August 19, 2025: Mercury reaches greatest elongation and joins Venus, Jupiter, and the crescent moon in a wide planetary display before sunrise. Spot all six visible planets in one morning.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:03 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:44 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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Mercury at Greatest Elongation
Mercury is at greatest elongation, 18.6°, the farthest we see it from the sun. The distance is equal to the height of your stacked fists extended to arm’s length, thumb knuckle to pinky finger. Geometrically, the Sun-Earth-Mercury angle is largest.
Because of its orbital path near the sun, Mercury speeds around the central star about every three months. It shuttles from evening sky – setting after the sun – to morning sky – rising before sunup. Now west of the sun, it rises 96 minutes before daybreak.
Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Crescent Moon in Planet Parade
As Mercury begins to recede into brighter morning twilight, it brightens. This morning it outshines all the other starlike bodies, except for Venus, Jupiter, and Sirius. It is affected by the dimming effects of the atmosphere near the horizon and the colorful hues of mid-twilight. A binocular might be needed to initially identify it.
At 45 minutes before sunrise, Mercury is less than 10° up in the east-northeast, over 15° to the lower left of brilliant Venus, over 20° above the horizon.
In addition to Mercury and Venus, Jupiter is 7.1° to Venus’ upper right and the crescent moon, 16% illuminated, is 7.6° to Jupiter’s upper left.
Spanning nearly 30°, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and the crescent moon easily fit into the same photographic frame. Use a tripod-mounted camera with exposures up to a few seconds to capture the scene along with the colors of morning twilight. The image will also record earthshine on the moon, sunlight reflected from Earth’s features that gently lights up the lunar night.
Rare Sight Tomorrow Morning
The three bright planets are part of a six-planet display in the predawn hours and one day before a rare grouping of Venus, Moon, and the star Pollux, one of the Gemini Twins. The Morning Star and the lunar crescent do not bunch this closely with the star again until 2039!
Saturn Leads Nightly Planet Parade
The planet parade starts each evening when Saturn crawls across the eastern horizon, less than two hours after sundown. Neptune is in the same binocular field with Saturn, although its sighting is easier when the planetary pair is higher in the sky. Around midnight or four hours after nightfall, Saturn and Neptune are about 30° up in the east-southeast, or one-third of the way from the horizon to overhead. While not as bright as Venus, Jupiter, or Mercury, the Ringed Wonder is the brightest star in the region. This is a good time to attempt a view of Neptune, but all six planets can be seen within a span of 90 minutes before sunrse. At this hour Uranus, in the same binocular field with the Pleiades star cluster, is at the east-northeast horizon.
Search for Neptune through Binocular
Begin the search for Neptune about two hours before sunrise or earlier to look for the dimmest major planet in the modern solar system model. At this time, Saturn is 45° above the south-southwest horizon or about halfway from the horizon to overhead.
In a binocular field, find Neptune, appearing is a very dim blue star, 1.4° above Saturn. Because the planet is quite faint, multiple attempts to see it might be needed across several mornings.
Uranus near Pleiades
Farther eastward, Uranus is near the Pleiades star cluster. The constellation Taurus, with its red-orange star Aldebaran, is above Orion. The stellar bundle is 4.4° to Uranus’ upper left and nearly 15° above the Bull’s brightest star.
Through the binocular, Uranus is easy to locate as an aquamarine star to the lower right edge of the field of view when the Pleiades are to the upper left. It is about the same brightness as the stars 13, 14, 32 and 37 Tauri that are displayed on the accompanying chart.
As Earth continues to rotate, the sky brightens further, veiling the views of Uranus and Neptune. Notice Saturn’s location compared to a distant terrestrial feature, such as a tree or building. Every few minutes, make sure you can find Saturn compared to its referenced feature. As Mercury appears in the east-northeast, Venus, Jupiter, the crescent moon, and Saturn show the solar system’s brightest planets and our nearest celestial neighbor. They span over 120° from the east-northeast to the southwest. Be sure to look early enough to find Uranus and Neptune, a very challenging view.
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