How to find 4 legendary spacecraft in January's night sky

We live in the age of the spacefaring robot, wherein far-flung probes brave the harsh environment of interplanetary space to beam gorgeous images and invaluable scientific data back to Earth to broaden our understanding of the solar system that we live in.

The simple, if slightly sad, reality is that these intrepid explorers embark on a one-way trip upon leaving atop their gravity-defying rockets. We'll never again lay eyes on Voyager 1, now so far from home, or see the unique mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope once again catch the light in a scrupulously clean NASA testing facility. They're all consigned to forever reside in space, too small for even the most powerful of telescopes to detect.

What we can do is keep track of where spacecraft are in the night sky as they undertake missions millions, or sometimes billions of miles from Earth, sometimes in the far reaches of the solar system. Read on to discover where to find the patches of night sky containing four famous robotic explorers, each of which has been paired with a bonus skywatching target!

How to find 4 legendary spacecraft in January's night sky.

James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched on Christmas Day 2021. Its ambitious mission sees it gazing at ancient galaxies to shed light on the evolution of the universe, collecting data on the habitability of alien worlds and discovering how planets and exoplanets come to form.

The JWST tracks a path right-to-left across the eastern horizon in the hours following sunset in January. On Jan. 19 it will be located to the left of the star Nu Orionis in the raised right arm of the hunter represented in the constellation Orion.

Over the next two weeks, the spacecraft will slowly leave Orion and travel towards the bright point of light representing the gas giant Jupiter. Along the way, the space telescope will pass close to the magnitude +1.9 star Alhena, which represents one of the feet of the twins portrayed by the constellation Gemini.

While you're stargazing, why not take the time to explore one of the JWST's many astronomy targets and one of the most recognizable deep sky objects? Look to the eastern sky after sundown to find the three stars of the Orion's Belt asterism shining in the winter sky. Locate the bottom star, Alnitak and scan the patch of sky 5 degrees. To its lower left — the approximate width of your three middle fingers held at arm's length — until you find three stars arrayed in a line suffused with a milky blur of light — the Orion Nebula.

Europa Clipper

NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft launched on Oct. 14, 2024 on a marathon journey that would see it travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) before finally arriving in orbit around the gas giant Jupiter in April 2030. Once there, it will perform 49 close flybys of the planet's icy moon Europa to collect data on the alien world to unravel its secrets and shed light on its habitability.

To find the patch of sky containing Europa Clipper, first locate the kite-like formation of stars of the constellation Libra, which rises above the southeastern horizon around 3 a.m. local time for viewers in the U.S. in mid-January. Remember: it's best to use a trusted website like TimeandDate or a stargazing app like Starry Night or Stellarium to discover exactly when a solar system object will rise and set from your location.

Europa Clipper will be close to the faint magnitude +4.0 star Gamma Librae in the early hours of Jan. 18, before travelling away from Libra towards the formation of stars that represent the claws of the great scorpion in the constellation Scorpius — Acrab, Dschubba and Pi Scorpii.

Turn to the west to find the bright light of Jupiter shining roughly 30 degrees — the width of three fists held at arm's length — above the horizon with the bright stars Castor and Pollux of the constellation Gemini shining above. Jupiter will appear particularly large and bright throughout January in the weeks after reaching its Jan. 10 opposition, when it appeared directly opposite the sun in Earth's sky.

Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

The ESA/NASA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is slated to arrive at Jupiter one year after the Europa Clipper in July 2031, when it will set to work probing both the gas giant and its large moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. Scientists are hoping that the spacecraft's discoveries will shed light on the enigmatic natures of gas giants that are thought to have formed across the universe, while also collecting data on the oceans harbored by the Jovian moons, which will help reveal whether they could host microbial life.

On Jan. 19, JUICE will pass through a patch of sky in the constellation Ophiuchus, roughly 10 degrees — the width of one outstretched fist — below the magnitude +2.4 star Sabik, which can be found low on the southeastern horizon in the hours before dawn. The following week will see it journey towards the famous "teapot" asterism in the constellation Sagittarius, which can be spotted peeking above the horizon as the sun rises in late January.

Around this time, you may spot a bright red star shining low on the southeastern horizon in the pre-dawn sky. That bright spec of light is Antares — a red supergiant star nearing the end of its stellar life cycle. The star — which represents the heart of the constellation Scorpius — will eventually consume the remainder of its dwindling fuel reserves, after which it will collapse in on itself in a magnificent supernova, whose brightness will rival that of the rest of our galaxy put together, according to astrophysicists Paul Butterworth and Mike Arida for NASA's "Imagine the Universe!"

Voyager 1

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is both a scientific legend and a robotic ambassador for humanity, having launched in Sept. 1977 carrying one of the two famous Golden Records— a repository of imagery, sounds, music and languages from Earth, with details on how to find us. Having executed successful flybys of Saturn and Jupiter, Voyager 1 entered interstellar space in August 2012 and is now the most distant human-made object from Earth, having travelled 15.75 billion miles (25.35 billion km) from our parent star.

To find the region of the sky containing Voyager 1, first locate the constellation Ophiuchus, which rises above the eastern horizon in the hours before dawn in January, before rising to an altitude of around 50 degrees as the sun rises. Next, find the bright magnitude +2.0 and +3.0 stars Rasalhague, Kappa Ophiuchi and Rasalgethi, the latter of which belongs to the nearby constellation of Hercules. Voyager 1 is nestled in the space demarcated by that stellar pyramid.

For a bonus target, trace a path 25 degrees above Rasalgethi to find the sideways crown-like shape of the constellation Corona Borealis. This unassuming constellation is comprised largely of faint stellar bodies, but also plays host to the dim magnitude +10.0 star T Croronae Borealis, which explodes in a dramatic nova explosion roughly once every 80 years, making it appear as if a new magnitude +2.0 star — approximately the brightness of the North Star Polaris — has been born in the night sky. T Coronae Borealis — also known as the "Blaze Star" — last went nova in 1946, so astronomers are watching and waiting for its next stellar outburst any day now.

Want to explore the majesty of the post-sunset realm for yourself? Then be sure to check out our roundups of the best telescopes for observing the night sky, while photographers should peruse our picks of the top cameras and lenses for astrophotography.

Editor's Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.