September 11, 2025: Before sunrise, watch Venus draw closer to Regulus as the bright moon crosses the morning sky. Saturn, Jupiter, and other stars add to the view.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:27 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:06 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
Watch Venus and Moon Move toward Regulus
Step outside this morning and notice the scene with the moon, planets, and bright stars in the eastern sky. A gathering is unfolding that includes the moon, this morning a gibbous phase high in the eastern sky, Venus low in the east, and Leo’s brightest star, Regulus. Venus and the moon bunch closely with the star on the 19th, the closest they appear until 2041!
Because of the moon’s brightness, do not look for Uranus or Neptune. The light washes over dimmer celestial bodies, making them challenging views. We will resume the views of that planetary pair when the moon reaches a thin morning crescent phase.
This Morning’s View
- The gibbous moon, 83% illuminated, is high in the southwest. It is near Hamal, Aries’ brightest star, 6.2° to the lunar orb’s upper right. In this moonlight, use a binocular to see the star. Menkar, Cetus’ nostril is over 15° to the lower left. Planet Uranus is near the Pleiades star cluster, over 20° to the moon’s upper left.
- While looking for the moon and stars in its region, find Saturn low in the west-southwest. When views of Neptune resume, Saturn is the target body to locate the solar system’s most-distant planet.
- Brilliant Venus is less than 20° above the east horizon. It steps eastward in front of Leo, 10° to the upper right of Regulus, the brightest star and the anchor for the grouping in several mornings. This morning the star is over 110° east of the moon.
- Jupiter, not a member of the upcoming close grouping, is halfway from the horizon to overhead in the east-southeast and over 30° to Venus’ upper right. The second brightest starlike body in the sky this morning treks slowly eastward in front of Gemini, 7.7° to the right of the Twin Pollux.
- Mercury continues to leave the morning sky, reaching superior conjunction on the sun’s far side in a few mornings. It rises only 11 minutes before the sun.
After Sunset
- Mars, setting 76 minutes after the sun, is in bright twilight near Spica, although the sky is too bright to see them.
- Saturn, approaching opposition later this month, rises in the eastern sky about 25 minutes after sunset. By two hours after sunset, the Ringed Wonder is over 15° above the east-southeast horizon. During the night, the planet is farther westward, appearing again in the west-southwest before sunrise.
- The moon rises about two hours after sundown. An hour later it is low in the east-northeast. The phase is 75% illuminated. The morning half-full phase, known as Last Quarter, occurs on the 14th at 5:33 a.m. Central Time.
Each morning watch Venus move closer to Regulus, while the waning moon quickly overtakes the brilliant planet and star.
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