July 1, 2025: Neptune is visible near Saturn through a binocular before morning twilight brightens.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:20 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:30 p.m. CDT. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.
The month opens with 15 hours, 10 minutes of daylight. By month’s end, daylight shortens by 44 minutes at Chicago’s latitude.
Neptune Near Saturn
Neptune is beginning to emerge from bright morning twilight. The distant world is faint—nearly six times dimmer than the human visual limit and only 0.2% as bright as Saturn. A dark sky is essential, especially from suburban locations. Avoid trying to locate Neptune when the moon is near full or during the brighter portion of morning twilight. Look during the next week until the moon is in the western sky at this time.
Neptune and Saturn are in the same part of the sky for several months. The pair remain close until they disappear into bright evening twilight early next year.
Two hours before sunrise—at the beginning of morning twilight—Saturn is about 30° above the southeastern horizon, or one-third of the way from the horizon to overhead. The star Deneb Kaitos, marking Cetus’ tail, is less than halfway up in the southern sky. Neptune is 1.0° to Saturn’s upper left.
Binocular View
Use a binocular to spot Neptune as a bluish “star” near Saturn, 1.0° to the Ring Wonder’s upper left. Both planets appear against a dim, unremarkable starfield with few bright guide stars.
Look for Neptune near Saturn during the next several mornings.
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