2025, October 13: Moon, Jupiter, and Venus Gleam in Morning Sky

October 13, 2025: Before sunrise, the Last Quarter moon joins bright Jupiter and Pollux in a nearly equilateral triangle. Venus glimmers low in the east, while Saturn climbs higher in the evening sky.

Jupiter, Mars, Moon gather, August 27, 2024
Photo Caption, 2024, August 27: Jupiter, Mars, Moon gather before sunrise

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:01 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:12 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 AS A MORNING STAR, 2025

Sunrise Time Later

For a short interval in Chicago, sunrise occurs after 7 a.m. This continues until standard time resumes next month. Afterward, shrinking daylight pushes sunrise past 7 a.m. again beginning December 3. That pattern lasts until February 5, 2026.

Three bright planets and the moon are visible during nighttime hours. The highlight of this morning’s sky is Jupiter and the moon.

Morning Planets and Moon

Jupiter, Moon, Pollux, October 13, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, October 13: Jupiter, Moon, and Pollux make nearly an equilateral triangle in the southeastern sky before sunrise.

Step outside about an hour before sunrise. The half-full moon is high in the southeastern sky, 8.4° above bright Jupiter and 7.2° to the upper right of Pollux, one of the Gemini Twins. The three form the corners of a nearly equilateral triangle.

The moon reaches its Last Quarter phase at 1:13 p.m. Central Time.

Jupiter rises around midnight in the eastern regions of the time zones, about an hour later farther west. By morning twilight, the planet is high in the southeast. Tomorrow, the moon appears below Jupiter and Pollux.

Venus, October 13, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, October 13: Venus shines from low in the eastern sky during morning twilight.

Bright Venus, considerably lower than earlier in the year, is about 10° up in the east 45 minutes before daybreak, near mid-twilight. The Morning Star steps eastward in front of Virgo, nearly 15° to the lower right of Denebola, the tail of Leo.

Saturn Lone Evening Planet

Saturn, October 13, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, October 13: Saturn is in the east-southeast after sunset.

As darkness falls, Saturn is in the southeastern sky, climbing higher each evening. Attend a local astronomy club or science museum’s telescope night soon to see Saturn’s rings nearly edge-on. The view is like looking at the rim of a plate.

Through the night, Saturn appears farther westward, setting near the time Venus rises. When that occurs, the thick atmosphere along the western horizon hinders Saturn’s visibility.

Four Planets Not Visible

Four other bright planets are not easily seen. Mercury and Mars are hidden in bright evening twilight. Neptune is in the same binocular field with Saturn, though bright moonlight washes it out. Uranus is near the Pleiades star cluster and, like Neptune, is affected by the Last Quarter moon’s light. Try again for them when the moon wanes to a thin crescent in a few mornings.

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