August 10, 2025: Watch Venus approach Jupiter in the eastern sky before sunrise. A nearly full moon brightens the morning as Sirius is at heliacal rising and the Perseid meteor shower nears its peak.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:54 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:57 p.m. CDT. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
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Venus Summary Article
Venus-Jupiter Conjunction in Two Mornings
The Venus-Jupiter conjunction occurs in two mornings. The two bright planets are in the eastern sky during morning twilight.
Step outside and look eastward an hour before sunrise. The two brightest planets are about 20° up in the eastern sky. Brilliant Venus is 1.9° to Jupiter’s upper right. The Morning Star passes 0.9° to Jupiter’s lower right on conjunction morning.
Bright Moon and Saturn
The bright moon, 99% illuminated is about 20° up in the southwest. Look for Fomalhaut, the mouth of the Southern Fish, about 20° to the lunar orb’s lower left.
Moonlight Dims Many Celestial Wonders
The moonlight is brighter than many celestial wonders, including the dimmer planets. Neptune is in the same binocular field of view with Saturn. Moonlight washes out the more-distant faint world. While challenging, the planet is visible when the moon displays a waning crescent phase, then moves into the evening sky.
The moon’s light interferes with the Perseid meteor shower that peaks in a few mornings, as well. Before morning twilight begins, 10-15 meteors per hour can be seen emerging from the east-northeastern sky.
Sirius at Heliacal Rising
Sirius is at its heliacal rising or first morning appearance across the mid-northern latitudes. At about 45 minutes before sunrise, it is low in the east-southeast.
Saturn’s Rings from the Side
For the bright planets, Saturn, considerably dimmer than Venus and Jupiter, is fainter than average. Through a telescope, we see the rings from the side, like looking at the edge of a dinner plate. Their orientation reflects light away from our sight, causing the planet to look dimmer than its typical brightness. Even at this brightness, Saturn is brighter than most stars this morning.
After Venus and Jupiter, eight of the 15 bright stars that are visible from the mid-northern latitudes are in the sky at this hour. They are: Vega, Capella, Rigel, Betelgeuse, Altair, Aldebaran, Fomalhaut, and Deneb, listed in their order of brightness. Saturn is brighter than the last three stars on the list.
The Ringed Wonder, retrograding in front of Pisces, is 30° to the moon’s upper left. The moon passes the planet in two mornings.
Uranus
Uranus, a second dim planet, is in the same binocular field with the Pleiades star cluster, over halfway up in the east-southeast. Like Neptune, wait until the moon is either a crescent phase or out of the morning sky to look for it.
In about a week, Mercury enters the morning sky to join Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn – a six-planet parade before sunrise. Neptune and Uranus are visible before twilight begins, while Mercury shows up during bright morning twilight. From Mercury to Saturn, the four bright planets span 125°.
Mars into Evening Twilight
After sundown, Mars continues its slide into evening twilight. Now visible with optical assistance, it is less than 10° above the western horizon. Marching eastward in front of Virgo, it is 8.2° to the lower right of Porrima, known as Gamma Virginis, and nearly 22° to the lower right of Spica, the constellation’s brightest star.
Mars passes behind the sun early next year and first appears in the eastern sky next spring.
Saturn and evening Moon
This evening the moon rises nearly an hour after sunset, followed by Saturn in another hour, shortly before Mars sets. By three hours after sundown, the lunar orb is 20° above the east-southeast horizon, less than 20° to Saturn’s upper right.
Continue to watch Venus overtake Jupiter in the eastern sky before sunrise. The moon hops eastward toward Saturn. The Perseid meteor shower is peaking, and Sirius continues to make its first morning appearance across the mid-northern latitudes.
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