2025, Venus appears as a Morning Star, shining against the bright stars and constellations of the zodiac.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Monthly Summaries of Venus Visibilities
2025, April: Venus Emerges from Bright Sunlight
2025, March: Evening Star to Morning Star
Venus Summary Article
VENUS AS A MORNING STAR, 2025
Venus, Morning Star
After a spectacular evening appearance with the other bright planets during early 2025, Venus passes inferior conjunction on March 22nd. The planet passes 8.5° north of the sun, and sprints into the morning sky. On conjunction morning, the planet already rises 38 minutes before the sun. It rises with the sun on the 11th, when its eastern (evening) elongation is still 18° and it is about 10° up in the west during evening twilight. Look for the planet after sunset and before sunrise, near the horizon at both observations.
Venus Conjunctions
During the morning elongation, it passes Saturn, Uranus, Jupiter, and Mercury, as well as stars Aldebaran, Castor, Pollux, Regulus, and Spica. It passes the Pleiades in a wide conjunction, though it nicely fits into the same binocular field with Cancer’s Beehive star cluster. During early July, Venus makes a pretty view through a binocular with the “V” of Taurus, which includes Aldebaran and the checkmark shape of the Hyades.
Venus, only 5° above the horizon, passes Neptune (m = 7.9) on May 2nd, though bright twilight overwhelms the dimmer planet.
Venus and Moon
The moon overtakes Venus each lunation. The separations vary from 0.5° to 22.3°, when Venus first emerges from morning twilight.
Venus Gatherings
The prettiest gathering occurs on September 19th, when Venus, Moon, and Regulus fit into a circle 1.3° in diameter. This is a rare event. The next close gathering occurs October 10, 2047, when they fit into a circle 5.3° in diameter. Of the 19 gatherings that occur in the interim, seven occur when Regulus is near conjunction with the sun and not visible, while the other 12 have an average separation of over 10°.
Before the Venus-Moon-Regulus trio, the crescent moon appears with Venus and Pollux, spanning 7.2° on August 20th, a tight fit through a binocular.
Venus-Jupiter Conjunction
On August 12th, Venus passes Jupiter in a conjunction with a gap of only 0.9°. The pair is over 20° above the east-northeast horizon at one hour before sunrise. Be sure to see the pretty conjunction. Beginning about August 3rd, watch the Morning Star overtake, pass the Jovian Giant, and quickly step eastward opening a widening gap.
For about five days during early September, Venus and Sirius are about the same altitude during morning twilight, though they are nearly 50° apart in the sky.
The accompanying chart shows the rising time of the bright planets, moon (circles), and bright stars compared to sunrise. The setting times of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are included compared to sunrise as well. Conjunctions and groupings are indicated.
Watch Venus move against the starfield during its morning apparition, taking note of conjunctions with other stars and planets. Be sure to catch the morning views when the moon is in the region.
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