September 17, 2025: Before sunrise, see five planets—Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn—along with a thin crescent moon. Look for earthshine, a rare Venus–Moon–Regulus grouping, and Jupiter’s path near Pollux in the eastern sky.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:33 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:56 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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Five Planets and Moon
With a thin lunar crescent in the morning sky, five planets – Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn – are again visible before sunrise. Moonlight, twilight, and outdoor lighting wash out dim celestial bodies, particularly Uranus and Neptune.
Begin looking for these two outer planets at least two hours before sunrise and continue into early morning twilight, which starts about 94 minutes before daybreak.
Binocular View: Planet Uranus and Pleiades
Uranus is bright enough to be seen from dark rural skies without optical aid, but from suburban areas, a binocular is needed. The planet shares the same field of view as the Pleiades star cluster. Place the cluster near the top of the binocular’s field. Aquamarine Uranus – about the same brightness as the stars 13, 14, 32, and 37 Tauri (Tau) – appears star-like toward the bottom.
Binocular View: Saturn and Neptune
Neptune, considerably dimmer, is nearing the end of its predawn visibility window. It is near Saturn, 25° up in the west-southwest. With Saturn centered in a binocular’s view, the stars 27 and 29 Piscium, to the left, are about the same brightness as Uranus. Neptune, only about 15% as bright as those two stars, is above Saturn, near the top of the field. It appears as a bluish star, 0.6° to the lower left of a faint reddish star with an obscure catalog designation.
Earthshine
All five planets are visible. Venus is low in the east-northeast, Jupiter is less than halfway up in the east, and the crescent moon, 19% illuminated, lies between them. Until it fades into bright morning light, look for earthshine on the moon. The glow comes from sunlight reflected off Earth’s oceans, clouds, and land, faintly illuminating the lunar night. Photograph it with a tripod-mounted camera with exposures up to a few seconds. A camera phone held steadily can capture the scene.
Binocular View: Moon and Beehive
In a darker sky and until an hour before sunrise, use the binocular to find the Beehive star cluster, 4.7° below the moon. Like the Pleiades, the Beehive, or Praesepe, has a few hundred stars. It rests within the body of Cancer, outlined by Asellus Australis, Asellus Borealis, Eta Cancri (η Cnc), and Theta Cancri (θ Cnc).
As twilight grows in the eastern sky, Uranus and Neptune disappear into that light. By 45 minutes before sunrise, three planets – Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn – stretch along the arc of the ecliptic from the eastern sky to the west-southwest.
Rare Gathering in Two Mornings
In two mornings, Venus, Moon, and Regulus fit into a tight space so close that they can be covered by the tip of your outstretched thumb.
Today, Before Sunrise
This morning, at 45 minutes before sunrise, brilliant Venus is over 15° up in the east and 2.7° to Regulus’ upper right, Leo’s brightest star. The crescent moon is nearly 25° to Venus’ upper right.
Jupiter, over halfway up in the east-southeast, is 13.6° to the lunar crescent’s upper right and 7.5° to Pollux’s lower right, one of the Twins. It treks eastward in front of Gemini, passing Pollux on October 10th in the first of three conjunctions during this appearance of the planet.
After Sunset
After sunset, Mercury and Mars set into bright twilight and are not visible.
Nearing its opposition with the sun in four nights, Saturn rises only 10 minutes after sunset. By tomorrow morning, it is again in the western sky before sunrise. For those who stay up late, look for Saturn and Neptune when they are in the southern sky around 1 a.m.
In two mornings, watch for the rare gathering of Venus, Moon, and Regulus.
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