October 25, 2026: Find the Full Hunter’s Moon near Saturn, Jupiter and Mars before sunrise, and observing details for Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and Neptune.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:15 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 5:54 p.m. CDT. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
Almanac for Sun, Moon, and Planets
Sun, Moon
Sun: Daylight continues to decrease across the northern hemisphere. At Chicago’s latitude, daylight spans 10 hours, 39 minutes, compared to 11 hours, 19 minutes in Miami. Farther north, in Anchorage, the Sun is in the sky for 9 hours, 8 minutes. Even north of the equator, more southerly latitudes receive more daylight. The Sun is overhead at local noon at 12° south latitude. In Auckland, daylight spans 13 hours, 22 minutes, compared to 10 hours, 56 minutes in Nashville. Both cities are nearly equidistant from the equator.
Moon: The Full Hunter’s Moon occurs tonight at 11:12 p.m. CDT. Many calendars show tomorrow’s date for the Full Moon. For locations east of the Central Time Zone, the phase occurs on the following calendar date. The lunar orb rises about 30 minutes before sunset. An hour after sunset, it is over 15° above the east horizon, over 20° to Saturn’s lower left, and less than 10° to Hamal’s lower right, Aries’ brightest star.
Inferior Planets
Mercury: The Elusive Planet is moving toward inferior conjunction—between Earth and Sun—on November 4, followed by a morning appearance. Tonight, it sets over 30 minutes after sunset.
Venus: The solar system’s brightest planet was at inferior conjunction two days ago. Still in bright sunlight, it rapidly moves into the morning sky near Spica. By month’s end, it rises in the east-southeast nearly 50 minutes before sunrise. On the mornings of November 6 and 7, the waning crescent moon is near the Morning Star.
Bright Outer Planets
Jupiter and Mars are in the southeastern sky before sunrise. The Jovian Giant is over halfway from the southeast horizon to overhead. It slowly rambles eastward in front of Leo, 6.7° to Regulus’ upper right, the constellation’s brightest star.
Through a telescope, the planet’s four largest moons are easily visible, as are the world’s cloud stripes. On occasion, the Great Red Spot—a long-lived atmospheric disturbance—is visible in the eyepiece.
Mars, noticeably dimmer than Jupiter and 8.3° to the bright planet’s upper right, marches eastward in front of Cancer. Mars, Jupiter, and Regulus are nearly equally spaced in the sky. Mars continues to approach Jupiter leading up to their conjunction on November 16.
Regulus is part of a group of a half-dozen stars that outline a backward question mark, sometimes named the Sickle of Leo, outlining the Lion’s head. A triangle to the lower left marks the haunches and tail, Denebola.
Saturn: The Ringed Wonder is well up in the east-southeast after sunset. As noted in the Moon section, Saturn is in the same region as the lunar orb. It retrogrades in front of Cetus. This effect is an illusion, as our faster-moving planet speeds past Saturn on an orbital path closer to the Sun. Saturn appears farther westward during the night. It is south before midnight and sets in the west over two hours before sunrise.
Through a telescope, the view shows that Saturn is the solar system’s crown jewel. The rings are tilted about 10° along the line of sight. The view is toward the southern hemisphere, although the cloud banding is more subtle than Jupiter’s clouds. Depending on the telescope, several bright moons are visible. Titan is easily seen in the plane of the rings to the right, or west, of the planet.
Faint Outer Planets
Uranus: The Tilted World is in the same binocular field as the Pleiades star cluster. It rises in the east-northeast about 90 minutes after sunset. Before morning twilight begins, Uranus is about halfway from the west-southwest horizon to overhead. From the countryside away from outdoor lighting on moonless nights, the planet is visible without optical assistance. Now, with the bright moon, a binocular is needed.
Resembling a tiny dipper, the Pleiades are easy to recognize. Center the Pleiades in the field and take a long look at them. Then move the binocular slightly to place the cluster toward the right edge of the field. The stars 32 and 33 Tauri (32 Tau, 33 Tau), about the same brightness as Uranus, are near the center of the field. Stars 37 and 39 Tauri (37 Tau, 39 Tau) are toward the left. Aquamarine Uranus is near the left edge. Slightly shift the binocular so that the planet is centered.
Neptune: The Distant Blue World is about 10° west (to the right) of Saturn. It is in front of a dim Pisces star field, washed out by tonight’s moonlight.
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