September 25, 2025: Day and night balance today while the morning planet display begins to scatter. Venus widens its gaps from Jupiter and Saturn, with Uranus and Neptune best seen before twilight. The crescent moon joins the evening sky as Saturn climbs higher after sunset.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:42 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:42 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
Daylight and nighttime are equal today. Even though the equinox occurred three days ago, the definition of sunrise and sunset brings the two values equal today.
Morning Planet Display
The planet display in the morning sky continues to dissolve into smaller groups. As Venus steps eastward, it widens the gaps to Jupiter and Saturn. This morning, Venus’ distance from Jupiter is 45.5°, and 159° to Saturn.
On October 17th, the Venus–Saturn gap is 180°, a planet–planet opposition. After this date, Saturn and Neptune set before Venus rises.
The Venus–Saturn conjunction occurred April 25th, followed by the Venus–Jupiter conjunction on August 12th. Venus’ quick eastward motion results in this morning’s separations, which continue to grow about 1° each morning.
The view of the morning planet display is affected by Saturn’s brightness. While Venus and Jupiter can be seen near the horizon, Saturn is not as bright. When it is below about 5° altitude, the dimming and blurring effects of the air near the horizon obscure the view.
As we watch Saturn begin to slide behind the thicker atmosphere, the viewing times are moved earlier by 15 minutes.
After the Venus–Saturn opposition, Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn, and Neptune are visible during the early morning hours. After the Saturn–Neptune duo sets, Venus, Jupiter, and Uranus are visible until Venus disappears into brighter morning twilight in about a month.
An Hour Before Sunrise
- Brilliant Venus is over 10° up in the east, 7.1° to Regulus’ lower left, Leo’s brightest star. The Morning Star is 1.1° to the right of Rho Leonis (ρ Leo). Use a binocular to see the star.
- Jupiter, the second brightest starlike body in the sky this morning, is over halfway up in the east-southeast, 6.9° to Pollux’s lower right, one of the Gemini Twins.
- From rural locations, Uranus is visible without optical assistance. From suburban regions, use a binocular to find it below the Pleiades star cluster, which is high in the southern sky.
- Saturn is less than 10° above the southwest horizon.
- To see Neptune, begin looking at least two hours before sunup. Through a binocular, place Saturn at the center of the field. Dim Neptune, appearing as a bluish star, is near the Ringed Wonder.
After Sundown
- At 45 minutes after sundown, the crescent moon, 16% illuminated, is less than 10° above the southwest horizon. Find an unobstructed horizon looking in the moon’s direction. Use a binocular to see Zubenelgenubi, the Scorpion’s southern claw, 6.9° to the crescent’s upper right.
- Tonight and tomorrow evening, look for earthshine on the moon’s night portion, gently illuminated by sunlight reflected by Earth’s features.
- An hour after sundown, Saturn—a few nights after its opposition—is over 10° up in the east. During the night, the planet moves farther westward. After midnight, it is in the southern sky and in the southwest again tomorrow morning.
The five-planet morning display is beginning to break up as Venus steps away from the other four planets. Look for Uranus and Neptune during pre-twilight hours. The crescent moon is in the evening sky, and Saturn begins its nightly journey westward after sundown.
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