2025, October 16: Crescent Moon, Jupiter, and Bright Planets

October 16, 2025: The crescent moon appears with Regulus and displays earthshine before sunrise. Jupiter shines high in Gemini, Saturn guides to Neptune, and Uranus appears near the Pleiades.

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:03 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:09 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

Today’s Almanac for Sun, Moon, and Planets

Sun: Daylight at Chicago’s latitude lasts 11 hours, 2 minutes. The sun appears overhead for observers at 9° south latitude.

Moon: The crescent moon, 22% illuminated, is less than halfway up in the eastern sky, 3.4° above Leo’s Regulus. From northeast North America and Greenland, the moon occults the star. Look for earthshine — sunlight reflected from Earth’s features softly lighting the moon’s night portion.

Inner Planets

Mercury: The innermost planet is in the western sky after sundown, but bright twilight overwhelms its light. It sets 43 minutes after nightfall. This evening apparition offers a poor opportunity to see the planet.

Venus, Moon, Regulus, October 15, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, October 16: Venus, crescent moon, and Regulus are in the eastern sky before sunrise.

Venus: The Morning Star rises 105 minutes before sunrise and is less than 10° up in the east 45 minutes later. Venus steps eastward in front of Virgo. Each morning it appears lower but farther southward, reflecting the sun’s southerly rising point.

Outer Planets

Mars: Like Mercury, dim Mars is lost in bright evening twilight as it approaches its solar conjunction early next year. Tonight, it sets about 15 minutes after Mercury.

Jupiter, Moon, Gemini, Regulus, October 16, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, October 16: Jupiter is high in the southeastern sky to the lower right of Pollux, a Gemini Twin.

Jupiter: Rising near midnight, Jupiter is high in the southeast by morning twilight. It rambles eastward in front of Gemini, nearly 7° to Pollux’s lower right.

Saturn, October 16, 2025
Chart Caption – 2025, October 16: Saturn is in the east-southeast after sunset.

Saturn: The Ringed Wonder is 20° up in the east-southeast as darkness falls, slowly retrograding in front of Pisces’ dim stars. Through a telescope, the rings appear nearly edge-on, like the rim of a plate. Saturn serves as a guide to find Neptune with a binocular.

Binocular View - Uranus and Pleiades
Chart Caption – 2025, October: Ninety minutes before sunrise, Uranus is in the same binocular field with the Pleiades star cluster.

Uranus: With the moon back to a crescent, Uranus is easier to see in the same binocular field as the Pleiades star cluster. First locate the cluster, resembling a miniature dipper high in the southwest. Place the cluster at the upper right edge of the field, and aquamarine Uranus is toward the lower right. Uranus shines about as bright as stars 13, 14, 32, and 37 Tauri.

Binocular View - Neptune and Saturn
Chart Caption – 2025, October: Around midnight through a binocular, Neptune is in the same field of view with Saturn.

Neptune: The modern solar system’s most-distant planet is in the same region as Saturn. Best seen when it is highest in the south near midnight, Neptune is faint and bluish, only about 10% as bright as stars 27 and 29 Piscium. In a binocular, place Saturn at the lower right edge of the field, Neptune is off-center to the upper left.

Depending on the hour, at least one bright planet is visible. Use a binocular to track down Uranus and Neptune. Before sunrise, watch for earthshine on the crescent moon.

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