April 8, 2025: The gibbous moon is visible after sundown near Leo. Venus, Jupiter, and Mars are visible during the nighttime hours.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:21 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:24 p.m. CDT. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.
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VENUS AS A MORNING STAR, 2025
This morning the gibbous moon sets about two hours before sunrise. This month’s Full moon, known as the Pink Moon, occurs on the 12th at 7:22 p.m. Central Time.
Brilliant Venus
At 30 minutes before sunrise, brilliant Venus shines through morning twilight. It is about 10° up in the east. It is bright enough to shine through the morning light. The challenge is to find an observing spot with a clear east horizon. In contrast, Mercury and Saturn rise about 45 minutes before the sun. When they are high enough to be seen, the approaching sunrise overwhelms any possibility of their sightings.
Planets and Gibbous Moon
After sundown, Jupiter, Mars, and the gibbous moon are visible. Moonlight whitewashes the night, hiding dimmer stars and celestial wonders. Step outside an hour after sunset.
The gibbous moon, 87% illuminated, is over halfway up in the southeast, 6.4° to Regulus’ lower left. Use a binocular to trace Leo’s figure.
Mars and Gemini
Mars, marching eastward in front of Gemini, is 5.1° to Pollux’s lower left. In two nights, the Red Planet crosses and imaginary line that begins at Castor and extends through Pollux. Watch Mars’ eastward march.
Jupiter, brighter than all the stars in the sky at this hour, is less than halfway from the western horizon to overhead. It rambles eastward in front of Taurus, 8.8° to Aldebaran’s upper right and nearly halfway to Elnath and Zeta Tauri, the Bull’s horns.
For a comparison of brightness, Jupiter is 15 times brighter than Aldebaran, the 9th brightest star for sky watchers at the mid-northern latitudes. Compared to Capella, the 4th brightest, the Jovian Giant is eight times brighter.
Trace the Ecliptic
Four bright stars mark the general location of the ecliptic, the plane of the solar system. Aldebaran is 5° below the plane while Pollux, near Mars, is over 6° above it. Regulus, the closest bright star to the ecliptic, is less than 0.5° above it. Finally, Spica is low in the east-southeast at this hour, 2° below the plane.
Point toward Aldebaran and then sweep your arm eastward between the Bull’s horns, past Pollux and Regulus, and ending at Spica. This is a large part of the sky where the planets and the moon appear. The stars in the vicinity are known as the zodiac.
During the night, the planets and moon appear farther westward. Jupiter sets in the west-northwest after midnight. Mars sets tomorrow morning over two hours before sunrise. The moon sets more than an hour before sunrise.
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