2025, July 16: Pre-Dawn Saturn-Moon Conjunction, Venus Aims at Jupiter

July 16, 2025:  Before sunrise, look for a Saturn-Moon conjunction in the southern sky.  Venus begins to overtake Jupiter in the east. Mars begins to depart darker evening sky.

2020, July 6: The bright moon is 3.2° to the lower left of Saturn and 6.4° to the left of bright Jupiter. The Jupiter – Saturn gap is 6.3°.
2020, July 6: The bright moon is 3.2° to the lower left of Saturn and 6.4° to the left of bright Jupiter. The Jupiter – Saturn gap is 6.3°.

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:30 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:23 p.m. CDT.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Related Articles

Venus Summary Article
VENUS AS A MORNING STAR, 2025

Saturn-Moon Conjunction

Saturn, Moon, July 16, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, July 16: A Saturn-Moon conjunction is visible in the southern sky during morning twilight.

During morning twilight, the gibbous moon, 68% illuminated, is over halfway up in the south-southeast, 2.9° above Saturn. The moon casts light across the sky, further dims the fainter stars and illuminates the ground brightly enough to cast shadows.

Saturn is fainter than average because its highly-reflective rings direct light away from Earth.

Neptune is in the region, but the moon’s light combined with morning twilight overwhelms our view of the most-distant planet in the solar system.

Venus and Taurus

Venus, Taurus, July 16, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, July 16: One hour before sunrise, Venus is near Aldebaran, Taurus’ brightest star, in the east.

At one hour before daybreak, brilliant Venus gleams in the eastern sky.  It is 4.4° to the left of Aldebaran, Taurus brightest star.  The Morning Star continues to step eastward against the Bull’s distant star fields.  Track the planet’s motion through a binocular each morning.

Venus Aims at Jupiter

Venus, Jupiter, July 16, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, July 16: At 30 minutes before sunrise, Venus and Jupiter are in the eastern sky.

Thirty minutes later, Jupiter is relatively easy to locate over 5° above the east-northeast horizon.  Like Venus, this bright planet is visible during bright twilight, though a binocular is helpful with its initial identification.

At this hour brilliant Venus is over 25° to Jupiter’s upper right.  Venus takes aim at the Jovian Giant as the gap closes between them each morning, leading up to their conjunction on August 12th.  Their separation closes about 1° each morning, the diameter of two full moons.

Upcoming Morning Planet Grouping

Mercury is racing toward inferior conjunction, between Earth and Sun, at month’s end to join Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn in an astronomical congregation before sunrise next month.  All are not visible simultaneously.  By the time Mercury is visible during bright twilight, Uranus and Neptune are washed out.

Mars after Sunset

Mars, Leo, July 16, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, July 16: An hour after sunset, Mars is in the western sky with Leo.

Meanwhile, after sunset Mars is over 15° up in the west, over 17° to Regulus’ upper left, Leo’s brightest star, and over 12° below Denebola, the Lion’s tail.  It continues its eastward march as it slides farther into brighter twilight.  Tonight, it sets 145 minutes after nightfall as it loses 3-4 minutes of setting time compared to the changing time of sunset each evening.

At one hour after sundown, Regulus is only 7° above the horizon and in a few evenings, it is very difficult to see even with a binocular.

Watch Leo disappear into evening’s light as each bright star reaches its heliacal setting to reappear in the eastern sky during September.

Saturn peeks above the eastern horizon around midnight, depending on your location in the time zone.  Those in the eastern regions of a time zone see it as the calendar day changes.  Farther westward, look up to an hour later for the Ringed Wonder.

This morning look for the Saturn-Moon conjunction and Jupiter.

LATEST ARTICLES