April 27-May 12, 2025: Mars approaches and passes the Beehive star cluster. Watch the planet’s changing place through a binocular.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:55 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:43 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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Mars Passes the Beehive Star Cluster
During the next several evenings watch Mars approach and pass the Beehive star cluster through a binocular.
The Beehive star cluster is a milestone along the ecliptic, the plane of the solar system and the invisible course the planets follow. The sun passes through this region on July 30th.
The stellar bundle appears among Cancer’s dim stars about midway from Gemini’s Pollux to Leo’s Regulus. It is visible as a cloudy spot from the countryside, away from outdoor lighting’s perpetual glow. It is best seen through a binocular as it appears about three times larger than a Full moon. Find the planet and the star cluster in the southwestern sky.
Star Clusters
The Beehive is sometimes known as the Praesepe or manger. Two stars, named Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis, represent two donkeys near the feeding trough.
While it was known in ancient times, the Beehive’s nature was not known until Galileo saw its stars through his telescope in 1610. He is thought to have spotted at least 30 stars.
The cluster is about 600 light years away. Its stars are not as bright as the more famous Pleiades star cluster. Composed of at least 40 stars and as many as 300, the Beehive is thought to be about 400 million years old.
Watch Mars overtake, pass, and move away from the Beehive. The best observations occur until about May 2nd, after the end of evening twilight which occurs about two hours after sundown. Then the moon is over 30% illuminated. Moonlight washes across the sky and diminishes the view of the cluster, even without evening twilight.
Moon Occults a Donkey
On May 3rd, the moon, 45% illuminated, occults or eclipses Asellus Borealis from the eastern US and Canada. The stellar eclipse can be viewed through a binocular or spotting scope. Watch the moon disappear on the lighted edge or limb and reappear at the night limb.
Here are disappearance and reappearance times for select US cities. For times at other locations, see the link. Subtract 4 hours for EDT; 5 hours for CDT.
| Location | Disappearance (local time) | Reappearance (local time) |
| Boston | 10:13 p.m. | 11:16 p.m. |
| Miami | 10:57 p.m. | 11:24 p.m. |
| Memphis | 9:29 p.m. | 10:05 p.m. |
| St. Louis | 9:14 p.m. | 10:04 p.m. |
After the moon passes Mars and the cluster, the sky continues to brighten causing more moonlight to diminish the cluster’s view through the Full moon on the 12th, the last night shown on the accompanying binocular chart.
On the nights of the 4th and 5th, even with the bright moonlight attempt to see Mars less than 1° from the center of the cluster.
Mars passes this way again and seems to pass through the center of the cluster on October 11, 2026.
Watch Mars pass a pretty star cluster along the path where the sun, moon, and planets appear to move.
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