December 30, 2025: Track the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and the visible planets with this Solar System Almanac. Precise sky positions, angular separations, and observing guidance for late December.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:18 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:29 p.m. CST. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
Solar System Almanac for Sun, Moon, and Planets
Sun: At Chicago’s latitude, daylight lasts 9 hours, 11 minutes. Sunrise remains at its latest time through January 10th. In comparison, the sun is in the sky for 10 hours, 33 minutes at Miami’s latitude, while daylight spans only 5 hours, 36 minutes at Anchorage. At noon today, the sun is overhead at latitude 23° south, just north of the Tropic of Capricorn.
Moon: The moon is 84% illuminated, displaying an evening humped (gibbous) phase. Moonlight washes across the sky, creating a veil that blots out dimmer stars and planets. An hour after sundown, the lunar orb is over halfway up from the east-southeast horizon, nearly 15° to Hamal’s lower left, Aries’ brightest star, and 8.4° to the upper right of Taurus’ Pleiades star cluster. With the moon nearby, use a binocular to see the stellar bundle.
During the night, the moon moves eastward toward the star cluster, but the pair sets for most of North America before the lunar orb occults (eclipses) the stars. An occultation of the cluster is visible from Alaska, northwest Canada, and eastern Asia.
Inner Planets
Mercury: After its best morning appearance of the year earlier this month, this speedy planet is immersed in bright morning twilight, rising only 50 minutes before sunrise. Mercury passes on the sun’s far side (superior conjunction) on January 21st and then moves east of the sun into the western evening sky. During late February, it appears low in the west near Venus.
Venus: After appearing as the Morning Star for most of the year, Venus is now immersed in bright sunlight. It rises only a few minutes before sunrise. Venus reaches superior conjunction on January 6th and reemerges as the Evening Star during late February.
Bright Outer Planets
Mars: The Red Planet is also hidden in bright twilight, setting about five minutes after sunset. Mars reaches solar conjunction on January 9th. Because the ecliptic makes a low angle with the eastern horizon during winter and early spring mornings, Mars does not reappear in the morning sky until late spring.
Jupiter:With Venus out of the night sky, Jupiter is the brightest starlike body visible after sunset. To the unaided eye it appears as a star, but a telescope reveals cloud bands and up to four large moons. Nearing opposition on January 10th, the Jovian Giant appears in the sky nearly all night.
Jupiter retrogrades in front of Gemini, 6.8° from Pollux, one of the Twins, and passes Castor, the other brother, in a wide conjunction on January 5th. Tonight, Jupiter rises less than an hour after sundown, is high in the south after midnight, and appears low in the west-northwest during morning twilight. Look for it about three hours after sunset, once it clears nearby buildings and trees.
Saturn: The Ringed Wonder is about halfway up in the southern sky after sunset, an excellent location for telescopic inspection. During this once-every-15-year event, the rings are viewed nearly edge on, like looking at the edge of a dinner plate. The rings reflect sunlight away from Earth, making Saturn dimmer than average. The planet shines at about the same brightness as Fomalhaut, over 30° to Saturn’s lower right.
Faint Outer Planets
Uranus: The Tilted World is in the same binocular field with Taurus’ Pleiades star cluster, although tonight’s bright moon makes the planet difficult to see. Wait until the moon wanes to a crescent phase before attempting the view.
Neptune: Although farther from the moon in the sky than Uranus, Neptune’s visibility is strongly affected by moonlight and outdoor lighting. It is in the same binocular field with Saturn, though considerably dimmer and more than three times farther away. Wait for the moon to return to a slim crescent. Each week, Neptune appears farther westward and lower at the end of evening twilight, where thicker air near the horizon dims and blurs the solar system’s most distant planet.
Look for bright Jupiter, Saturn, and the gibbous moon during the nighttime hours.
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