February 23, 2025: Mars’ retrograde ends tonight in front of Gemini, near Castor and Pollux, the constellation’s brightest stars.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:34 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:34 p.m. CST. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.
About a month before the Vernal Equinox, daylight is 11 hours long at Chicago’s latitude.
Mars’ Retrograde Ends
Tonight, Mars’ retrograde ends as Earth moves away from the planet after opposition occurred over a month ago.
Retrograde motion is an illusion as our faster-moving planet overtakes a more-distant planet. The line of sight from Earth to the outer planet normally shifts eastward against the starry background from night to night. As Earth approaches, the line of sight stops moving eastward and begins to move westward against the starfield. Mars does not stop in its orbit. It is an illusion. As Earth moves between the sun and the planet, opposition occurs and retrograde continues. As our world moves away, the line of sight shifts eastward again.
Mars began to retrograde on December 6; opposition occurred on January 15th; and retrograde ends tonight. The planet slowly begins to move eastward again, picking up speed. It passes Castor on March 21st and Pollux ten nights later, completing a triple conjunction with both stars.
Triple Conjunctions
A triple conjunction occurs when a planet passes another world or star near the time of opposition. (Triple conjunctions occur for Mercury and Venus as well, but their timings are different.)
Tonight, at one hour after sunset, find the Red Planet over halfway from the horizon to overhead in the east-southeast. As it reverses direction, Mars is 7.2° to Pollux’s upper right and 7.3° to Castor’s lower right, making nearly an isosceles triangle with the two stars.
With Saturn’s departure from the evening sky, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus form a three-planet parade that span over 96° after sundown.
Mercury is entering the evening sky, setting nearly an hour after sundown. It makes a visual appearance in several evenings.
Jupiter is in Southern Sky
From Mars, find Jupiter high in the south, 5.3° to Aldebaran’s upper left, Taurus’ brightest star. The Jovian Giant rambles eastward toward the Bull’s horns, Elnath and Zeta Tauri.
Venus in West
Farther westward, brilliant Venus is over 20° up in the west. The planet is overtaking Earth. Tonight’s distance is over 34 million miles. Through a telescope, the planet shows an evening crescent phase, which is 19% illuminated.
Morning Steeped Moon
Before sunrise this morning, the crescent moon, 24% illuminated, is low in the southeast in front of Sagittarius, the brightest stars take the shape of a teapot. With that image, the moon appears to be steeping in the pot’s hot water.
Look for a gentle light on the moon’s night portion. This is known as earthshine, and it is from sunlight reflected from Earth’s oceans, clouds, and land.
As retrograde ends, look for Mars’ eastward motion each night as it moves toward conjunctions with Castor and Pollux.