December 5-8, 2025: Watch the moon approach and pass Jupiter over four mornings and evenings as the Jovian Giant retrogrades near Pollux.
By Jeffrey L. Hunt
The moon moves eastward and approaches Jupiter, then passes it. This can be observed before sunrise or after sunset.
Jupiter Retrogrades near Pollux
Jupiter retrogrades — appears to move westward — compared to Gemini’s starry background, 6.5° from Pollux, one of the Twins. Each night it rises in the east-northeast about three hours after sunset, not so late with early sunsets. During the night, it appears farther westward, reaching its high point in the south over four hours before daybreak. By morning twilight, the Jovian Giant is less than halfway from the west horizon to overhead.
As Venus disappears into bright sunlight — leading up to its superior conjunction in about a month — Jupiter is the brightest starlike body, easily outshining Sirius.
Appearing 4.5° apart, Gemini’s brightest stars, Castor and Pollux, form a nearly vertical line when they rise, although Castor is slightly to the left. Because of the sky’s geometry, they appear nearly side-by-side when they are in the western sky. Their orientation relative to Polaris is unchanged, and their spacing stays the same, although their alignment relative to the horizon shifts as they move across the sky. Watch how their apparent orientation changes in different parts of the sky.
If you are a morning sky watcher, here’s what to see:
Before Sunrise
One hour before sunrise, find bright Jupiter about halfway up in the west.
• December 5: On the night of the Full (Cold) moon, the lunar orb is over 15° above the west-northwest horizon. It is 2.6° to the lower right of Elnath, Taurus’ northern horn. The moon is over 30° to Jupiter’s lower right. After sunrise in central North America, the moon occults (eclipses) the star for sky watchers in Indonesia and northwest Australia.
• December 6: The bright morning moon, 97% illuminated, is about 30° above the west-northwest horizon, nearly 20° to Jupiter’s lower right.
• December 7: The waning gibbous moon, 91% illuminated, is over 40° above the western horizon, and 4.7° to Jupiter’s lower right, 6.7° to Castor’s lower left, and 4.4° below Pollux. Jupiter, Moon, and Pollux fit tightly into the same binocular field.
• December 8: The 83% lit moon is almost 50° above the west-southwest horizon, over 10° to Jupiter’s upper left and over 12° to Pollux’s upper left. The moon is in the same binocular field with the Beehive star cluster, although moonlight and growing morning twilight overwhelm a favorable view.
After Sunset
Even though Jupiter rises around three hours after nightfall, the following describes the scene two hours later, when the planet is over 20° above the eastern horizon.
• December 5: The moon, 98% illuminated, is nearly halfway up in the east, over 20° to Jupiter’s upper right.
• December 6: The 93% lit moon, over 30° up in the east, is 8.3° to Jupiter’s upper right, 7.4° to Castor’s right, and 7.5° to Castor’s upper right.
• December 7: The moon, 86% illuminated, is over 15° above the east-northeast horizon, 7.6° to Jupiter’s lower left and 8.3° below Pollux. The moon and the Beehive tightly fit into the same binocular field, but the moon is too bright for a satisfactory view.
• December 8: The waning gibbous moon, 77% illuminated, is about 5° above the east-northeast horizon, over 21° to Jupiter’s lower left.
Watch the moon appear farther eastward each night as it approaches and passes Jupiter and the Gemini Twins. Observing the events of these four nights occurs before sunrise and after sunset.
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