December 2, 2025: Mercury reaches its best morning appearance of the year as Jupiter retrogrades near Pollux and the waxing gibbous moon and Saturn appear after sunset.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:00 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:20 p.m. CST. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
Jupiter, Saturn, and Mercury are visible during the nighttime, along with the gibbous moon.
In the Morning Sky
During morning twilight, Mercury puts on its best morning display of the year. At 45 minutes before sunrise, the speedy planet is nearly 10° above the east-southeast horizon, below the Scorpion’s claws – Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali.
As the planet nears its greatest angular separation from the sun, it brightens each morning. Mercury is bright, although the colorful hues of mid-twilight somewhat mask the view. Use a binocular to initially locate the planet.
Even at its best, Mercury is challenging to see. Nearly three times closer to the sun than Earth, the planet seems to hug the sun in morning twilight. At its greatest separation, it rises during bright twilight and shines from low in the sky. Find a clear horizon in its direction or an elevated structure to view across obstacles.
Jupiter
At this hour, Jupiter is in the western sky. It retrogrades in front of Gemini, to Pollux’s lower right, one of the Twins. As the brightest starlike body, the Jovian Giant dominates the sky with Venus receding into morning’s brighter light.
Venus continues to retreat into morning sunlight. At only 20 minutes before sunup, the Morning Star is immediately above the east-southeast horizon. With persistence and an unobstructed natural horizon, it can be found through a binocular.
After Sunset
After sundown, the bright waxing gibbous moon, 94% illuminated, is 30° up in the east – about one-third of the way from the horizon to overhead. It is 8.1° below Hamal, Aries’ brightest star. This month’s Full Moon, the Cold Moon, occurs in two nights.
Taurus’ brightest star, Aldebaran, is nearly 10° above the east-northeast horizon and nearly 30° to the lunar orb’s lower left. This star rises at sunset in four nights and appears in the sky all night.
Saturn
Farther westward, Saturn is nearly halfway from the south-southeast horizon to overhead. It gently moves eastward in front of Pisces’ dim stars. Now and for the next few hours, Saturn is in a prime location for telescopic inspection, even in this moonlight. Visit your local science museum on a telescope night or ask a neighborhood sky watcher to show you the Ringed Wonder.
Jupiter
Bright Jupiter rises in the east-northeast about three hours after sunset and dominates the night sky after the moon. Two hours later, it is about 20° up in the east and 6.6° to Pollux’s lower right. As it retrogrades, it passes Pollux in a wide conjunction on the 13th – the second of a triple-conjunction series. By tomorrow morning, find Jupiter in the western sky nearly in the same place it was this morning.
Look for the planets and moon during the nighttime.
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