January 22-25, 2025: The morning moon passes the Scorpion before sunrise in the south-southeastern sky.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Morning Moon Passes the Scorpion
The morning moon is visible in the south-southeast before sunrise. From morning to morning, it is farther eastward with a thinner phase.
During the four mornings, the moon moves in front of Scorpius. The classic figure extends its claws, Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali, westward. Today, these stars retain their names, but they are part of Libra.
The Scorpion continues to crawl into the southeastern sky. Its forehead, Dschubba, and heart, Antares, are easy to see. The tail and stinger are still below the horizon. In about a month the entire figure is visible at the mid-northern latitudes. More southerly locations already see the entire figure.
Step outside an hour before sunrise and look toward the south-southeast. Here is what to see:
- January 22: The crescent moon (44% illuminated) is 30° up in the south and 6.9° to Zubenelgenubi’s lower right, the southern claw.
- January 23: The waning crescent moon (34% illuminated) is 24° above the south-southeast horizon. It is 8.4° to Zubenelgenubi’s lower left and 11.2° to Dschubba’s upper right, the forehead or crown.
- January 24: This morning the lunar crescent (26% illuminated) is less than 20° above the south-southeast horizon and 3.6° below Dschubba and 5.8° to Antares’ right. Tomorrow, the lunar orb occults or eclipses Antares from Australia and New Zealand.
- January 25: Look for earthshine on the moon’s night portion. This is reflected sunlight from Earth’s features that softly lights up the lunar night. This morning the crescent (17% illuminated) is over 10° above the south-southeast horizon and 6.8° to Antares’ lower left. The lunar crescent is tilted toward the sun.
Look for the crescent moon before sunrise as it moves eastward compared to the Scorpion.