March 2, 2025: After sundown, the lovely evening crescent moon is in the western sky above Venus and Mercury. Jupiter and Mars join the evening planet parade.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:23 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:43 p.m. CST. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.
Lovely Crescent Moon
A lovely crescent moon is visible in the western sky after sunset. Find it one-third of the way from the horizon to overhead, 30° above the west-southwest horizon. The moon displays a phase that is 12% illuminated.
Earthshine
Look for earthshine on the night portion of the moon. This effect is reflected sunlight from Earth’s features that softly lights up the lunar night. Photograph it with a tripod-mounted camera or a camera phone, if held steadily, with exposures up to a few seconds.
Venus
Along with Earthshine, capture Venus and Mercury in the same scene. Brilliant Venus is that bright star over 13° to the moon’s lower right. The Evening Star is the brightest starlike body in the sky tonight.
The planet was brightest about two weeks ago. Since then, it has dimmed slightly as it overtakes our planet.
Moving on an orbital path closer to the sun than Earth, it passes between our world and the sun on the 22nd. Tonight, it is nearly 30 million miles from Earth, about 125 times the moon’s distance.
Venus’ Phase Matches Moon’s Phase Tonight
Through a telescope, Venus displays an evening crescent phase, 12% illuminated, that nearly matches the moon’s phase. While the moon’s phase is waxing or increasing, Venus’ phase is shrinking. The moon’s waxing and waning terms are not used with Venus, though their phases appear similar.
Mercury
Mercury can appear in this photographic scene with the moon with earthshine and brilliant Venus. At 45 minutes after sundown, it is over 7° above the western horizon and 13° to Venus’ lower left. The speedy planet is visible to the unaided eye, though a binocular is helpful with its initial identification.
Jupiter in Nightly Planet Parade
Mercury, Venus, and crescent moon are part of an evening parade of planets that includes bright Jupiter and Mars. When looking for Mercury find the Jovian Giant high in the south-southwest, nearly 50° to the moon’s upper left.
Jupiter rambles eastward in front of Taurus, 5.6° above Aldebaran, the constellation’s brightest star. It is generally moving toward the Bull’s horns, Elnath and Zeta Tauri.
At this hour, Mars is over halfway up in the east-southeast near the Gemini Twins, Castor and Pollux. The Red Planet marches eastward against the starry background, 7.0° to Pollux’s upper right and 7.4° to Castor’s lower right.
Mars passes Castor in a wide conjunction on the 21st, followed by Pollux’s conjunction 10 nights later.
Nightly Changes
Each night, the moon continues to wax. A nice earthshine display continues for the next few evenings. The bright four-planet parade continues for about another week as Mercury’s brightness fades and it retreats into brighter twilight. Then Venus, Jupiter, and Mars are visible after sundown.
Venus is rapidly departing the evening sky. It is easily visible for the next few weeks before inferior conjunction as it reappears in the morning sky before sunrise at month’s end. This leaves Jupiter and Mars as the bright evening planets.
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