August 13, 2025: The brilliant Venus-Jupiter conjunction begins to disperse as Venus pulls away. A six-planet parade slowly forms before sunrise, with Saturn, Mercury, and the moon joining the eastern celestial stage.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:57 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:53 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 Leaves Jupiter
One morning after their spectacular conjunction, Venus steps away from Jupiter. An hour before sunrise, the planets, appearing as bright stars, are in the eastern sky. Brilliant Venus is nearly 20° above the east-northeast horizon, about one-fourth of the way from the horizon to overhead, 1.4° below bright Jupiter. This morning’s separation is about 50% larger than yesterday’s conjunction.
Venus moves eastward faster than Jupiter and the gap begins to open. In a week, Venus passes Pollux, one of the Gemini Twins, 11.1° to the lower left.
Rare Gathering, August 20th
Pollux is nearly 7° above the ecliptic, the plane of the solar system. While one of the celestial landmarks, the planets and moon pass it widely. On the morning of the conjunction with Pollux, the Venus-Pollux gap is 7.2°. The crescent moon is tucked between the star and the planet, forming a close gathering that does not occur again until May 26, 2039.
Saturn and Moon
This morning, the moon, 80% illuminated, is over halfway up in the south-southwest and 13.0° to Saturn’s upper left.
Saturn slowly retrogrades in front of Pisces’ dim stars, muted by this morning’s moonlight and outdoor lighting.
The Ringed Wonder is dimmer than average. The planet’s highly reflective rings are tilted so that we see the edge. Sunlight is reflected generally away from Earth.
Planet Parade Builds
A six-planet parade is developing. Mercury emerges from bright morning twilight, rising 75 minutes before the sun. Thirty minutes later, the speedy planet is less than 5° above the east-northeast horizon, and about the brightness of Pollux. A binocular is needed to see it. Wait for about another week as it brightens considerably.
This morning, faint Neptune is in the same binocular field with Saturn, but moonlight washes it out. Similarly, the moon affects the visibility of Uranus in the same binocular field of view with the Pleiades star cluster.
The six planets in the parade are not visible simultaneously. In a week, look for Uranus and Neptune at least two hours before sunrise. Mercury appears during bright twilight when morning’s light overwhelms the dimmer worlds.
After-Peak Perseids
The Perseid meteor shower, now past its peak morning, still displays 10-15 bright meteors each hour after midnight and before twilight brightens the sky. Look high in the east-northeast, though the meteors can be seen anywhere in the sky. Moonlight mutes the display and washes out the fainter meteors.
Evening Mars
After sundown, Mars continues to slip into brighter evening twilight and a binocular is needed to see it as it marches eastward in front of Virgo’s stars, 6.5° to Porrima’s lower right. Mars passes Spica, Virgo’s brightest star, next month during bright evening twilight.
Saturn, Moon after Sundown
Mars sets 100 minutes after the sun, while Saturn rises in the east several minutes earlier. By three hours after sundown, Saturn is nearly 15° up in the east-southeast. The gibbous moon, 73% illuminated, is nearly 10° above the eastern horizon and almost 25° to Saturn’s lower left.
Tomorrow morning, Saturn and Moon are in the southern sky, while Venus and Jupiter are again in the east-northeast. Watch the moon overtake the planetary pair as Mercury appears.
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