2025, February 7: Nightly Planet Parade, Moon at Horn’s Point

February 7, 2025:  Saturn, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars parade westward after sunset.  The moon is at Elnath, the horn’s tip.

Moon in the Bull's Horns. October 8, 2020
2020, October 8: Among the stars along the ecliptic, the gibbous moon, overexposed and behind the tree leaves, is 3.3° to the upper left of Zeta Tauri (ζ Tau), the Southern Horn of Taurus, and nearly 7° to the lower left of Elnath, the Northern Horn.

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:56 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:17 p.m. CST.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

The events described below are compared to sunrise or sunset.  Find those times in local sources.

Nightly Planet Parade

Venus, Saturn
Chart Caption – 2025, February 7: Brilliant Venus and Saturn are in the west-southwest after sundown.

The four bright planets seem to hang on the arc of the solar system, known as the ecliptic. Begin with brilliant Venus.  Nearing its brightest, the planet is visible during the daytime and easily seen shortly after sundown in the west-southwest.  It is the brightest starlike body in the sky – meaning it looks like a star, though it shines from reflected sunlight.  It rivals the bright lights on airplanes.

Through a telescope, the planet is 33% illuminated, an evening crescent.

Venus sets 3 hours, 45 minutes after the sun and over 80 minutes after Saturn.  The Evening Star loses about two minutes of setting time compared to the sun during the month.  By month’s end it sets and hour earlier than tonight.

Dimmer Saturn is about halfway from the west-southwest horizon to Venus.  It is noticeably dimmer, though it rivals the brightness of winter’s brightest stars in the eastern sky.

The planet is slipping into brighter twilight. 

Jupiter, Moon with Taurus

Jupiter, Moon, Taurus
Chart Caption – 2025, February 7: Jupiter and the gibbous moon are with Taurus after sundown in the southeast.

Jupiter, the second brightest starlike body, is high in the southeastern sky.  It is moving direct or eastward slowly after its retrograde ended a few nights ago.  The Jovian Giant is 5.1° to Aldebaran’s upper left, Taurus’ brightest star.

Until it disappears into bright evening twilight during mid-May, Jupiter plods eastward, opening a widening gap to Aldebaran and moving between the horns, Elnath and Zeta Tauri.

Tonight, the gibbous moon, 78% illuminated, is 13.9° to Jupiter’s left and near the star Elnath, also known as Beta Tauri, a precarious place.  Their gap is 1.3°.  The moon passes closely to the star during the daytime in the Americas. 

Mars with Gemini

Mars, Gemini Twins
Chart caption – 2025, February 7: Mars is near Pollux and Castor, the Gemini Twins, in the eastern sky after sundown.

Bright Mars, retrograding in front of Gemini, is nearly halfway up in the east and nearly 25° to the moon’s lower left.  The Red Planet is 5.5° to Pollux’s upper right and 6.3° to Castor’s lower right.  It continues to retrograde until the 23rd.

From Saturn to Mars, the four planets span over 120° along the ecliptic.  The gap shrinks with Saturn’s slow eastward trek and Mars’ retrograde.  As Mars reverses its direction, Mercury enters the evening sky and passes Saturn, but this occurs during bright evening twilight.  Mercury is bright enough to be seen through a binocular at 30 minutes after sunset, but Saturn’s visibility is questionable.  While five planets might be visible after sundown, seeing all them simultaneously is not likely.

With Saturn hiding in bright evening twilight, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars span over 100° on March 7th.

During the night as Earth rotates, the planets parade westward. Jupiter appears high in the south about two hours after sundown, followed by the moon nearly an hour later.  The planet sets in the west-northwest over three hours before sunrise.

Mars appears in the south about five hours after sundown and sets about an hour before daybreak.

The four planets are in the sky again tomorrow evening, hanging on the ecliptic from west-southwest to east, and parading westward during the night.

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