April 30, 2025: The crescent moon is near bright Jupiter in the western sky after nightfall. Morning Star Venus is in the east during morning twilight.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:48 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:49 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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Daylight Increases
On this final day of April, daylight is longer than 14 hours. During the month, daylight increased 77 minutes.
Pretty Jupiter-Moon Display
After sundown, the crescent moon is near bright Jupiter in the western sky. Step outside about an hour after sundown, Jupiter, brighter than all the stars at this hour, is about 25° up in the west. It is 6.7° to the lower left of the moon, 15% illuminated.
Jupiter rambles eastward in front of Taurus, 5.8° to Elnath’s lower left, the Bull’s northern horn, and 4.2° to Zeta Tauri’s lower right, the southern point.
The crescent moon is 3.0° to the upper left of Elnath. During daytime across most of the Americas, the moon occults or eclipses Elnath. This is visible from northeastern South America and parts of the eastern Caribbean.
Earthshine
Look for earthshine on the moon’s night portion. This is sunlight reflected from Earth’s oceans, clouds, and land that gently lights up the lunar night.
When the moon moves against this starfield during the next lunation, Jupiter and the starry background are lower in the sky and the moon does not appear this close.
The Jovian Giant is at solar conjunction on June 24th, appearing with the moon before sunrise about a month later. A Venus-Jupiter conjunction occurs on August 12th. The moon is in the region on August 19th and 20th, when Venus, Moon, and Pollux appear in a rare configuration that does not occur again until 2039.
Mars and Beehive Star Cluster
This evening Mars, marching eastward against Cancer, is over 40° to Jupiter’s upper left, and nearly 15° to Pollux’s left, one of the Gemini Twins. The Red Planet is brighter than Pollux, but dimmer than Procyon, the Little Dog Star, about 20° below the planet.
Mars continues to approach the Beehive star cluster, which is visible without optical assistance from the countryside. Use a binocular to see the planet 2.3° to the right of the cluster, and 0.4° to the upper right of Eta Cancri, η Cnc on the chart.
Venus, Saturn Before Sunrise
Earlier this morning, brilliant Venus shines from low in the eastern sky. At 45 minutes before daybreak, the Morning Star is over 10° above the horizon, 3.8° to Saturn’s upper left. They fit into the same binocular field of view.
Saturn is emerging from bright twilight. Depending on the sky clarity, it might be visible without the binocular’s optical assist.
Step outside this evening to see a pretty Jupiter-Moon display in the western sky.
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