2025, January 4:  Saturn-Moon Conjunction After Sunset

January 4, 2025:  After sundown, the crescent moon appears near Saturn in the southwestern sky – a Saturn-Moon Conjunction.

2019, March 1: This morning the moon is moon is nearly 3 degrees to the upper right of Saturn, partly obscured by a cloud.
Photo Caption – 2019, March 1: This morning the moon is moon is nearly 3 degrees to the upper right of Saturn, partly obscured by a cloud.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:18 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 4:34 p.m. CST.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Saturn-Moon Conjunction after sunset

Saturn-Moon conjunction
Chart Caption – 2025, January 4: Venus, Saturn, and the crescent moon after sundown.

As the sky darkens after sundown, the crescent moon, 28% illuminated, stands less than halfway up in the sky in the south-southwest, 3.8° to Saturn’s upper left.

A Binocular View: Saturn-Moon Conjunction

Saturn-Moon conjunction
Chart Caption – 2025, January 4: Saturn and the crescent moon fit into the same binocular field of view.

The Saturn-Moon conjunction fits into a binocular field of view.  A telescope is needed to see the planet’s rings.  Through the binocular, larger craters are visible on the moon.  Details are easier to see along the terminator – the day-night line – where low sun angles cast shadows, revealing craters and mountains.

Earthshine is less visible than the previous few evenings as the light from the growing phase overwhelms the reflected sunlight that illuminates the lunar night.

For sky watchers in Europe, the moon occults or eclipses Saturn earlier today.

Brilliant Venus

Brilliant Venus is nearly 30° up in the southwest, 12.9° to Saturn’s lower right.  The Evening Star steps eastward closing in on a conjunction with the Ringed Wonder on the 18th.  The gap between them noticeably changes each night.

Saturn-Moon Conjunction, January 31, 2025

2024 2025 Venus Evening Star
Chart Caption – 2025, January 31: Venus, Saturn, and the crescent moon are in the southwest during mid-twilight.

During the next lunar cycle and after the Venus-Saturn conjunction, the crescent moon appears with Saturn again on January 31st.  On that night as the sky darkens, brilliant Venus is about 30° up in the west.  The crescent moon, 8% illuminated, is about half of Venus’ altitude – height above the horizon.  Saturn is 3.8° to the moon’s upper left.

This evening after sunset, look for the planet show in the west with the Saturn-Moon conjunction and brilliant Venus.

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