250 year mission.
The talk walks through population dynamics, resource constraints, crop rotation models, hydroponic rack design, oxygen and carbon dioxide recycling, water reuse, and energy requirements. Petrovic also discusses how these systems could be applied not only to interstellar missions, but to Mars settlements, low Earth orbit habitats, and future commercial space stations.
This presentation offers a rare quantitative look at food production, life support, and biosphere engineering as foundational challenges for long duration human spaceflight.
Are we on the verge of a “lunar gold rush”? Prof. Ian Crawford discusses lunar mining for Helium-3, rare earths & precious metals and we explore the challenges involved with lunar resource extraction.
Dr. Ian Crawford is a Professor of Planetary Science and Astrobiology at Birkbeck, University of London, where he also serves as Programme Director for Planetary Exploration with Astronomy and Astrobiology.
Professor Crawford’s work sits at the intersection of lunar science and exploration, astrobiology, and the long-term future of space exploration and development. He’s been directly involved in lunar remote-sensing missions — including as a co-investigator on the D-CIXS X-ray spectrometer that orbited the Moon on ESA’s SMART-1 mission, and as chair of the Science Team for the C1XS instrument that flew on India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission.
Professor Crawford’s work sits at the intersection of lunar science and exploration, astrobiology, and the long-term future of space exploration and development. He earned a B.Sc. in Astronomy from University College London in 1982, and a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from UCL in 1988.
=== Mars habitation
** Science recommendations from National Academy for initial Mars missions:
=== Other space habitat and settlement news and articles:
Calendar:
3rd Space Visions Symposium, Sept.4.2026, Cape Canaveral Florida. The theme is “establishing a thriving community in Low Earth Orbit“. Topics include, for example, “Construction of large structures in space” and “Transport of materials and people from the surface to a station and return“. Sponsored by Canaveral Council of Technical Societies.
ISS in Real Time – “Explore 25 years onboard the International Space Station. This multimedia project replays every day of the past 25 years onboard and consists entirely of historical mission material.”
** ISS Timelapse – From Accra to Baku by Night (19 Oct 2025) | AstronautiCAST
… Original timelapse by Riccardo Rossi (ISAA) – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License – Raw photos courtesy of http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/archive
Starting from approximately 1800 photographs taken from the International Space Station by Kimiya Yui on October 19th, we created this #timelapse.
This is a nocturnal #ISS flyover from the Gulf of Guinea to the Caspian Sea. Following the lights of the coastal cities in Cameroon and Nigeria, you will notice the darkness of the desert areas in Chad and Libya; the view lights up again once we reach Egypt.
The frame rate of the photographs in this timelapse is not regular, but we decided to share the sequence with you anyway.
The video covers a timeframe of 20 minutes, and is therefore accelerated by approximately 4 times compared to the Station’s real speed.
** An Auroral view from the ISS:
Incredible video of the aurora borealis captured from the ISS by astronaut Don Pettit pic.twitter.com/eOh6HnuPMt
** Live Video from the International Space Station (Official NASA Stream) | NASA
Watch live video from the International Space Station, including inside views when the crew aboard the space station is on duty. Views of Earth are also streamed from an external camera located outside of the space station. During periods of signal loss due to handover between communications satellites, a blue screen is displayed.
The space station orbits Earth about 250 miles (425 kilometers) above the surface. An international partnership of five space agencies from 15 countries operates the station, and it has been continuously occupied since November 2000. It’s a microgravity laboratory where science, research, and human innovation make way for new technologies and research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. More: https://go.nasa.gov/3CkVtC8
Did you know you can spot the station without a telescope? It looks like a fast-moving star, but you have to know when to look up. Sign up for text messages or email alerts to let you know when (and where) to spot the station and wave to the crew: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov
