2025, May 7: Sky Watching – Four Bright Planets, Moon

May 7, 2025: Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars are visible during the nighttime hours.  The gibbous moon is in the evening sky.

2019, February 15: Venus is 3.4 degrees to the upper right of Saturn and over 23 degrees to the lower left of Jupiter.
Photo Caption – 2019, February 15: Venus is 3.4 degrees to the upper right of Saturn and over 23 degrees to the lower left of Jupiter.

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:39 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:56 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, Saturn before Sunrise

Venus, Saturn, May 7, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, May 7: Venus and Saturn are about the east horizon an hour before sunrise.

Four planets and the moon are visible during nighttime hours.  An hour before sunrise, brilliant Venus and Saturn are in the eastern sky.  First locate the Morning Star nearly 10° up in the east.  The planet rises one to two minutes earlier each morning, mirroring longer periods of morning twilight at this season.  It rises before the beginning of morning twilight in about a month.

Through a telescope, the morning crescent phase continues to grow.  It is 34% illuminated this morning.

Saturn, dimmer than average, is 6.1° to Venus’ right.  We view the planet so that the icy rings are reflecting sunlight away from Earth.  Initially, locate the planet through a binocular.  It fits into the same binocular field of view with Venus.  Can you see it without the optical assist?

Mercury is not visible from the northern hemisphere. It rises 43 minutes before the sun, and it is erased from our view by bright morning twilight.  Morning’s light is much brighter than the planet.

Jupiter after Sundown

Jupiter, May 7, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, May 7: After sunset, Jupiter is in the west-northwest, near the Bull’s horns.

After sundown, bright Jupiter shines from the western sky. An hour after sunset, it is less than 20° up in the west.  It is slowly passing between the Bull’s horns.  Tonight, it is 5.7° to Elnath’s lower left, the brighter star at the northern horn, and 3.0° to Zeta Tauri’s lower right, the southern point.  Use a binocular to see Zeta, especially from suburban backyards.

Jupiter sets earlier each evening, tonight about three hours after nightfall.

Mars near Beehive

Mars, May 7, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, May 7: An hour after nightfall, Mars is in the west-southwest between Pollux and Regulus.

Mars is east of Jupiter, over 40° to the Jovian Giant’s upper left.  It is over halfway up in the south-southwest, about midway from Gemini’s Pollux to Leo’s Regulus. 

Mars and the Beehive, April 27-May 12, 2025.
Chart Caption – 2025, April 27-May 12: A binocular view of Mars’ eastward march is shown compared to Cancer and the Beehive star cluster.

Through a binocular, see the Red Planet, 1.3° to the Beehive star cluster’s upper left.  It is east of an imaginary line from Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis.  The view is muted by bright moonlight.

Mars sets in the west-northwest after midnight and about four hours before daybreak.

Gibbous Moon

Moon, May 7, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, May 7: The gibbous moon is in the eastern sky during the early evening hours.

The bright gibbous moon, 83% illuminated, is over halfway up in the eastern sky, and over 25° to Spica’s upper right.  The Full moon phase occurs on the 12th. The moon is in the sky most of the night, setting tomorrow morning about two hours before daybreak.

Look for the four bright planets and the moon during nighttime hours.

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