February 12, 2025: Look for the planet parade earlier after sunset. Saturn is becoming difficult to see. Venus, Jupiter, and Mars continue to appear high in the sky during evening twilight.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:50 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:20 p.m. CST. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.
Today, daylight lasts 10 hours, 30 minutes at Chicago’s latitude. By month’s end, sunshine is nearly 45 minutes longer than today.
Snow Moon before Sunrise
Before sunrise, the bright Snow Moon is near the western horizon, 7.8° to Regulus’ lower right, Leo’s brightest star. Moonlight washes across the sky creating a veil over dimmer stars. Look carefully for Regulus. A binocular is helpful, even if you block the moon with your hand, as you would to shield your eyes from sunlight.
The moon is opposite the sun at the official Full moon phase at 7:53 a.m. Central Time, after it sets in the eastern regions of the Americas.
No bright planets are in the sky before sunrise. Four distant worlds continue to parade after sundown.
See Planet Parade Earlier
The scene shifts 15 minutes earlier as Saturn, the dimmest of the four bright planets, is lower in the west-southwest each evening. At 45 minutes after nightfall, brilliant Venus stands over 30° up in the west-southwest. It outshines all other stars in the sky tonight.
Saturn, considerably dimmer than Venus, is over 10° above the horizon and over 15° below Venus. Because the Ringed Wonder sets earlier each night, it becomes challenging to see ending this rendition of a planet parade in about a week.
As Saturn slides into brighter evening twilight, Mercury emerges from the sun’s glare, acting as the western planet in this parade. Tonight, the speedy planet sets nearly 10 minutes after sundown.
Mercury Replaces Saturn in Parade
During bright twilight, bright Mercury, nearly 10 times brighter than the Ringed Wonder, passes 1.6° to the lower right on the 24th. Mercury is visible through a binocular, though it is doubtful that Saturn is visible at this level of evening light.
Jupiter in Southeast
Tonight, bright Jupiter – the second brightest starlike body in tonight’s sky – is high in the southeast. It moves slowly eastward against the starry background, easier seen when the sky darkens further. It moves away from Aldebaran and toward the Bull’s horns, Elnath and Zeta Tauri. The planet passes between them during mid-May when it disappears in the western evening twilight.
Mars with Gemini
Bright Mars, nearly a month after its opposition, is nearly halfway up in the eastern sky. It retrogrades in front of Gemini, 6.3° to Pollux’ upper right and 6.7° to Castor’s right. This westward motion continues until the 23rd.
Evening Moon
At this hour, the bright moon is near the horizon. At 90 minutes after sunset, the lunar orb is over 10° above the horizon. It is 1.7° to Regulus’ left, considerably closer than this morning, making the view of the star evening more challenging that the morning view.
The moon rises later each evening. By tomorrow morning it is again in the western sky before sunrise.
During the night, the planets set in the western sky, Saturn at two hours after sunset, followed by Venus 90 minutes later. Jupiter sets after midnight and several hours before sunrise. Mars sets near the beginning of morning twilight.
Look for the planet parade earlier when the sky is brighter and before Saturn is too low in the west-southwest.
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