2025, February 22: Goodbye, Saturn!  Morning Moon

February 22, 2025: Saturn makes its final appearance in the west-southwestern sky after sunset.  The moon is above the Scorpion’s tail before sunrise.

Saturn
Image Caption – This NASA Hubble Space Telescope photo of Saturn reveals the planet’s cloud bands and a phenomenon called ring spokes.

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:36 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:33 p.m. CST.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Morning Moon

Morning Crescent Moon
Chart Caption – 2025, February 22: Before sunrise, the crescent moon is above the “cat’s eyes,” which make the tail of the Scorpion.

An hour before sunrise, the crescent moon, 33% illuminated, is over 15° above the south-southeast horizon.  It is 7.6° above Shaula, “the cocked part of the Scorpion’s tail,” and Lesath, “the sting.”  Some sky watchers call these two stars “the cat’s eyes,” because they are near each other, though Shaula is distinctly brighter.

Goodbye, Saturn!

Venus, Saturn, February 22, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, February 22: Saturn, making its final appearance in the evening planet parade, and Venus are in the west-southwest after sundown.

Saturn makes its final evening appearance leading the planet parade.  It slides into brighter evening twilight.  It is 5° above the west-southwest horizon at 45 minutes after nightfall, so it is Goodbye, Saturn. The planet appears behind the thicker atmosphere near the horizon that blurs and dims celestial bodies.  After its solar conjunction on March 12th, the Ringed Wonder appears in the east during late April.  Two mornings later, Venus, Saturn, and the crescent moon fit into the same binocular field of view.

As Saturn departs, Mercury emerges from bright twilight.  The speedy planet makes its first evening appearance of the year near month’s end, re-forming the four-planet parade.

Brilliant Venus stands nearly 30° up in the west-southwest at mid-twilight, which is about 45 minutes after sundown.  The planet, just days past its greatest brilliancy, remains visually striking.

Venusian Phases

Through a telescope, the planet shows an evening crescent phase, 20% illuminated.  The phase continues to shrink as Venus overtakes our world, passing between Earth and the sun, known as inferior conjunction, on March 22nd. Earth’s Twin planet quickly moves into the eastern morning sky for the remainder of the year.

Jupiter

Jupiter, Taurus, February 22, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, February 22: Jupiter is in the south with Taurus after sundown.

At this hour, Jupiter, the second brightest starlike body in tonight’s sky, is high in the south, in front of Taurus.  Slowly trekking eastward along the ecliptic that passes between Elnath and Zeta Tauri, the Bull’s horn’s, the Jovian Giant is 5.3° to Aldebaran’s upper left, the constellation’s brightest star.

Mars and Gemini

Mars, Gemini Twins, February 22, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, February 22: Red Planet Mars is in the east-southeast at mid-twilight with the Gemini Twins.

Bright Mars, only dimmer than Venus, Jupiter, and Sirius, is over halfway up in the east-southeast and over 35° to the Jovian Giant’s lower left. The Red Planet is 7.2° to Pollux’s upper right and 7.3° to Castor’s lower left.  The planet nearly makes an isosceles triangle with the two stars.

Mars’ retrograde ends tomorrow with the planet resuming its eastward march.

As Saturn disappears from the planet parade, the four bright worlds span over 117°.

As the sky darkens tonight, look for the final appearance of this four-planet parade.

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