February 5-7, 2025: The waxing gibbous moon passes Jupiter in the southeastern sky after sundown. Jupiter and the moon are part of the evening parade of planets, which also features Venus and Mars.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
The time set in this article is for one hour after sunset. Find sunset times in local sources.
Moon Passes Jupiter
The waxing gibbous moon passes Jupiter after sundown. The bright planet and the gibbous moon are part of the evening display of planets. Brilliant Venus and Saturn are in the southwestern sky, while Mars is in the east to Jupiter’s lower left.
One hour after sundown, the Jovian Giant is high in the southeastern sky, near Aldebaran, Taurus’ brightest star. The gibbous moon is nearby. Watch the moon approach and pass the planet on these three evenings.
Jupiter’s retrograde ended on the 4th. While it appears to be moving slowly eastward, the gap to Aldebaran is around 5.1° for the next several evenings.
The Highlights
Watch the moon approach and pass the planet. Here are the highlights:
- February 5: The gibbous moon, 58% illuminated, is high in the southern sky, over 15° to Jupiter’s upper right. Look carefully for the Pleiades star cluster, 4.2° to the lunar orb’s lower left. A binocular helps with the view. West Coast sky watchers can see the moon eclipse or occult the star cluster, beginning at 11:15 p.m. Pacific Time. The event ends after midnight and as the moon sets. Planet Uranus and the moon are in the same binocular field of view. The lunar glare likely overwhelms the view. The sky is darker, with better view after the moon rises later during the night beginning at mid-month.
- February 6: The moon, 69% illuminated, is 5.2° to Jupiter’s upper left. Their conjunction occurs a few minutes before 10 p.m. Central Time, though it is nearly the same as earlier in the evening.
- February 7: The moon, 78% illuminated, is 13.9° to Jupiter’s left and near the star Elnath, also known as Beta Tauri. Their gap is 1.3°. The moon passes closely to the star during the daytime in the Americas.
During these two evenings, watch the moon approach and pass Jupiter, the second brightest starlike body in the sky tonight.
2025, February 5-7: After nightfall, the gibbous moon approaches, passes and moves away from Jupiter in the southeastern sky.
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