List of the Best Astronomical Events of 2025

January 29, 2025 - By Tink

In honor of today being the Lunar New Year and the planetary alignments occurring this month, it seemed only fitting that we put together a list of all the Lunar and Night Sky Events worth marking down on your calendar!

2025 Astronomical Events

January –

The viewing ability of the planetary parade starts optimal viewing by the 29^th and continues for about 4weeks. Most planets visible will be just after sunset through the 21 of Feb. Through the month of January and into February, Venus is taking center stage as the Evening Star.
30^th – The planet Uranus ends retrograde motion¹.

February –

4^th – Jupiter ends retrograde.
6^th – Quarter moon will begin to hide the stars in the Pleiades² cluster one by one which called an occultation in the western sky for the Midwest and Western States. On the East Coast will only see the moon approaching Pleiades before they both set.
16^th – Venus at greatest brightness.
23^rd – Mars ends retrograde.
28^th – The crescent moon will be just below Mercury³ in the west about 30 mins after sunset with Venus above them.
February is the Last time to view Saturn’s rings till 2039 as we cross the plane in March.

March –

13^th -14^th – Total Lunar Eclipse⁴ will occur 13^th -14^thand will start about 11:09pm MDT and will last till about2:58am on the 14^th with totality about 2:48am MDT and we will get a Blood Moon during totality.
29^th – Those folks in the northeastern region of USA and southeastern Canada will get a partial solar eclipse around sunrise.

April –

1^st – 2^nd– Jupiter conjunction near Pleiades (Taurus) star cluster and Venus moved into pre-dawn or (1hr after sunset) eastern sky reaching max shadow casting magnitude of 4.8 in late April.
21^st – The Lyrids Meteor Shower will peak with the best view in the pre-dawn hours. Look for them near Hercules Constellation.

METEOR SHOWER VIEWING TIP: Get to your viewing location 20mins early and use red tissue paper over a flashlight if you are going to get out of your car and want some light. The red tissue paper secured with a rubber band around the light end of the flashlight will help keep you eyes acclimated to the darkness.

May –

3^rd – Cresent Moon and Mars “hang out” at the Beehive, a fine star cluster in the constellation of Cancer the Crab… happens again June 29^th.

June –

16^th – Visible around 90mins after sunset, Mars will be shining next to Regulus (brightest star in Leo Constellation).
17^th – The Butterfly Cluster is “well placed”.

July –

5^th – Neptune enters retrograde.
12^th – Saturn enters retrograde.
20^th– 21^st– Look towards the east, at morning twilight time a fine triangle made up of Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon will be visible. They will be the brightest things in the sky. As a bonus Pleiades, Aldebaran and Hyades may also be visible at this time as well.

August –

11^th to 13^th – Venus and Jupiter are in brightest and best conjunction with some of our lifetimes at about 60mins before Sunrise in your area.
12 & 14^th – Perseids Meteor Show will peak with predictions being in early morning hours of the 12^th.
20^th & 21^st – The waning crescent moon, along with Venus, Jupiter and Mercury will be in the eastern sky near Castor, Pollux and Procyon stars. Starts about 60mins before sunrise.

September –

7^th-8^th – Total Lunar eclipse for the Eastern Hemisphere.
19^th – waning crescent Moon and Venus pair up about 90mins before sunrise and the blue star Regulus will be close by too.

October –

9^th – Waning gibbous moon will occult(hide) stars of Pleiades one by one.
22^nd – The Orionids Meteor Show will peak. It occasionally produces fireballs.

November –

5^th – Moon closest to the Earth on the 5^th.
11^th – Jupiter enters retrograde.
23^rd – The rings will be slightly visible at the narrowest point showing up as a thin line across the planet. You’ll want to pull out your telescope to make sure this is visible then will remain “closed”.
27^th – Saturn ends retrograde.

December –

13^th – Geminids Meteor Shower will peak. This evening will be a New Moon as well, so the darker sky will help the visibility of the Meteors. Starting at about 8pm your local time it will be possible to see up to 60meteors an hour.