2025
Astronomical Calendar
This supplement to Moon Guy Next Door’s wall calendar dives deeper into the best astronomical events of the year and how to observe them.
Scroll down for all the juicy details, or order your calendar on The Moon Guy Shop
January
Is it easy to see?
💙 = Easy
💛 = Medium
❤️️ = Challenging
💙 January 3, PM: Moon meets Venus
What: The waxing crescent moon meet Venus, the brightest planet
When: Friday January 3, approx. 20 minutes to 4 hours after sunset
Equipment needed: Naked eye or binoculars (recommendations: Cometron 7x50)
How: Find a low southwest horizon. Start looking above that horizon shortly after sunset. Venus and the crescent moon should appear some time after sunset and they will set about four hours after the sun. You can use binoculars to help you find them.
💙 January 4, PM: Moon meets Saturn
What: The waxing crescent moon meets Saturn, the ringed planet
When: Saturday January 4, approx. 1 hour after sunset to 5 hours after sunset
Equipment needed: Naked eye or binoculars (recommendations: Cometron 7x50)
How: Wait until darkness, at least an hour after sunset. Find the moon toward the south-southwest. Beside it, you’ll see what looks like a bright star, which is actually Saturn. The much brighter “star” further west is Venus. You can use binoculars to see them up close, but they’ll get further apart as the night progresses.
💛 January 9, PM: Moon occults Pleiades
What: The waxing gibbous moon passes in front of the bright Pleiades star cluster
When: Thursday January 9, evening (exact time depends on location)
Equipment needed: Naked eye, binoculars (recommendations: Cometron 7x50 or Skymaster 9x63), or telescope (recommendations: Starsense Explorer LT 80AZ or Starsense Explorer LT 114AZ)
How: Check an astronomy app like SkySafari to see if the occultation is visible from your location.
Once you’ve determined that it’ll be visible from your location, find a location away from light pollution. The moon will rise in early afternoon in the northeast, but the Pleiades cluster will no be visible until about an hour and a half after sunset, when it’s dark. The moon will pass in front of the star cluster sometime in the evening, depending on your location. To find the exact timing of the occultation, use an app like SkySafari. Centre on the moon, go to January 9 in the evening, and move forward in time by minutes to see when the Pleiades appear to move behind the moon and reappear. Note that the disappearance or reappearance will only be visible if the objects are above the horizon but the sun is below the horizon. If the sun is not far below the horizon, it may be possible to see but difficult because of the bright dawn light.
Note that the gibbous moon is a lot brighter than the Pleiades, and binoculars or a telescope would make the observation a lot easier.
If the occultation is not visible from your location, it will be a close conjunction of the moon and Pleiades. Look at the moon anytime in the night of January 9 to 10 to see the two celestial objects together.
💙 January 10, PM: Moon meets Jupiter
What: The waxing gibbous moon meets with Jupiter, the king of the planets
When: Friday January 10, starting approx. 1.5 hours after sunset
Equipment needed: Naked eye
How: The waxing gibbous moon will rise toward the northeast in mid-afternoon, but you’ll need to wait until darkness to see Jupiter close to it. They will rise higher in the sky for a few hours and keep making their way west until they set in the northwest before sunrise. They will get further from each other as the night progresses.
💙/💛 January 13, PM: Full moon occults Mars
Where: Most of North America and west Africa
What: The full moon passes in front of Mars, the red planet
When: Monday January 13, evening (exact time depends on location)
Equipment needed: Naked eye, binoculars (recommendations: Cometron 7x50 or Skymaster 9x63), or telescope (recommendations: Starsense Explorer LT 80AZ or Starsense Explorer LT 114AZ)
How: Check an astronomy app like SkySafari to see if the occultation is visible from your location. This event is visible from most of North America (except northwest Canada and Alaska) and western Africa.
Once you’ve determined that it’ll be visible from your location, find a place away from light pollution. The moon and Mars will get closer and closer to each other during the evening until Saturn hides behind the moon. To find the exact timing of the occultation, use an app like SkySafari. Centre on the moon, go to Monday January 13 in the evening, and move forward and backward in time by minutes to see when Mars appears to move behind the moon and reappear. Note that the disappearance or reappearance will only be visible if the objects are above the horizon but the sun is below the horizon. If the sun is not far below the horizon, it may be possible to see but difficult because of the bright dusk light.
If the occultation is not visible from your location, it will be a close conjunction of the moon and Mars. Look at the full moon anytime in the evening of January 13 (for the Americas) to see the two celestial jewels together. A telescope can reveal some colour and detail on Mars while the moon is in the same field of view.
💙 Night of January 13-14, all night: Full Wolf Moon
January’s full moon is at its fullest at 5:28pm Eastern Time on January 13. This means that for most of North and South America, it will be at its fullest on the evening of January 13. For the rest of the world, it’ll be almost equally full on the evenings of January 13 and 14.
Named after the wolves that are often heard howling at this time of year in the northern hemisphere, the Full Wolf Moon will rise towards the northeast shortly before sunset on January 13.
💙 January 15-20, PM: Venus meets Saturn
What: Venus, the brightest planet, meets with Saturn, the ringed planet
When: Wednesday to Monday, January 15 to 20, approx. 45 minutes after sunset to approx. 4 hours after sunset
Equipment needed: Naked eye or binoculars (recommendations: Cometron 7x50 or Skymaster 9x63)
How: Once the sunset light has faded, find Venus close toward the southwest, with Saturn near it, both looking like bright star. Venus is the brighter of the two. They will set about 4 hours after the sun, but will look brighter early in the evening when they’re higher in the sky.
💙 January 31, PM: Moon meets Saturn
What: The waxing crescent moon meets with Saturn, the ringed planet
When: Friday January 31, approx. 45 minutes after sunset to approx. 2 hours after sunset
Equipment needed: Naked eye or binoculars (recommendations: Cometron 7x50 or Skymaster 9x63)
How: Once the sunset light has faded, find the moon close to the southwest horizon, with Saturn near it, looking like a bright star. Don’t be fooled by the much brighter Venus, higher above the moon and Saturn. They will set together about 2 hours after the sun, but will look brighter early in the evening when they’re higher in the sky.
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February
Full astronomical details coming soon. Keep scrolling for an overview of the night sky magic that’s in store for 2025!
Is it easy to see?
💙 = Easy
💛 = Medium
❤️️ = Challenging
💙/❤️️ February 1, PM: Moon meets Venus and Neptune
💛 Night of February 5-6: Moon occults Pleiades
💙 February 6, PM: Moon meets Jupiter
💙 Night of February 16-17: Moon meets Spica
💛 February 24, PM: Saturn meets Mercury
💛 February 28, PM: Moon meets Mercury
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March
Full astronomical details coming soon. Keep scrolling for an overview of the night sky magic that’s in store for 2025!
Is it easy to see?
💙 = Easy
💛 = Medium
❤️️ = Challenging
💙 March 1, PM: Moon meets Venus
💙 March 5, PM: Moon meets Jupiter
💛 March 7, PM: Mercury's best evening visibility
💙 March 8, PM: Moon meets Mars
💛 March 10-12, PM: Venus meets Mercury
💙 Night of March 13-14: Total lunar eclipse
💛 March 29: Partial solar eclipse
Need some moon magic in your home? Check The Moon Guy Shop!
April
Full astronomical details coming soon. Keep scrolling for an overview of the night sky magic that’s in store for 2025!
Is it easy to see?
💙 = Easy
💛 = Medium
❤️️ = Challenging
💙 April 1, PM: Moon meets Pleiades
💙 April 2, PM: Moon meets Jupiter
💙 April 5, PM: Moon meets Mars
💛 April 25, AM: Moon meets Venus and Saturn
Need some moon magic in your home? Check The Moon Guy Shop!
May
Full astronomical details coming soon. Keep scrolling for an overview of the night sky magic that’s in store for 2025!
Is it easy to see?
💙 = Easy
💛 = Medium
❤️️ = Challenging
💙 May 3, PM: Moon meets Mars
💛 May 4-5, PM: Mars meets Beehive cluster
What: Mars, the red planet, meets with the Beehive star cluster
When: Sunday to Monday May 4 to 5, approx. 2 hours after sunset to approx. 2am
Equipment needed: Binoculars (recommendations: Cometron 7x50 or Skymaster 9x63) or telescope (recommendations: Starsense Explorer LT 80AZ or Starsense Explorer LT 114AZ)
How: This is a fairly subtle encounter between a relatively bright planet and a small but beautiful star cluster. Unless you are in a very dark area, you will likely need binoculars or a telescope to see the Beehive cluster. On either of those nights, find Mars once the sky is dark. It will be the reddish and fairly bright star toward the west a couple of hours after sunset, to the right of the moon. Point your binoculars or telescope at Mars and you should be able to see a small but lovely star cluster in the same field of view. They will be close enough to each other for a few days before and after to see with binoculars.
💙 May 22, AM: Moon meets Saturn
💙 May 23, AM: Moon meets Venus
💛 May 27, PM: Moon meets Jupiter
💙 May 31, PM: Moon meets Mars
Need some moon magic in your home? Check The Moon Guy Shop!
June
Full astronomical details coming soon. Keep scrolling for an overview of the night sky magic that’s in store for 2025!
Is it easy to see?
💙 = Easy
💛 = Medium
❤️️ = Challenging
💛 June 8, PM: Jupiter meets Mercury
💙 June 19, AM: Moon meets Saturn
💙 June 22, AM: Moon meets Venus
💛 June 26, PM: Moon meets Mercury
💙 June 29, PM: Moon meets Mars
Need some moon magic in your home? Check The Moon Guy Shop!
July
Full astronomical details coming soon. Keep scrolling for an overview of the night sky magic that’s in store for 2025!
Is it easy to see?
💙 = Easy
💛 = Medium
❤️️ = Challenging
💛 July 3-5, AM: Venus meets Uranus
❤️️ July 7, AM: Saturn meets Neptune
💙 July 10-13, AM: Venus meets Hyades cluster
💙 July 16, AM: Moon meets Saturn
💛 July 20, AM: Moon occults Pleiades
💙 July 21, AM: Moon meets Venus
💛 July 23, AM: Moon meets Jupiter
💛 July 28, PM: Moon meets Mars
Need some moon magic in your home? Check The Moon Guy Shop!
August
Full astronomical details coming soon. Keep scrolling for an overview of the night sky magic that’s in store for 2025!
Is it easy to see?
💙 = Easy
💛 = Medium
❤️️ = Challenging
💙 August 1-20: Perseid meteor shower peaks Aug 13
💙 August 10-14, AM: Venus meets Jupiter Aug 12
💙 Night of August 11-12: Moon meets Saturn
💛 August 19, AM: Mercury's best morning visibility
💙 August 19-20, AM: Moon meets Jupiter and Venus
💛 August 21, AM: Moon meets Mercury
Need some moon magic in your home? Check The Moon Guy Shop!
September
Full astronomical details coming soon. Keep scrolling for an overview of the night sky magic that’s in store for 2025!
Is it easy to see?
💙 = Easy
💛 = Medium
❤️️ = Challenging
💙 Night of September 7-8: Total lunar eclipse
💙 September 8, AM: Moon meets Saturn
💙 September 16, AM: Moon meets Jupiter
💙 September 19, AM: Moon meets Venus and Regulus
💛 September 21: Partial solar eclipse
Need some moon magic in your home? Check The Moon Guy Shop!
October
Full astronomical details coming soon. Keep scrolling for an overview of the night sky magic that’s in store for 2025!
Is it easy to see?
💙 = Easy
💛 = Medium
❤️️ = Challenging
💙 October 5, PM: Moon meets Saturn
💛 Night of October 9-10: Moon occults Pleiades
💙 Night of October 13-14: Moon meets Jupiter
💙 October 15-27: Orionid meteor shower peaks Oct 21
💙 October 19, AM: Moon meets Venus
Need some moon magic in your home? Check The Moon Guy Shop!
November
Full astronomical details coming soon. Keep scrolling for an overview of the night sky magic that’s in store for 2025!
Is it easy to see?
💙 = Easy
💛 = Medium
❤️️ = Challenging
❤️️ All month: Saturn's rings nearly disappear
💙 November 1, PM: Moon meets Saturn
💙 Night of November 9-10: Moon meets Jupiter
💙 November 28-29, PM: Moon meets Saturn
Need some moon magic in your home? Check The Moon Guy Shop!
December
Full astronomical details coming soon. Keep scrolling for an overview of the night sky magic that’s in store for 2025!
Is it easy to see?
💙 = Easy
💛 = Medium
❤️️ = Challenging
💛 Night of December 3-4: Moon occults Pleiades
💙 December 6-7, PM: Moon meets Jupiter
💙 December 7-17: Geminid meteor shower peaks Dec 14
💙 Night of December 9-10: Moon meets Regulus
💙 December 14, AM: Moon meets Spica
💙 December 26, PM: Moon meets Saturn
Need some moon magic in your home? Check The Moon Guy Shop!