July 22, 2025: Do not miss the predawn gathering of Venus, Jupiter and the crescent moon in the eastern sky. Saturn is in the southern sky, while Mars is visible after sundown.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:35 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:19 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 Summary Article
Venus, Mars, Moon Gather
Before sunrise, Venus, Jupiter, and the crescent moon gather in the eastern sky. Step outside an hour before sunrise. Brilliant Venus is nearly 20° above the eastern horizon, 11.1° to the crescent moon’s upper right, about the distance across you fist at arm’s length, from thumb knuckle to pinky finger knuckle.
Bright Jupiter, near the horizon, is 11.5° to the crescent’s lower left and less than 20° to Venus’ lower left.
Venus is overtaking Jupiter, closing the gap by about 1° each morning, the distance across two full moons. Their conjunction occurs on August 12th.
Earthshine
Look carefully at the moon, its night portion is gently lit by earthshine, sunlight reflected from Earth’s features. Photograph it with a tripod-mounted camera and exposures up to a few seconds, though a steady camera phone can capture the scene.
The three brightest celestial bodies in the night sky are near each other, a spectacular sight. Do not miss this predawn gathering.
Saturn in South
At this hour Saturn, considerably dimmer than Venus and Jupiter, is about halfway from the southern horizon to overhead. It retrogrades in front of Pisces. Neptune is nearby, but washed from view at mid-twilight.
The star Deneb Kaitos is about halfway from the horizon to Saturn, while Fomalhaut, slightly brighter than Saturn, is to the planet’s lower right.
Mercury, still east of the sun and setting after the central star, reaches inferior conjunction, between Earth and Sun at month’s end. Next month it joins Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn in the eastern sky before sunrise. When Mercury becomes visible during bright twilight, Uranus and Neptune are washed out by the predawn glow.
Mars in West after Sunset
This leaves Mars as the lone bright planet in the evening sky. An hour after sunset, it is less than 15° up in the west and 11.6° to Denebola’s lower left, Leo’s tail. Tomorrow evening, Mars passes the star in a wide conjunction.
The Red Planet continues to slip into brighter twilight, setting less than 15 minutes after the end of evening twilight, when the sky reaches its natural darkness.
Spica, over 20° up in the southwest and over 30° to Mars’ upper left, is the planet’s next bright target. As Mars slips into evening twilight, a binocular is needed to track it compared to the star. Their conjunction occurs on September 13th.
Saturn rises in the east about 30 minutes after Mars sets.
This morning, look for the three bright planets – Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn – and the crescent moon before daybreak.
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