June 16, 2025: Mars nears its conjunction with Regulus, which occurs tomorrow night. The Red Planet seems to be part of the Sickle of Leo. See the morning Moon, Saturn, and Venus.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:15 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:28 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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As the solstice nears, daylight is reaching its maximum length. At Chicago’s latitude, this is 15 hours, 13 minutes. The earliest sunrise time continues for three more mornings.
Mars-Regulus Conjunction
The Mars-Regulus conjunction occurs tomorrow evening. Find the pair nearly 30° up in the west at an hour after nightfall.
Regulus – Leo’s brightest star – marks the heart of the celestial Lion. It is part of the Sickle of Leo, a half-dozen stars that outlines the animal’s head. Tonight, Mars seems to be part of that shape.
The Red Planet is 0.8° to the star’s upper right tonight. It is slightly dimmer than blue-white Regulus.
Mars and Regulus set less than four hours after sundown. Look for them throughout the early evening.
While Mars and Regulus are easily visible, use a binocular to watch Mars pass Regulus and move away during the next several days.
Spot Mercury
Mercury is visible at this hour, but it is easier to spot when it is higher in the sky 15 minutes earlier, though it competes with the intensity of evening twilight. As the brightest starlike body in the sky at this hour, it is over 5° above the west-northwest horizon. Use a binocular for its initial identification. Can you see it without the binocular’s assist?
Before Sunrise, Saturn and Gibbous Moon
An hour before sunrise, the bright moon, 75% illuminated is over 30° above the south-southeast horizon. It is over 20° to the upper right of Fomalhaut – the mouth of the Southern Fish – the 13th brightest star visible from the mid-northern latitudes.
Fomalhaut made its first morning appearance or helical rising on May 20th. This morning, it is nearly 15° above the horizon.
Deneb Kaitos – Cetus’ tail – is over 25° to Fomalhaut’s left.
This morning Saturn is nearly 20° above Deneb Kaitos and nearly 40° to the left (east) of the moon. The planet is about the same altitude, height above the horizon, as the lunar orb, though in the southeast.
The Ringed Wonder is dimmer than average. We see the planet’s shiny rings nearly from the edge. They are directing most of their reflected light away from Earth, resulting in a dimmer than typical view.
Brilliant Venus in East
Farther eastward, brilliant Venus is nearly 15° above the eastern horizon and over 12° to the lower right of Hamal, Aries’ brightest star.
Use a binocular to look for the Pleiades star cluster, which is nearly 10° over the east-northeast horizon and over 20° to Venus’s lower left. Under very clear conditions some sky watchers might be able to see the stellar bundle without a binocular, though for most observers the optical assist is needed.
Look for Mars and Regulus tonight, anticipating tomorrow night’s conjunction.
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