In July 2025, brilliant Venus shines in morning twilight, stepping through Taurus, passing Aldebaran on the 13th, and approaching Jupiter for a close August conjunction. Watch the Morning Star near Uranus, the Pleiades, Zeta Tauri, and Messier 35.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
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Venus Summary Article
VENUS AS A MORNING STAR, 2025
Morning Star and Taurus
The brilliant Morning Star Venus shines from the eastern sky during morning twilight. It is the brightest starlike body in the sky. An hour before sunrise, find it over 15° above the eastern horizon.
During July, the planet steps eastward in front of Taurus. Venus crossed the Taurus/Aries border on June 27th, to the lower right of the Pleiades star cluster.
Venus, Uranus, Pleiades
As Venus makes its way eastward, it passes 2.4° to the lower right of planet Uranus, a challenging site through a binocular during twilight, on July 4th.
The next morning, the brilliant planet passes 6.6° to the lower right of the Pleiades, a pretty sight, but a tight fit in a binocular.
Venus Passes V of Taurus
Venus approaches the “V” of Taurus, made by Aldebaran, the Bull’s brightest star, and a checkmark shape made by the Hyades star cluster. The shape nicely fits into a binocular with the planet from 9th through the 15th. For day-to-day highlights, see the Venus Summary Article linked above.
On July 13th, Venus passes Aldebaran. At this conjunction, the planet is 3.2° to the upper left of the star.
Venus-Jupiter Conjunction Countdown
Around the 15th, look for Jupiter low in the east-northeast. At 30 minutes before sunrise, bright Jupiter is over 5° above the east-northeast horizon and about 25° to Venus’ lower left. The gap closes by about 1° each morning, leading to their August 12th conjunction.
Venus and Moon
On the 21st, about 20° up in the east-northeast, Venus is 7.7° to the lower right of the moon, 14% illuminated. The lunar crescent is 10.9° to Aldebaran’s upper left.
Venus passes 0.7° from Zeta Tauri, the Bull’s southern horn, on the 26th.
Beginning on the same morning as the Venus-Zeta Tauri conjunction, the Morning Star appears in the same binocular field with a star cluster cataloged as Messier 35 (M 35) near Castor’s foot, one of the Gemini Twins.
As July ends, Venus briefly crosses Orion’s club, passing 1.1° to the upper left of Chi1 Orionis (χ1 Ori).
Watch the brilliant planet pass Taurus in the eastern sky during morning twilight.
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