July 20, 2025: Before sunrise, the crescent moon covers stars in the Pleiades cluster in a lunar occultation visible across North America. View the event with a binocular and spot Venus approaching Jupiter.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:34 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:20 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 AS A MORNING STAR, 2025
Morning Lunar Occultation of the Pleiades
Before sunrise, the Pleiades star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters, is eclipsed or occulted by the crescent moon that is 24% illuminated. The entire event occurs across North America. The stars that are occulted depends on the particular location.
The stellar bunch has a few hundred stars and a few dozen are easily counted through a binocular. The brightest members make a miniature dipper shape.
Star Names
The stars of the cluster have astronomical catalog designations, and some have proper names. The brightest Pleiad is Alcyone, also known as Eta Tauri. Others star names include Merope, Atlas, Electra, Taygeta, and Maia.
This occultation is easily observed through a binocular or a spotting scope with maximum magnifications of about 20x.
A lunar occultation is a slow event. During the waning phase, the moon slowly approaches the star or planet from the west and the more-distant body disappears behind the lunar orb’s bright edge or limb. The moon continues the eastward direction and approximately an hour later, the star reappears at the dark limb.
The novelty of this event is that it is possible to see the moon cover and uncover the cluster’s stars in succession. The issue with this occultation is that it occurs near sunrise. Twilight begins about two hours before sunrise and the event fades into brighter twilight for sky watchers in the eastern regions of the continent.
The moon approaches the star cluster from the west, encroaching first on Electra, the cluster’s western bright star. The accompany chart shows a binocular view at 2:35 a.m. Central Time from the Chicago area, though the view looks similar across the continent.
The table below shows the local times Electra disappears:
| Electra Disappearance (Local Time) | |
| Montreal | 4:43 |
| Toronto | 4:38 |
| Cancun | 3:09 |
| Atlanta | 4:21 |
| Albuquerque | 2:25 |
| Chicago | 3:33 |
| Boston | 4:39 |
| Miami | 4:15 |
| Minneapolis | 3:39 |
| Kansas City | 3:30 |
| Denver | 2:35 |
| Seattle | 2:03 |
Occultation of Alcyone
By 4:35 a.m. Central Time, only one hour before sunrise in the Chicago area, the moon is approaching Alcyone, though the sight is nearly impossible for East Coast sky watchers. West Coast observers are catching the view in a dark sky. In Los Angeles, this star’s occultation begins at 2:21 a.m. Pacific Time. Here, moonrise occurs at 1:30 a.m., and the occultation is already in progress. When Alcyone is eclipsed, the moon is less than 10° up in the east-northeastern sky. A clear view is needed toward the horizon.
Earthshine
Attempt to capture a photograph of earthshine on the moon during the occultation. The effect is from sunlight that reflects from Earth’s oceans, clouds, and land. A tripod-mounted camera with exposures up to a few seconds is best, though a steady smartphone camera can catch the scene.
Atlas’ occultation occurs from Salt Lake City and northern California to Alaska, long after sunrise in the eastern regions. From Los Angeles, the moon passes north of the star cluster with a near occultation.
Find Planet Uranus
The planet Uranus is in the same region as the Pleiades star cluster. During the occultation, shift the binocular so that the moon and cluster are toward the upper left edge in the field. Aquamarine Uranus is to the lower right in the field and about the same brightness as 13 Tauri (13 Tau on the chart) and 14 Tauri. It is in the same binocular field with the star cluster throughout the year, until they disappears into evening twilight next spring. It is visible even to suburban sky watchers with the binocular’s optical aid.
Venus Overtakes Jupiter
This morning’s occultation occurs as Venus overtakes Jupiter. An hour before daybreak, the brilliant Morning Star is in the eastern sky. It steps eastward each morning in front of Taurus between the Bull’s horns, Elnath and Zeta Tauri, 8.2° to Aldebaran’s lower left, the constellation’s brightest star.
Jupiter is above the eastern horizon and over 20° to Venus’ lower left. Venus cuts the gap about 1°, the diameter of two moons, each morning. Their pretty conjunction occurs on August 12th.
Don’t Forget Saturn!
Meanwhile, the other bright planet this morning is Saturn. Considerably dimmer than Venus and Jupiter, the Ringed Wonder is about halfway from the south-southeast horizon to overhead. It gently retrogrades in front of Pisces. It is above Deneb Kaitos, Cetus’ tail, which is about halfway from the horizon to the planet.
Neptune is in the same region as Saturn and can be found in a dark sky through a binocular. The planet is quite faint, and with a thinning and dimming moon, wait for another morning or two before looking for it.
Mercury races toward inferior conjunction – between Earth and Sun – at the end of the month and makes an appearance in the morning sky next month with Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn. The planets are visible before sunrise, but not simultaneously. When Mercury is visible, Uranus and Neptune are washed out by bright morning twilight.
Lonely Mars
This leaves Mars as the lone bright planet in the evening sky. As it slowly nears its conjunction with the sun early next year, the planet dims and slowly slides into evening twilight. This evening it is less than 15° above the western horizon.
Look for this morning’s lunar occultation of the Pleiades and watch Venus overtake Jupiter during the next several mornings.
July 20, 1969
July 20, 1969: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”
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