June 14, 2025: A Venus-Hamal conjunction occurs this morning in the eastern sky. Saturn is in the region as well as the waning gibbous moon. Mercury and Mars are visible after nightfall.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:15 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:27 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 Summary Article
VENUS AS A MORNING STAR, 2025
Four bright planets are visible during the nighttime hours. The gibbous moon is in the sky after midnight and before sunrise.
Venus-Hamal Conjunction
A Venus-Hamal conjunction occurs this morning. Brilliant Venus is nearly 15° up in the eastern sky at an hour before daybreak. Stepping eastward in front of Aries, the Morning Star passes 12.6° to the lower right of the Ram’s brightest star, though it is only about the brightness of the Big Dipper’s stars.
Saturn in East-Southeast
Saturn, about twice as bright as Hamal, is nearly 30° above the east-southeast horizon and less than 40° to Venus’ upper right. Through telescopes, sky watchers see the rings from the side. The rings’ icy particles reflect sunlight away from Earth, resulting in a dimmer planet.
Neptune is near Saturn, but morning twilight is too bright to see the solar system’s most-distant planet.
Waning Gibbous Moon
Farther westward at this hour, the waning gibbous moon, 91% illuminated, is over 20° above the south-southwest horizon.
Mercury after Sunset
After sunset, Mercury continues to emerge from bright evening twilight. At 45 minutes after nightfall, the speedy planet is about 5° above the west-northwest horizon. It is the brightest “star” in the sky at this hour, but evening’s light is nearly as bright. Find an observing spot with a clear, unobstructed view toward the planet.
Jupiter is not visible because it is nearing its conjunction with the sun on June 24th. Tonight, it sets less than 30 minutes after the sun. It emerges into the eastern morning sky next month.
Mars and Regulus
An hour after nightfall, find Mars 30° above the west horizon. It is 1.6° to the right of Regulus, Leo’s brightest star. The Red Planet passes the star in three nights at a distance of 0.8°. The conjunction has a separation less than two full-moon diameters.
Mars and Regulus are nearly the same brightness, though blue-white Regulus looks brighter than redder Mars. While the pair is visible to the unassisted eye, use a binocular to track Mars’ night-to-night eastward march.
Mars sets about four hours after sunset. Tomorrow night, the planet is closer to the star.
After this morning’s conjunction, watch Venus step away from Hamal each morning, making even wider gap.
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