October 9, 2025: Before sunrise, Venus shines in front of Virgo while the bright gibbous moon glows in the west. After nightfall, the moon occults stars in the Pleiades, with Saturn visible in the evening sky and Jupiter rising near midnight.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:56 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:20 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
Before sunrise, Venus steps in front of Virgo, and after nightfall, the gibbous moon occults stars in the Pleiades star cluster.
Morning Sky
Before sunrise, the bright gibbous moon, 92% illuminated, is less than halfway up in the west. It is 11.5° to the upper left of Hamal, Aries’ brightest star, and 12.2° to the lower right of the Pleiades star cluster.
Moonlight spoils any reasonable view of Neptune and Uranus. The most-distant planet is in the same binocular field with Saturn, and Uranus is near the Pleiades.
Farther eastward, Jupiter rambles eastward in front of Gemini, to the lower right of Pollux, one of the Twins. It passes the star tomorrow in a wide conjunction, the first of three during this Jovian apparition – a triple conjunction.
This morning Venus, over 10° up in the east, steps in front of Virgo, 3.1° above Zavijava (Beta Virginis). Use a binocular to see the star with the planet, especially in this moonlight.
Evening Sky
After sunset, two planets – Mercury and Mars – are washed out by bright western evening twilight. Mercury continues to emerge from bright sunlight, though this evening appearance is disappointing even on its best evenings. Mars continues its slide toward solar conjunction next year.
Saturn is the lone bright evening planet until Jupiter rises around midnight. The Ringed Wonder is low in the east-southeast as darkness falls. During the night it is farther westward, reaching its high point in the south about five hours after sunset. It may be possible to look for Neptune before moonrise, about two hours after nightfall.
Before midnight, the moon occults stars in the Pleiades star cluster. At nearly 10:30 p.m. Central Time in middle America, the lunar orb begins to cover Electra (17 Tauri). Taygete’s occultation (19 Tauri) begins at 10:50 p.m., and Maia’s (20 Tauri) begins a few minutes later. The stars disappear behind the sunlit edge (limb) and reappear from the nighttime limb.
To see the event, use a binocular or a spotting scope. The moon’s brightness may create a temporary afterimage in your vision, similar to a camera flash.
For example, this table shows the disappearance and reappearance times of Electra across a large swath of Greenland, Canada, and the US. For the times listed, subtract 4 hours for Eastern Time; 5 hours, Central; 6 hours, Mountain; and 7 hours, Pacific.
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