What the Planets are doing this month
January 2025
Mercury. Rising ninety minutes before the Sun, Mercury begins the
month in Ophiuchus. As it travels back toward the Sun it slips into
Sagittarius on the 7th where it passes the Lagoon and Trifid nebulae and
the open cluster M21 on the 9th and 10th of the month. It quickly
becomes lost in the early morning twilight as it heads toward superior
conjunction with the Sun in Capricornus early next month.
Venus
and 
Saturn. High in the western evening sky after the Sun has set, at
the beginning of the month; Venus will be setting two and a half hours
later than the Sun with Saturn setting forty five minutes later. Both
planets begin the month in Aquarius where on the 18th the pair will be
separated by just over two degrees. At magnitude -4.9 Venus easily
outshines the magnitude 1.1 Saturn. Venus will slip over the border into
Pisces on the 24th where it spends the rest of the month. The thin
crescent of a four day old waxing Moon sits between the two planets on
the 4th of January. By the end of the month Saturn will set two hours
later than the Sun with Venus following ten minutes later. Venus reaches
its greatest elongation east of the Sun on the 10th before starting its
slow journey back toward inferior conjunction with the Sun in March. As
a matter of interest the pair are orbiting the Sun at vastly different
speeds with Saturn idling along at 9.2km/sec and Venus racing along at
35.2km/sec.
Mars. The red planet begins the month in cancer, rising just
before 10:00pm before crossing into Gemini on the 14th where by the end
of the month it will rise just after 7:00pm. On the 23rd Mars will pass
just over two degrees to the south of magnitude 1.1 Beta Geminorum
(Pollux), Gemini's brightest star and at 34 light years away the closest
red giant to the Sun. It is worth noting the contrasting colours of the
two main Gemini stars with Pollux having a subtle orange tinge and
Castor shining with a bright white light. The full Moon is in the
vicinity of Mars on the 14th and 15th of January.
Jupiter. By the time the Sun has set Jupiter can be found high in
the north-eastern sky among the stars of Taurus the Bull. It will rise
at 6:00pm at the start of January but by the end of the month will rise
around 4:00pm. The end of the month finds it 5 degrees to the north of
magnitude 0.9 Aldebaran and at -2.58 outshines the star by a couple of
magnitudes. A bright waxing gibbous Moon is in Taurus on the 10th and
11th of the month.
Moon Phase for January 2025
7th, 
14th,
22nd, 
29th.
February 2025
Mercury. The smallest of the planets returns to the early evening
twilight sky this month. However even at its best at the end of the
month will set forty minutes later than the Sun in the bright evening
twilight.
Venus. High in the western evening sky after sunset,
Venus will set two hours later than the Sun at the beginning of
February. With its bright magnitude -4.5 glow it is unmistakable among
the stars of Pisces. On the 2nd the thin crescent of a waxing four day
old Moon will be five degrees to the east of Venus. As the month
progresses Venus is moving closer to the Sun and by the end of the month
will set less than one hour later than the Sun.
Mars. High in the east after sunset the red
planet begins the month in Gemini just four degrees to the west of
Pollux, the twin’s brightest star. The pair share a similar reddish
colour tinge although Mars is the slightly redder and brighter of the
two. It will end its westward motion against the background stars on the
24th and begin its eastward journey once again. On the 9th and 10th a
bright waxing gibbous Moon will join Mars in Gemini.
Jupiter. Still loitering about in Taurus, Jupiter
will be high in the northern sky after the Sun has set. It spends the
month within six degrees and to the north of Aldebaran, the bull’s
brightest star. This star is a red giant 68 light years from the Sun and
marks the angry red eye of the bull. The bright waxing gibbous Moon lies
to the north of the planet on the seventh of the month.
Saturn. Observing Saturn at the moment gives an unusual appearance
as from the Earth’s perspective the magnificent ring system appears
almost edge on. On the first of the month the three day old waxing
crescent Moon sits just over two degrees to the north of Saturn with the
pair setting less than two hours later than the Sun. Take the
opportunity early in the month to capture this unusual view of the
planet as by the end of the month Saturn will be setting less than
twenty five minutes later than the Sun and lost in the evening twilight.
Moon Phase for February 2025
5th, 12th,
21st,
28th.
March 2025
Mercury. Hidden in the early evening twilight for the first part
of the month Mercury, even at its greatest elongation east of the Sun on
the 8th will set only forty minutes later than the Sun. It reaches
inferior conjunction with the Sun on the 25th before entering the early
morning twilight. A much better chance to view Mercury occurs in the
early morning sky next month.
Venus.
Making one last brief appearance as the "Evening Star" Venus sets one
hour later than the Sun on the 1st of the month but will reach inferior
conjunction with the Sun on March the 23rd. The brightest planet then
moves into the early morning twilight ready to take up its role as the
"Morning Star" later in the month. The two day old waxing crescent Moon
sits five degrees above Venus on the 2nd of the month.
Mars. Keeping company with the Gemini twins Caster and Pollux Mars
can be found high in the north-eastern sky just after the Sun has set at
the beginning of the month. Shining at magnitude 0.28 it should not be
confused with the Magnitude 1.1 red giant Pollux which has a similar
ruddy complexion. This star at a distance of 34 light years is the
nearest red giant to the Sun. The waxing gibbous Moon passes between
Mars and Pollux on the 9th of March.
Jupiter. In Taurus for the month and at magnitude -2.17 outshines
all else until joined by the waxing crescent Moon on the 6th of the
month. The bright white colour of Jupiter is in contrast to the ruddy
glow of 0.9 magnitude alpha Tauri (Aldebaran) which marks the angry red
eye of the bull. Jupiter ends the month two degrees from magnitude six
NGC 1746. Previously this object was classed as an open cluster however;
more recent observations show it to be just a random scattering of stars
in the Earth's sky.
Saturn. Reaching conjunction with the Sun on the 12th, Saturn will
not be observable until the end of the month when it will rise in the
early morning twilight one hour prior to the Sun. On the 23rd the Earth
crosses Saturn's ring plane when the rings will appear to disappear for
a couple of days but unfortunately the planet will only be ten degrees
west of the Sun and difficult to observe.
Moon Phase for March 2025
7th, 14th,
22nd, 29th.
April 202-
Mercury.
Venus.
Mars.
Jupiter.
Saturn.
5th, 13th,
21st, 28th.
May 202-
Mercury.
Venus.
Mars.
Jupiter.
Saturn.
Moon Phase for May 2025
4th, 13th,
20th, 27th,
June 202-
Mercury
Venus.
Mars.
Jupiter.
Saturn.
Moon Phase for June 2025
3rd, 11th,
19th, 25th.
July 202-
Mercury. -
Venus
-
Mars. -
Jupiter. -
Saturn. -
Moon Phase for July 2025
3rd, 11th,
18th, 25th.
August 2024
Mercury The first few days of August finds Mercury in the western
evening sky and setting two hours later than the Sun. As the month
progresses it makes its way towards inferior conjunction with the Sun on
the 19th before appearing once again in the early morning twilight. On
its journey toward conjunction with the Sun it encounters the two day
old crescent Moon on the 6th and is in conjunction with Venus on the 9th
of the month.
Venus.
The "Evening Star" sets one hour later than the Sun on the 1st of the
month but by month's end will be setting two hours later than the Sun.
On the 5th Venus passes one degree to the north of Regulus, Leo's
brightest star, before crossing into Virgo on the 24th. Although very
similar in colour at magnitude -3.9 Venus is unmistakably outshining the
magnitude 1.4 Regulus. This is a blue-white star 85 light years away and
resides almost on the ecliptic, which marks the path of the Sun across
the heavens. It has a wide magnitude 7.6 companion visible in binoculars
or small telescopes.
Mars and
Jupiter. Traveling slowly through Taurus this month, Mars rises in
the in the north-eastern sky around 2:30am. For the first few days of
the month the planet will be situated less than six degrees to the north
of Aldebaran, Taurus' brightest star. The pair are almost identical in
brightness and colour with Aldebaran, situated among the Hyades star
cluster marking the glinting red eye of the bull. Mars has a close
encounter with Jupiter this month and between the 13th and the 16th the
two planets will be less than one degree apart. There will be no
mistaking which is which with Jupiter a magnitude -2.24 bright white
object and Mars having a much fainter magnitude 0.9 ruddy glow. On the
28th the waning crescent Moon passes six degrees to the north of Mars.
Saturn. With its rings tilted a mere three degrees to the line of
sight from the Earth, Saturn rises around 8:30 pm at the beginning of
August but by the end of the month it will rise just after 6:00pm.
Retrograding among the sparse starfields of Aquarius Saturn will be easy
to identify by its magnitude 0.83 yellowish tinge. The bright waning
gibbous Moon will be in the close neighborhood of the planet on the 21st
and 22nd of the month.
Moon Phase for August 2024
4th,
13th,
20th, 26th.
September 2024
Mercury. Hidden low in the eastern twilight for the entire month
of September and even at its greatest elongation west of the Sun on the
5th Mercury will rise only ninety minutes before the Sun. From this date
it starts is slow journey back toward the Sun for superior conjunction
on the 1st of next month.
Venus. High
in the western evening sky at the start of September, Venus will be
setting one hour and forty five minutes later than the Sun. By the end
of the month however it will set two hours and thirty minutes later than
the Sun. It will spend most of the month ambling across Virgo only
crossing into Libra on the last day of the month. On the 5th the two day
old waxing crescent Moon sits less than two degrees below Venus and for
those who like a challenge and a larger telescope, the magnitude 11.2
asteroid Juno will be four degrees to the right of Venus. On the 7th
Venus passes two degrees to the south of Gamma Virginis (Porrima), a
magnitude 2.8 binary star 36 light years away. Porrima consists of two
magnitude 3.6 yellow-white stars with a period of 172 years. They had
their closest approach to each other (periapsis) in 2008 so now are
moving apart and should be able to be split with a 75mm telescope.
Mars. The red planet rises in Taurus just after 2:00am at the
beginning of the month before crossing into Gemini on the 6th. On the
9th it will be within one degree the magnitude 5.1 open cluster M35 and
on the 26th the waning crescent Moon will be situated six degrees to the
north east of the planet. At magnitude 0.89 and with its distinctive
ruddy glow Mars will be easy to identify in this area of the sky.
Jupiter. This giant planet rises around
1:30am at the onset of September but by the end of the month will rise
twenty minutes before midnight. Having now regained its prograde motion,
its eastward movement against the background stars of Taurus will be
quite noticeable over the month. The waning gibbous moon sits seven
degrees to the north of Jupiter on the 24th of the month.
Saturn. Still floating about among the stars of Aquarius, Saturn rises
just after 6:00pm at the beginning of the month but by month's end it
will rise around 4:00pm. It reaches opposition on the 8th so will be
visible all night long. The tilt of the planets rings to the plane of
the Earths orbit is just four degrees at the moment and any detail
within the rings will be very hard to discern. The full Moon will be
just over two degrees to the north east of Saturn on September 17th.
Moon Phase for September 2024
3rd,
11th,
18th, 25th.
October 2024
Mercury. The smallest of the planets returns to the western
evening twilight this month but not readily obvious until toward the end
of the month. It begins the month close to the Sun in Virgo but crosses
into Libra on the 19th. On the 23rd it is in close conjunction with
alpha Librae (Zubenelgenubi) when less than two degrees will separate
the pair. In the early star charts, before Libra was recognized as a
separate constellation, this star along with beta Librae
(Zubeneschamali) were part of the Scorpio constellation with these two
stars marking the claws of the scorpion. Alpha Librae lies at a distance
of 72 light years and is a wide binocular double consisting of a
blue-white star of magnitude 2.8 and a white companion of magnitude 5.2.
Because of its position only half a degree north of the ecliptic in can
occasionally be occulted by the Moon and much more rarely by the
planets.
Venus.
Shining brilliantly at magnitude -3.98 in the western evening sky after
sunset the "Evening Star" stands out among the stars of Libra as October
begins. On the 5th and the 6th Venus has a close encounter with alpha
Librae and on both these dates the waxing crescent Moon will be in
attendance. It crosses into Scorpio on the 18th and into Ophiuchus on
the 25th passing within three degrees of alpha Scorpius (Antares) on the
26th and 27th of the month. Antares, the rival of Mars, is a massive red
supergiant 330 light years away with a diameter 300 times that of the
Sun.
Mars. Rising around 1:00am in the middle of October, Mars begins
the month in Gemini only slipping into Cancer on the last day of the
month. On the 8th Mars passes within one degree to the north of
Magnitude 3.5 delta Geminorum, the star connecting the body and
the legs of one of the twins. On the 24th the waning gibbous Moon will
be situated just under six degrees to the north of Mars and less than a
degree from Gemini’s brightest star Pollux.
Jupiter. Still in Taurus this month, Jupiter begins its retrograde
motion against the background stars on the 9th of the month. At
magnitude -2.58, Jupiter is the brightest object in this part of the sky
until it is joined by the waning gibbous Moon on the 21st and the 22nd.
Saturn. On the first day of October Saturn will rise at 4:00pm
among the stars of Aquarius and by sundown should be high in the eastern
sky. With its rings tilted at five degrees to the plane of the Earth’s
orbit it will be very hard to discern any features in the delicate ring
system. By the middle of the month Saturn will be rising around 3:00pm
and crossing the meridian around 9:30pm. On the 14th the waxing gibbous
Moon will be less than five degrees to the west of Saturn and on the
15th ten degrees to the east of the planet.
Moon Phase for October 2024
3rd,
11th,
17th, 24th.
November 2024
Mercury. Low in the western evening sky and setting ninety minutes
later than the Sun at the beginning of November, Mercury begins the
month on Libra. It crosses into Scorpius on the 3rd when in is joined by
the thin crescent of a two day old waxing Moon with only two degrees
separating the two. On the 10th it sits two degrees to the north of the
magnitude 1.0 red giant Antares and at magnitude 0.29 Mercury will be
the brighter of the two. On its travels Mercury will cross into
Ophiuchus on the 9th, back into Scorpius on the 12th and back into
Ophiuchus on the 15th where it spends the rest of the month, setting one
hour later than the Sun by the end of the month.
Venus. The "Evening Star" begins the month high in the
western evening sky in Ophiuchus, setting three hours later than the
Sun. On the 1st it sits two degrees to the north of magnitude 7.2
globular cluster M19 and on the 3rd passes two degrees to the north of
magnitude 8.2 globular cluster NGC6293. Traveling eastward against the
background stars it will cross into Sagittarius on the 9th passing
within ten arcminutes of magnitude 2.8 lambda Sagittarii on the 17th.
This star which marks the top of the lid of the teapot asterism is an
orange giant 98 light years away. On the 18th less than two degrees
separates Venus from the magnificent magnitude 5.1 globular cluster M22.
The waxing crescent Moon sits just above Venus on the 5th of the month.
Mars. The red planet spends the month in Cancer where by the end
of the month will be situated within two degrees of the Beehive star
cluster. At magnitude 0.6 Mars will be easy to spot among the faint
stars of the Crab where it will be joined on the 21st by the waning
gibbous Moon. By the end of the month Mars will rise just before
midnight.
Jupiter. Still retrograding between the horns of Taurus the bull,
Jupiter will be rising around 10:30pm at the beginning of November but
by the end of the month will rise two hours earlier. The waning gibbous
Moon is in the vicinity on the 21st and 22nd of the month.
Saturn. In retrograde motion for the
first half of November until on the 17th it begins its easterly march
against the background stars of Aquarius. Just after sunset at the
beginning of the month Saturn will be high in the northern sky and at
magnitude 0.79 and a distinct yellowish hue Saturn will be easy to spot
among the sparse starfields of The Water Bearer. A waxing gibbous Moon
joins Saturn on the 10th and 11th of November.
Moon Phase for November 2024
1st, 9th, 16th, 23rd.
December 2024
Mercury. The inner planet is at inferior conjunction with the Sun
on the 6th after which it returns to the early morning sky in Ophiuchus.
It reaches its greatest elongation west of the Sun on the 29th when it
will be rising ninety minutes before the Sun. On this date the thin
crescent of the waning Moon sits six degrees above Mercury.
Venus.
High in the western evening sky after sunset Venus spends the first few
days of the month in Sagittarius. On the 6th it passes within one degree
of the magnitude 8.6 globular cluster M75, before slipping into
Capricornus the next day where it spends the rest of the month. On the
5th the waxing crescent of the four day old Moon sits four degrees above
Venus.
Mars. Rising just before midnight at the beginning of December,
Mars sits within two degrees of M44 the Beehive Cluster. As the month
progresses it moves slowly in retrograde to the north-west of the star
cluster and by the end of the month will rise before 10pm. On the 19th
the waning gibbous Moon will be four degrees to the east of the red
planet.
Jupiter. Rising around 8:30pm at the beginning of the month,
Jupiter can still be found in Taurus. Sixth magnitude NGC 1746 is less
than two degrees to the west of Jupiter early in the month. Previously
this object was classified as an open cluster however, it has been shown
through more recent observations to be a random collection of stars. By
the end of December Jupiter will rise around 6pm and visible all night
long. A bright almost full Moon will be seven degree from Jupiter on the
14th of the month.
Saturn. By nightfall at the onset of December Saturn will be high
in the northern sky in Aquarius. With the Earth beginning to line up
with the edge of Saturn's ring system it will be a good opportunity to
observe Saturn's moons strung out in a line passing close to each other
and occasionally eclipsing each other though these observations may be
quite difficult. The waxing gibbous Moon will be less than one degree to
the north of Saturn on the 8th and the next evening the Moon will be
less than two degrees to the north of magnitude 7.9 Neptune.
Moon Phase for Dec 2024
1st, 9th, 15th, 23rd,
31st.