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.
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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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
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.
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
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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