August 18, 2025: The morning sky hosts six planets—Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury—before sunrise. Look for a close moon–Venus–Pollux gathering in two mornings.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:02 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:46 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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Morning Planet Parade
The morning planet parade continues during the predawn hours. It is led westward by Saturn and Neptune. The Ringed Wonder rises in the east at 85 minutes after sunset. By four hours after nightfall, around midnight, it is about one-fourth of the way from the east-southeast horizon to overhead. This is about the time that Uranus and the Pleiades star cluster rise in the east-northeast.
From this time interval after sunset and until the beginning of morning twilight, attempt to find Neptune through a binocular. It is in the same field of view with Saturn. Finding Neptune is a challenge. Even through a binocular, Saturn’s rings are not visible.
The accompanying chart shows Neptune relative to Saturn about two hours before daybreak. If looking earlier, the field of view is rotated slightly, though the two field stars – 27 Piscium (27 Psc on the chart) and 29 Piscium (29 Psc) are in the view.
Neptune is quite faint, over 700 times than Saturn, yet readily accessible from its proximity to Saturn and its identity may take multiple attempts across a few mornings to identify it.
At the beginning of morning twilight, less than two hours before sunrise, Saturn is nearly halfway from the west-southwest horizon and overhead, with Neptune nearby.
As the sky brightens, Neptune blends with morning’s early light and disappears from view.
Uranus near Pleiades
Farther eastward, Uranus is easy to locate in the same binocular field with the Pleiades star cluster. This morning, first locate the crescent moon, 26% illuminated, about one-third of the way from the east-northeast horizon to overhead. It is 2.0° to Elnath’s lower left, the Bull’s southern horn. The constellation’s brightest star, Aldebaran, is over 15° to the moon’s upper right. The Pleiades star cluster, resembling a tiny dipper, is above Aldebaran and over halfway up in the east-southeast.
Earthshine on Moon
Look for earthshine on the moon, sunlight reflected from Earth’s features that gently illuminates the lunar night. Photograph the lunar earthshine and the surrounding skyscape with a tripod mounted camera and exposures up to a few seconds. A steady handheld smartphone camera can capture the scene.
Binocular View
Uranus is in the same binocular field with the star cluster. It is about the same brightness as stars 13, 14, 32 and 37 Tauri, in the lower right portion of the field when the Pleiades are to the upper left. The planet is visit with the optical assistance in suburban areas and to the unaided eye in the countryside. Like Neptune, Uranus fades into morning’s light.
Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury
Brilliant Venus and Jupiter are below the lunar crescent. At 45 minutes before daybreak, Venus is over 20° above the east-northeast horizon with Jupiter to its upper right. After their striking conjunction six mornings ago, the Morning Star’s gap to the Jovian Giant is 6.1°.
In two mornings, the crescent moon, cuts between Pollux and Venus for a rare close gathering of the three bodies that is not repeated until 2039.
Speedy Mercury, the sixth planet in this parade, is nearly 10° above the east-northeast horizon and over 15° to Venus lower left. It reaches its largest separation from the sun tomorrow and begins to retreat back into brighter morning twilight. It brightens as it retreats.
This morning, Mercury is brighter than Procyon, the Little Dog Star, nearly 20° to the right and over twice as bright as Pollux, over 15° above the planet. Use a binocular to initially see Mercury.
For an hour span, beginning about two hours before sunrise, the six planets are visible, depending on the level of morning twilight. At 45 minutes before sunup, the four brightest, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn, span about 120° from the east-northeast to southwest. Look carefully for Saturn.
The six-planet parade continues until Mercury is again hidden in twilight for about 10 more mornings. The five planets are easily visible strung across morning sky for several weeks.
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