The Venus Morning Apparition

of 2025

by Martin J. Powell

The path of Venus through the zodiac constellations during the planet's morning apparition in 2025 (click on thumbnail for the full-size image). A version with constellation labels can be seen here. Constellation names are shown in their three-letter abbreviated format - the full names are listed here. Zodiac constellations are labelled in green and non-zodiac constellations in grey. The numbers along the sides of the chart (Right Ascension and Declination) are co-ordinates of celestial longitude and latitude which are used to locate the position of celestial bodies in the night sky. A print-friendly version is available here.

Venus passes through inferior conjunction (when it is positioned between the Earth and the Sun) on March 23rd 2025, a significant 8º.4 North of the Sun's centre. For observers at high-Northern latitudes Venus is positioned sufficiently far North of the Sun - and thus sufficiently far above the Eastern horizon - for it to be glimpsed in the bright dawn twilight from inferior conjunction day itself. Elsewhere the planet swiftly enters the dawn sky as a 'Morning Star' over the following week, visible in the twilight, low down over the Eastern horizon less than 30 minutes before sunrise (the exact period depending upon the observer's latitude). The planet is retrograding (moving East to West) at the South-eastern corner of the constellation of Pegasus, the Winged Horse, at this time.

On March 24th Venus enters the central Western region of the constellation of Pisces, the Fishes, positioned just to the North-east of the Circlet of Pisces, a group of rather faint stars which form the head of the Southernmost fish. Orbitally, the planet is positioned at a relatively close 0.2808 Astronomical Units (AU) from the Earth (42 million kms or 26.1 million statute miles), a distance which will continually increase over the next nine months, through to the end of the apparition. On March 26th Venus reaches a solar elongation (angular distance from the Sun) of 10º West, whilst slowly moving South-westwards against the background stars of the Fishes. The planet shines at an apparent magnitude of -4.2 and its apparent diameter (its angular width as seen from the Earth) is a sizeable 59" (i.e. 59 arcseconds, where 1 arcsecond = 1/3600th of a degree). Venus' apparent diameter will continually shrink during the apparition, as it slowly recedes from the Earth in space.

Crescent Venus sketched in daylight in September 2023 by Paul G Abel (Leicester, UK) during the planet's 2023-24 morning apparition (click on the thumbnai for a larger image). Venus was 13% illuminated, 48" across and 29° West of the Sun. Abel observed the planet using an 8-inch (203 mm) Newtonian reflector telescope at 25x and 77x magnifications (Image: Paul G Abel / ALPO-Japan)

In late March the planet Saturn (apparent magnitude +1.0), positioned in the North-eastern region of Aquarius, the Water-Bearer, enters the morning sky at the start of its 2025-26 apparition, positioned about 11º to the South of Venus. At 0725 UT on March 30th Venus passes 10º.3 to the North of Saturn in an event called a planetary conjunction. A planetary conjunction (or appulse) takes place whenever two planets attain the same celestial longitude in the night sky (i.e. they appear to 'line up' when seen from the Earth). However, this conjunction is a difficult one to observe, the two planets being less than 15° West of the Sun, and only observers at Equatorial and Southern latitudes are able to observe it (for more details see the 'Planetary Conjunctions' section below). A second, more observable conjunction between these two planets will take place at the end of April.

On March 31st Venus reaches an elongation of 15º West of the Sun, making it more readily visible in the dawn twilight from almost all populated latitudes. On the same day the planet enters the Circlet through its North-eastern corner.

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In early April Venus is joined in the dawn sky by the planet Mercury (magnitude +2.7), now commencing its second morning apparition of 2025. Owing to the steep angle of the ecliptic (the path of the Sun, which the Moon and planets follow very closely) to the local Eastern horizon at dawn at this time of year, this apparition of Mercury favours observers in the Southern hemisphere. It is one of two paired apparitions between Venus and Mercury which take place during the year (a paired apparition being when the two planets are visible together for a prolonged period of time, either in the morning sky or the evening sky). This particular pairing lasts through to mid-May; it is an interesting one to observe because Saturn is in the vicinity during the first half of April. At midnight UT on April 2nd the three planets form a triangle 9°.2 tall and 2°.6 wide, with Venus at the North and Saturn at the South, Venus being inside the Circlet and the other two planets being to the South-east of it.

As Venus pulls away from the Sun, telescopes pointed towards it show a large, slender, Eastward-facing crescent, rippling in the Earth's turbulent atmosphere and being split into the rainbow colours by an effect called dispersion (an example of how dispersion appears through a telescope can be seen here). The planet's phase (i.e. the percentage of the disk which is illuminated) is only around 5% (phase = 0.05). The planet's large apparent diameter also means that the crescent can be glimpsed in the twilight by observers using binoculars, its apparently tiny crescent facing down towards the horizon.

At this early stage of the apparition, dedicated telescopic observers of Venus now begin their search for an elusive phenomemon known as the Ashen Light, which is a faint glowing of the night side of Venus through its thick clouds. The phenomenon is believed to be caused either by the planet's surface glowing red hot (due to its extremely high surface temperature) or due to electrical activity in its dense atmosphere. Observers searching for the Light will normally use ultraviolet and/or infrared filters in order to help reveal it, an occulting bar often being used to block the bright, visually-intrusive crescent from view. Observers in Equatorial and Southern latitudes are best placed to view the Light at this stage of the apparition due to the planet's higher altitude (angle above the horizon) before sunrise.

Mercury reaches its Western stationary point on April 6th, positioned 6°.1 to the SSE of Venus. Over the coming days both Venus and Mercury move Southwards, closer to Saturn. On April 7th Venus is positioned more-or-less at the centre of the Circlet, arcing its way around towards the South-east against the background stars.

A fourth planet joins the planetary trio from around April 9th. Neptune, currently in South-western Pisces (to the South-east of the Circlet), emerges into the dawn sky, positioned 8°.6 to the South-east of Venus. At magnitude +7.9, however, Neptune can only be seen with optical aid. Between April 9th and 22nd Venus, Mercury, Saturn and Neptune form a grouping in and around the Circlet.

At 1415 UT on April 10th Venus reaches its Western stationary point in the Southern half of the Circlet, by which time the planet is moving slowly Southwards against the background stars. On the same day Mercury, having brightened to mag. +1.2, comes to within 2° of Saturn (a near-conjunction) before pulling away Eastwards from it.

At around 09 hrs UT on April 14th Mercury, Neptune and Saturn form a North-east/South-west line measuring 4°.5 in length, a technical line-up which can only be fully appreciated by binocular observers.

Continuing its Southward motion, Venus exits the Circlet through its Southern border at midnight UT on April 16th, passing between the stars Psc (Kappa Piscium, mag. +4.9) and Psc (Lambda Piscium, mag. +4.5). Mercury and Neptune are in a technical conjunction at 1832 UT on the same day, Mercury passing 41' (0°.68) to the South of Neptune. Over the next week Mercury pulls away from the planetary group at a rate of about 0°.9 per day.

Observers at higher Northern latitudes have had considerable difficulty viewing Venus at this early stage of the apparition, the planet rising in twilight and barely reaching a few degrees above the horizon before the sky becomes too bright to see it with ease. At latitude 60º North the planet's visibility worsens slightly over the next month because its position along the ecliptic places it very low down over the Eastern horizon at dawn at this time of year. From these latitudes Venus will not become visible with greater ease until about mid July. Elsewhere the planet is rising 1¼ hours before sunrise (at 50º North), 1¾ hours before sunrise (at 30º North), 2 hours before sunrise (at the Equator) and 2½ hours before the Sun (at 35º South). At thirty minutes before sunrise, Venus stands just 7º high in the East at 50º North, 15º high in the East at 30º North, 23º high in the East at the Equator and 24º high in the ENE at 35º South.

At around 13 hours UT on April 18th Venus, Neptune and Mercury (mag. +0.6) form an ESE-WNW line measuring 8°.6 in length, another event which only binocular observers will appreciate.

Saturn enters Pisces on April 19th, with Mercury positioned 5°.4 to its ENE and Venus 5°.5 to its North-west (at midnight UT); Neptune is positioned 4°.2 to the ENE of Saturn. Mercury swiftly pulls Eastwards thereafter, as it heads back towards the Sun.

At midnight UT on April 21st Venus is 9°.7 to the WNW of Mercury, Saturn is 7°.1 to the WSW of it and Neptune is 3°.2 to the West of it; by this time Neptune has become approximately centred between the three planets. On the same day Mercury reaches its greatest elongation from the Sun (27°.4 West), the planet showing a half-phase through telescopes and shining at magnitude +0.5.

Now moving direct, Venus passes 1°.0 South of Psc at 05 hours UT on April 23rd. At 10 hours UT on the same day Venus and Mercury (mag. +0.4) are equidistant from Neptune, Venus being 5°.6 to the WNW of the distant planet, Mercury 5°.6 to the ENE of it and Saturn 3°.8 to the SW of it. All four planets are contained within a 10°.9 by 3°.8 section of Pisces to the South-east of the Circlet, Mercury being just inside the constellation's boundary with Cetus, the Whale, and Saturn being just inside its boundary with Aquarius. Mercury enters Cetus at 12 hours UT, also on the 23rd. The waning crescent Moon passes by the four planets between April 24th and 26th.

From April 24th to May 2nd, Neptune,Venus and Saturn form a trio with dimensions of about 3° wide by 2°.6 high; their closest grouping will take place in late April and early May.

At around 13 hours UT April 25th, Mercury, Neptune, Venus and Saturn form a line some 11°.3 in length and about 4°.7 high, positioned just to the South of the Circlet. The grouping, which straddles Aquarius and Pisces, is visible from between latitudes of about 37° North and 77° South.

At 10 hours UT on April 27th Venus attains its greatest brilliancy for this apparition, at magnitude -4.5. This is the position in the planet's orbit when its phase, its apparent size and its apparent magnitude combine to best visual effect, as seen from the Earth. At greatest brilliancy in the current apparition, Venus is positioned 39° West of the Sun with a 26% illuminated crescent (phase = 0.26) and an apparent diameter of 38".9. Southern hemisphere observers have the best view of the planet as it blazes brilliant white against a truly dark sky.

At around 23 hrs UT on April 28th Venus, Saturn and Neptune form a planetary trio measuring about 3°.7 North-South by 2°.9 East-West; the grouping will last for several days into early May, Venus moving Eastwards over the period, away from Saturn and towards Neptune. At 0225 UT on April 29th Venus passes to the North of Saturn in the second planetary conjunction of the apparition, the separation between the two of them (3°.7) being much closer than their previous conjunction a month earlier. The pair form a triangle with Neptune, which is 3°.3 to the South-east of Venus and 3°.4 to the North-east of Saturn. Further details of the visibility of this event can be seen in the 'planetary conjunctions' section below. Mercury, now magnitude +0.2, is positioned 14°.7 away to the ENE of the pair and still in Cetus; it leaves Cetus and re-enters Pisces at 10 hours UT on the same day. As it does so, it is pulling away from Venus, Saturn and Neptune at a rate of about 1°.3 per day, whilst Venus is crawling Eastwards at a daily rate of about 0°.5.

This slow crawl against the background stars is nonetheless much faster than that of Saturn. By midnight UT on the following day (April 30th), Venus is 3°.7 to the NNE of the ringed planet.

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At around midnight UT on May 1st Venus passes 5°.8 South of the star Psc (Omega Piscium, mag. +4.2), located at the Southern fish's tail on old star maps. Venus also continues to extend its angular distance between it and Saturn. Taken at midnight UT, Venus is 3°.9 to the NNE of Saturn on May 1st, 4°.1 to the NNE of it on May 2nd and  4°.3 to the North-east of it on May 3rd.

At 0250 UT on May 4th Venus passes 2°.0 to the North of Neptune in the third planetary conjunction of the 2025 morning apparition. The event requires optical aid to be observed and is only visible South of about latitude 31° North (see the 'planetary conjunctions' section below for more details).

Venus crosses to the South of the ecliptic on May 8th. Another binocular event takes place at around 07 hours UT on May 9th, when Venus, Neptune and Saturn form a North-east/South-west line measuring 7°.1 long, positioned to the South-east of the Circlet.

At 1953 UT on May 11th Venus exits the zodiac for a short period of time when it enters the constellation of Cetus, the Whale, cutting across its North-western corner. It is the first of two excursions into the Whale constellation which the planet will make over the course of the next 29 days. By this time Venus is positioned 8°.6 to the North-east of Saturn, its apparent distance with the ringed planet continuing to widen.

On May 12th Mercury, having brightened to magnitude -0.4, re-enters Cetus for a very brief 79-minute period from 1249 UT, clipping the constellation's North-western corner with Aries, the Ram and Pisces, before entering Aries itself at 1408 UT.

Venus near Half-Phase imaged in infrared by Clyde Foster (Oryx Observatory, Khomas, South Africa) in October 2023 (click on the thumbnail for a larger image). Foster used a 14-inch (355 mm) Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector telescope fitted with an IR filter and a CMOS camera (Image: Clyde Foster / ALPO-Japan)

Venus re-enters Pisces at 1053 UT on May 13th, having traversed a 1°.25 wide section of Cetus over the course of 39 hours (a rate of motion against the background stars of 0°.77 per day).

From mid to late May, observers at mid-Southern latitudes see Venus attain its highest altitude in the sky before sunrise for the 2025 apparition. At 35° South, the planet rises 3¾ hours before the Sun, reaching an altitude of around 35° in the North-east at 30 minutes before sunrise. Elsewhere, Venus rises in the East 1½ hours before sunrise (at 50° North), 2¼ hours before sunrise (at 30° North) and almost three hours before sunrise (at the Equator). For Southern hemisphere observers this is the second best of Venus' five morning apparitions during its 8-year cycle, the planet typically attaining higher-than-average altitudes above the horizon when compared to the other four morning apparitions (for more details, see the accompanying article describing The Venus 8-year Cycle).

Mercury, now a bright magnitude -0.8, becomes lost from view in the dawn twilight from around May 17th.

On May 18th Venus passes 3º.6 South of the star Psc (Delta Piscium, mag. +4.4), which is positioned about half-way along the Southern Fish's body. The star is one of several which on old star maps mark the long and winding cord between the Northern and Southern Fishes. The planet passes 2º.8 South of the star Psc (Epsilon Piscium, mag. +4.2), another star in the meandering cord, on May 23rd.

Positioned 2°.7 to the East of Psc is the double star Revati ( Psc or Zeta Piscium,, mag. +4.9), a Sanskrit name adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2017 and derived from the daughter of King Kakudmi in Hindu mythology, a consort of the god Balarama (the elder brother of Krishna). Venus passes 1°.7 South of the star on May 26th. Revati comprises two components of magnitude +5.2 and +6.3, separated by a wide 23" (0'.4) and easily split in small telescopes. The name Revati was approved by the Working Group on Star Names (WGSN), a recently created division of the IAU whom, since 2016, has been cataloguing and standardizing the star names used by the international astronomical community. Venus passes several other 'newly-named' stars during its 2025 morning apparition, some of which will be discussed below.

At about 0252 UT on May 30th Venus passes in front of (occults) the 8th-magnitude star HIP 6788 (also known as HD 8849 or TYC 27-73-1). The occultation, which lasts up to 10 minutes (depending upon the observers's location), is visible in twilight and/or darkness from Southern and Eastern Africa (except the Horn of Africa), the South-western Indian Ocean and Antarctica (Wilkes Land to Kemp Land). The star disappears behind Venus' bright limb (a 48% illuminated crescent) and re-appears from behind its dark limb (for a visibility map and other data visit the Belgian VVS website). It is the first of three stellar occultations which take place during the planet's 2025 morning apparition.

At 21 hours UT on May 30th Venus passes 1º.0 North of Psc (Mu Piscium, mag.+4.8), positioned in the tail of the Southern Fish. On the following day the planet passes 8°.0 South of the brightest star in Pisces, Alpherg ( Psc or Eta Piscium, mag. +3.8). The name is Arabic for 'the cord' and is not in common usage. It is a yellow giant star which, to most amateur astronomers, serves as a convenient 'finder star' for the galaxy Messier 74 (M74 or NGC 628), a 10th-magnitude face-on spiral which is one of the faintest objects in the Messier catalogue. It is positioned just 1°.3 to the ENE of Alpherg.

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For Equatorial observers, early June sees the planet attain its highest altitude above the horizon before sunrise for the current apparition. Here Venus rises three hours before the Sun, reaching a significant 37° above the ENE horizon some 30 minutes ahead of sunrise. In fact, when assessed in terms of the planet's horizon altitude and visibility duration before sunrise, the 2025 morning apparition of Venus is best seen overall from Equatorial latitudes.

At around 03 hours UT on June 1st, Venus reaches its greatest Western elongation (45°.9 West of the Sun) located in the tail of the Northern Fish, some 3°.1 WSW of the star Torcular ( Psc or Omicron Piscium, mag. +4.2). Although the planet's greatest elongation from the Sun takes place on June 1st, Venus is in fact positioned at an elongation of 45°.9 for a six-day period from May 30th through to June 4th. Telescopes now show Venus' disk half-illuminated (phase = 0.50), the planet shining at magnitude -4.4 and with an apparent disk diameter of 23".8.

Theoretically, greatest elongation is the time at which the planet's terminator (the line separating the light and dark sides of the planet) appears perfectly straight through telescopes, essentially dividing Venus into two perfect halves; this is known as the dichotomy. However, telescopic observers often report the straight terminator several days earlier or later than the greatest elongation date; typically early in evening apparitions and late in morning apparitions. This is known as the phase anomaly or Schröter's Effect (after the German astronomer Johann Schröter, who first observed the phenomenon in 1793) and is thought to be due to Venus' dense atmosphere scattering the sunlight. In the 2025 apparition, therefore, telescopic observers can expect to see a 50% phase on or around June 5th.

Contrary to what one might think, greatest elongation day is not necessarily the day on which Venus is above the horizon ahead of sunrise for the longest period of time. Since the angle of the ecliptic to the Eastern horizon at dawn varies with the observer's latitude, Venus is above the horizon for differing periods of time. At 60° North Venus rises just 50 minutes before sunrise, whilst at 50° North the planet rises 1¾ hours before the Sun. At other latitudes the visibility durations are as follows: two hours at 40° North; 2½ hours at 30° North; 2¾ hours at 20° North; three hours at the Equator; 3¼ hours at 15° South; 3½ hours at 25° South; 3¾ hours at 35° South and four hours at 45° South. Hence for the current apparition, observers at higher Southern latitudes are best placed to see Venus above the horizon for the longest period on greatest elongation day.

At midnight UT on June 4th Venus passes 43' (0º.71) South of the aforementioned star Torcular, a name which is shortened from the original Torcularis Septentrionalis. The name is Latin for 'North Press', a mistranslation of an original Greek word meaning 'flax', i.e. the cord that ties the two fishes' tails together. Venus will occult Torcular during its morning apparition in May 2027.

Later on June 4th, at 1556 UT, the distance between the Earth and Venus is the same as that between the Sun and Venus, at 0.7281 AU (108.9 million kms or 67.7 million statute miles). Seen from far above the Earth's North pole, the Earth, Venus and the Sun now form an isoscelene triangle in space, with Venus positioned at the apex.

Venus at Dichotomy sketched by Detlev Niechoy (Goettingen, Germany) in March 2022, during the planet's 2022 morning apparition (click on the thumbnail for a larger image). Niechoy observed the planet using an 8-inch (203 mm) SCT telescope. An apparent blunting effect of one or both Venusian cusps (in this case, the Northern cusp) is known as the cusp terminator anamoly or simply the cusp anomaly. It is often recorded in both sketches and digital images during the planet's crescent phases (Image: Detlev Niechoy / ALPO-Japan)

Venus passes 10º.1 South of the double star Mesarthim ( Ari or Gamma Arietis, mag. +3.9), in neighbouring Aries, at around 04 hours UT on June 6th. Easily resolved in small telescopes, it comprises two white stars of magnitudes +4.6 and +4.7, separated by 7".5. At 11 hours UT on the same day the planet passes 11º.5 South of the star Sheratan ( Ari or Beta Arietis, mag. +2.6). The name Mesarthim is Arabic in origin but its meaning is unclear, however the star has been associated with Sheratan (Arabic for 'the signs') since ancient times, when the stellar pair were considered to mark the New Year.

The planet passes 7°.1 North of the double-star Alrescha ( Psc or Alpha Piscium, mag. +3.8), at the tail-end of the Fishes, on June 8th. The name was standardized by the IAU in 2016, the star having previously been known as Al Rischa, Alrisha or Al Rescha. It comprises two blue-white components of magnitudes +4.1 and +5.1, separated by an angular distance of 1".8 on a roughly East-West orientation. Telescopes of at least 3 in (75 mm) aperture are required to split the pair.

Venus enters Cetus for a second time at 1318 UT on June 9th, and immediately afterwards passes 13°.2 South of Hamal ( Ari or Alpha Arietis, mag. +2.0), the brightest star in Aries. In 2011 Hamal was found to have an extra-solar planet or exoplanet (a planet outside our own Solar System) orbiting around it, designated Alpha Arietis b. At the time of writing (early 2025) more than 5,800 exoplanets have been discovered orbiting stars within the Milky Way galaxy.

Venus enters Aries itself at 1650 UT on June 10th, having traversed a 1°.15 wide section of Cetus over the course of 27½ hours - a rate of motion against the background stars of 1° per day, slightly faster than its previous passage through a section of the Whale in mid-May.

On June 12th Venus passes through a position in its orbit known as the aphelion (its most distant point from the Sun), a distance of 0.7282 AU (108.9 million kms or 67.7 million statute miles from the Sun). Its closest point to the Sun will be reached one-half Venus orbit later, in early October.

On June 19th Venus passes 15°.7 South of the star Lilii Borea (39 Ari or 39 Arietis, mag. +4.5), a Latin name meaning 'Northern Lily'. The name was formally recognised by the IAU in 2017 and is named after the short-lived constellation Lilium, the Lily, a fleur-de-lis placed in this part of the sky during the 17th century by the Frenchman Ignace-Gaston Pardies (1636–1673) in honour of King Louis XIV.

At 0950 UT on June 20th the planet passes 13°.6 South of the variable and double star Bharani (41 Ari or 41 Arietis, mag. +3.6), named after the second lunar mansion in Hindu astrology. It is another name which was recently approved by the IAU. At 1641 UT on the same day Venus passes 3°.1 South of Teegarden's Star, located in central Southern Aries. With a visual magnitude of +15.1 it is well below naked-eye visibility, being visible only through large telescopes, but the star is of considerable interest since it harbours an exoplanet, discovered in 2019, which astronomers consider to be Earth-like and potentially habitable. Designated Teegarden's Star b, it orbits its parent star (a red dwarf) within the so-called habitable zone. It is one of at least three exoplanets currently known to orbit Teegarden's Star, which is located 12½ light years distant from Earth (where 1 light year = 63,240 AU).

On June 22nd Venus passes 7º.1 South of Ari (Epsilon Arietis, mag. +4.6), which is both a variable star and a double star. Its two white components are magnitudes +5.2 and +5.5 and are separated by just 1".5, requiring telescopes of at least 4 in (100 mm) and high magnification in order to split them.

Venus passes 4º.6 South of the Ram's Easternmost bright star Botein ( Ari or Delta Arietis, mag. +4.3) on June 25th. On older star maps it marked the hind leg of the Ram.

Greatest elongation day long having passed, in late June telescopes show Venus with a 62% illuminated phase (slightly gibbous; the phase will remain gibbous through the remainder of the apparition). The apparent diameter has reduced slightly to around 18" and the planet shines at an apparent visual magnitude of -4.2.

On June 28th Venus enters Taurus, the Bull (a constellation within which the planet will spend most of July), passing 3º.4 North of the star 5 Tau (5 Tauri, mag. +4.1) on June 29th.

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From around 01 hours UT on July 3rd Venus begins to pass South of Taurus' most famous star cluster called the Pleiades (pronounced 'PLY-add-eez' or 'PLEE-add-eez'), also known as the Seven Sisters (M45). Under dark skies the seven brightest stars in the group can be seen with the naked-eye and they are often considered to be a good test of visual acuity. The planet takes about 23 hours to traverse the 1° angular distance between the cluster's brightest Western star (Electra, mag. +3.7) and its brightest Eastern star (Atlas, mag. +3.6). The vertical angular distance between the cluster and the planet is about 7°.

At 0102 UT on July 4th Venus (mag. -4.0) passes 2°.4 South of Uranus (mag. +5.8) in the fourth planetary conjunction of the planet's 2025 morning apparition. Despite the wide solar elongation of 43° the event is not observable from mid or high-Northern latitudes (for more details of the visibility of this conjunction, see the 'planetary conjunctions' section below). Later that same day, at 06 hours UT, Venus occults the magnitude +7.5 star SAO 93630 (aka HIP 17960 or HD 24040) for a maximum duration of about 6 minutes. The star disappears behind Venus' bright limb at about 0613 UT and re-appears from behind its dark limb at about 0620 UT. The occultation is visible in darkness from Eastern Brazil (Nordeste region), from where Venus and the star are positioned low over the Eastern horizon just after rising.

On July 6th Venus passes 5°.5 North of the eclipsing binary star Tau (Lambda Tauri), whose magnitude fluctuates from ca. 3.5 to 4.0 over a period of four days.

Since inferior conjunction in late March, Venus has been receding from the Earth in space at an average rate of about 984,000 kms (611,400 miles) per day. At 0805 UT on July 9th, Venus is positioned at precisely 1.0000 AU from the Earth, i.e. the same distance as the average distance of the Earth from the Sun (149.5 million kms or 92.9 million statute miles). Viewed from a position in space far above the Earth's North Pole, the Sun, Venus and the Earth now appear to form an isosceles triangle, with the Earth positioned at the apex.

Between July 10th and 14th Venus passes a few degrees North of another, much larger star cluster known as the Hyades, a distinct 'V'-shaped grouping of stars forming the head of the Bull. The cluster comprises around 400 stars spread over an area of about 5° of the sky. At the apex of the 'V' is Prima Hyadum ( Tau or Gamma Tauri, mag. +3.6) which, before standardization by the IAU, was known variously as Primus Hyadum or Hyadum I. Venus passes 3°.4 North of the star at around 17 hours UT on July 10th. At 0930 UT on the following day the planet passes 1°.6 North of Secunda Hyadum (¹ Tau or Delta-1 Tauri, mag. +3.7), a triple star system positioned about half-way along the Northern arm of the Hyades cluster. Before IAU standardization in 2017, the star was also known as Secundus Hyadum or Hyadum II.

Positioned at the base of the Bull's Northern horn is the star Ain ( Tauri or Epsilon Tauri, mag. +3.5), a name which is Arabic for 'eye'. An exoplanet was detected orbiting the star in 2007 which the IAU named Amateru, after Japanese shrines which are dedicated to the Shintu Sun goddess Amaterasu. Some 155 light years distant, Amateru has a mass equivalent to 7.6 Jupiters and it orbits Ain in 1.6 years at a local distance of 1.8 AU. Venus passes just 13' (13 arcminutes, where 1 arcminute = 1/60th of a degree), or 0°.21 North of Ain at 1440 UT on July 12th. Only three minutes later the planet passes 3°.5 North of the star Chamukuy (² Tau or Theta-2 Tauri, mag. +3.7), positioned about half-way along the Southern arm of the Hyades. The name is that of a small bird in Yucatec Mayan culture and it was approved by the IAU in 2017. The star forms a naked-eye yellow-white double with ¹ Tau (Theta-1 Tauri, mag. +3.8), positioned some 5'.6 (0°.09) to the North.

Occupying the South-eastern corner of the Hyades cluster is the orange-red star Aldebaran ( Tau or Alpha Tauri, mag. +0.9), marking the other 'eye' of the Bull. Its coloration derives from the fact that it is a red giant star. Most of the Hyades stars comprise a genuine cluster, moving through space together, however Aldebaran is not part of the group; it is a foreground star, positioned closer to the Earth than the cluster. Aldebaran has an exoplanet, designated Alpha Tauri b, with a mass equivalent to 6½ Jupiters. Discovered in 2015, it orbits Aldebaran in a period of 1.7 years at a local distance of 1.46 AU (roughly the same distance as Mars is from the Sun in our own Solar System).Venus passes 3°.2 North of Aldebaran on July 14th.

Around mid July, observers situated at Northern Tropical latitudes see the planet attain its highest altitude before sunrise for the 2025 morning apparition. At 30° North, Venus rises almost three hours ahead of the Sun, reaching 29° above the Eastern horizon at half-an-hour before sunrise. Elsewhere the planet is also rising about three hours before the Sun; at 30 minutes before sunrise, Venus reaches 14° high in the ENE at 60° North, 20° high in the East at 50° North, 32° high in the ENE at the Equator and 23° high in the North-east at 35° South.

On July 15th Venus passes 2°.9 South of the star Tau (Tau Tauri or 'Tau Tau', mag. +4.2), another star which is not part of the Hyades group. Positioned at the 'bend' of the Bull's Northern horn, it is a multiple-star system and a member of an obscure open star cluster known as Alessi 51. The planet passes 2°.2 North of the star 104 Tauri (mag. +4.9), positioned about half-way along the Bull's Southern horn, on July 20th. The planet will occult this star during the course of its morning apparition in July 2028.

On July 24th Venus passes 7°.2 South of the star Elnath ( Tau or Beta Tauri, mag. +1.6), located at the tip of the Bull's Northern horn. The name was standardized by the IAU in 2016, previous versions of the name being spelled Al Nath, El Nath or simply Nath. Before standardisation the star also had the designation Aur (Gamma Aurigae) since it completed the six-sided figure comprising the stars of Auriga, the Charioteer, located to the North-east of Taurus.

At 08 hours UT on July 26th Venus passes 30' (0°.5) South of the Crab Nebula (M1 or NGC 1952), a gaseous remnant of a supernova which exploded in 1054 AD. It is a faint object, just visible in binoculars under dark skies and an elongated wisp when seen through telescopes. At 23 hours UT on the same day Venus passes just 26' (0°.43) North of the star Tianguan ( Tau or Zeta Tauri, mag. +2.9v), which marks the tip of the Bull's Southern horn. The name, adopted by the IAU in 2017, is derived from Chinese astronomy, in which the star is known as the Celestial Gate, part of an asterism contained within a mansion called Bì Xiù ('the Net').

The planet Jupiter, currently shining at magnitude -1.7 in central Gemini, the Twins, has been visible in the dawn sky for only a couple of weeks, at the start of its 2025-26 apparition. At 12 hours UT on July 27th the planet is located 15° to the East of Venus and is slowly moving direct. Venus, however, is closing in on Jupiter at a rate of about 0°.9 per day. Taken at midnight UT, Jupiter is positioned 14°.5 East of Venus on July 28th, 13°.7 East of Venus on July 29th, 12°.6 East of it on the 30th and 11°.7 East of it on the 31st.

Venus leaves Taurus and again departs the zodiac for a couple of days from July 29th, cutting across the North-eastern section of Orion, the Hunter (just above the Hunter's club). The planet passes 1°.5 North of the star ¹ Ori (Chi-1 Orionis, mag. +4.4), located at the top of the club, on July 30th.

Venus leaves Orion and crosses into Gemini on July 31st.

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August commences with Venus passing 1°.3 South of the star 1 Gem (1 Geminorum, mag. +4.2), the Westernmost bright star in Gemini, marking the foot of the Northern twin. At 1045 UT on August 3rd Venus passes 30' (0°.5) South of the star Propus ( Gem or Eta Geminorum, mag. +3.5v), also referred to as Tejat Prior or Praepes before IAU standardization in 2016.

During the first two weeks of August Venus continues to narrow the gap between it and Jupiter. Taken at midnight UT, Jupiter is positioned 9° East of Venus on August 3rd, 6°.1 East of Venus on August 6th and 3°.3 ENE of it on August 9th.

At 0120 UT on August 5th Venus passes 29' (0°.48) South of the star Tejat ( Gem or Mu Geminorum, mag. +3.0v), which marks the Northern twin's knee. Before IAU standardization the star was known by several other names: Tejat Posterior, Nuhatai, Calx and Pish Pai. At around 08 hours UT on the same day Venus attains its most Northerly declination (symbol ) for this apparition, at = +22° 0' 37" (or +22°.01 in decimal format). Across the world, the planet now rises at its most Northerly point along the local horizon, the actual point of rising depending upon the observer's latitude. In early August at higher Northern latitudes Venus rises in the North-east, whilst at latitudes further South it rises in the ENE. The declination of +22°.0 is by no means as far North as the planet is capable of travelling; indeed, the next highest declination which Venus will attain will be +27°.8 during its evening apparition in May 2028, when it will be positioned in North-eastern Taurus, close to its border with Auriga.

Around early to mid August, observers at high and mid-Northern latitudes see Venus attain its highest altitude in the sky before sunrise for the 2025 apparition. From higher Northern latitudes, the planet is now rising in darkness, having spent the previous two months of the apparition rising in twilight. At latitude 60° North, the planet rises over 3½ hours ahead of the Sun, attaining an altitude of 19° above the Eastern horizon at 30 minutes before sunrise. At mid-Northern latitudes, the planet rises a little over three hours before the Sun, reaching 22° above the Eastern horizon at 30 minutes before sunrise. These altitudes are not particularly high; for naked-eye observers in the Northern hemisphere, the 2025 apparition is only the third best of Venus' five morning apparitions over the planet's 8-year cycle (see the accompanying article describing The Venus 8-year Cycle). From Northern latitudes this apparition sees Venus attain only moderate altitudes above the horizon at dawn when compared to the other four morning apparitions in the cycle.

On August 6th Venus passes 1°.8 North of the star  Gem (Nu Geminorum, mag. +4.1), the lower foot of the Northern twin, which the planet will occult during its morning apparition in August 2028. On August 7th the planet passes 5°.6 North of Alhena ( Gem or Gamma Geminorum, mag. +1.9), located at the foot of the Southern twin.

Gibbous Venus imaged in ultraviolet light by Kiyoto Mashima (Naha, Okinawa, Japan) in December 2023 using an 8-inch (200 mm) Schmidt-Cassegrain reflecting telescope fitted with a UV filter and a planetary imaging camera (click on the thumbnail for a larger image). Note the prominent bright spots close to the limb in the planet's polar regions (Image: Kiyoto Mashima / ALPO-Japan)

At 05 hours UT on August 9th the planet passes 3°.1 South of Mebsuta ( Gem or Epsilon Geminorum, mag. +3.0), which is positioned at the groin of the Northern twin. At around 12 hours UT on the same day Venus appears at the apex of an isoscelene triangle with Gemini's brightest stars Castor ( Gem or Alpha Geminorum, mag. +1.6) and Pollux ( Gem or Beta Geminorum, mag. +1.1), the long sides of the triangle measuring a little under 15° and the angular distance of the short side (from Castor to Pollux) being 4°.5. The temporary celestial triangle points South-westwards towards Orion.

From around August 11th Mercury (mag. +1.7) enters the morning sky at the start of its second paired apparition with Venus. Owing to the high inclination of the ecliptic to the local horizon at dawn at this time of year, this apparition favours observers in the Northern hemisphere. Mercury is currently looping anticlockwise in Western Cancer, the Crab, and is moving North-eastwards, having reached its Western stationary point on the previous day. The paired apparition will last until late August but the two planets will not reach conjunction.

By midnight UT on August 12th the angular distance between Venus and Jupiter has reduced to just 55' (0°.91). At 0743 UT on the same day Venus passes 51' (0°.86) to the South of the giant planet in the fifth and final planetary conjunction of the 2025 morning apparition. Their position in Gemini, coupled with their solar elongation of 36°, means that the conjunction is visible from across the inhabited world. At the moment of conjunction Mercury is located 20° to the ESE of the pair. For more details of this conjunction - arguably the most impressive of the 2025 apparition - see the 'planetary conjunctions' section below.

Following conjunction, Venus speeds past Jupiter and begins to pull away to the South-east of it. By midnight UT on August 13th Venus is 1°.1 to the South-east of Jupiter, with Mercury being 19°.5 to the ESE of Venus. Later on the 13th, Venus passes 1°.1 North of the optical double star Mekbuda ( Gem or Zeta Geminorum, mag. +3.9v), which is positioned at the right knee of the Southern twin.

At midnight UT on August 14th Venus is located 1°.9 South-east of Jupiter, with Mercury 18°.6 to the ESE of Venus. On the same day Venus passes 8°.6 South of   Gem (Tau Geminorum, mag. +4.4), located in the upper torso region of the Northern Twin. In 2013 the star was found to be hosting an exoplanet, named Tau Geminorum b. Some 370 light years distant, it has a mass equivalent to 20½ Jupiters and it orbits the star at a local distance of 1.17 AU in a period of 306 days.

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By midnight UT on August 15th Venus is positioned 2°.8 to the ESE of Jupiter, whilst Mercury, having brightened to magnitude +0.9, is 17°.7 to the ESE of Venus. At 09 hours UT on August 16th Venus passes 32' (0°.53) South of the star Wasat ( Gem or Delta Geminorum, mag. +3.5), located at the belly (or groin) of the Twin Pollux. By August 18th Venus is 5°.7 ESE of Jupiter, with Mercury some 16° to the ESE of Venus.

Venus passes 10°.7 South of Castor, Gemini's second-brightest star, on August 19th. On the same day Mercury (mag. +0.1) reaches its greatest elongation (18º.6 West of the Sun), positioned in central Cancer, some 15°.5 to the ESE of Venus. On August 20th Venus passes 13°.5 South of the star Jishui ( Gem or Omicron Geminorum, mag. +4.9), located close to the constellation's Northern border with Lynx. The name was approved by the IAU in 2017 and is derived from ancient Chinese astronomy. Jishui was the water flow from the River Beihe which was used for wine-making and brewing. The waning crescent Moon passes through this region of sky from August 20th-22nd, adding to the three-planet spectacle.

At midnight UT on August 21st Venus is positioned 8°.5 to the East of Jupiter. On the same day Mercury (mag. -0.2) comes to within 15°.3 of Venus (the planet's elongation is now 34° West of the Sun and Mercury's is 18° West). At 01 hours UT on the same day Pollux, Gem (Kappa Geminorum, mag. +3.5) and Venus form a line about 7°.1 in length, aligned roughly celestial North-South. The angular distances between Pollux and  Gem and between Gem and Venus are about the same (ca. 3°.5). The line points almost directly towards Procyon ( CMi or Alpha Canis Minoris, mag. +0.5), the eighth brightest star in the night sky, located in the constellation of Canis Minor, the Lesser Dog, some 15°.7 to the South of Venus. The planet passes 3°.5 South of   Gem itself at 05 hours UT that same day, then, at 09 hours UT, 7°.2 South of Pollux. In 2006 an exoplanet was discovered orbiting Pollux, named Beta Geminorum b or Thestias (after Greek & Roman mythology). Pollux is located 34 light years from Earth.

Over the coming days Mercury slowly moves further away from Venus as it begins to head back towards the Sun. At midnight UT on August 23rd Mercury is located 15°.5 to the East of Venus; meanwhile Jupiter is trailing 10°.6 to the West of Venus.

On August 24th Venus leaves Gemini and enters Cancer. As it does so, Mercury is 15°.7 to the East of it, pulling away Eastwards at a rate of about 0°.3 per day and accelerating. Jupiter is now 11°.9 to the West of Venus.

At 08 hours UT on August 25th Castor, Pollux and Venus form a line 13°.5 long, pointing South-south-eastwards towards the head of Hydra, the Water Snake, located some 17°.4 to the SSE of Venus. The line is visible just before dawn from extreme Eastern Canada, the extreme North-eastern USA, Eastern Brazil and the Guianas.

At 17 hours UT on August 26th Venus passes 2°.2 North of  ¹ Cnc (Zeta-1 Cancri, mag. +4.6), which is located near the Western end of constellation. It is a double star, approximately 83 light-years from Earth, whose primary component (¹ Cnc A or Zeta-1 Cancri A, mag. +5.6) is known by the name Tegmine, which is Arabic for 'the shell' (of the Crab). The star's secondary component (¹ Cnc B or Zeta-1 Cancri B, mag. +6.0) is located just 1" away. Tegmine is part of a multiple star system, the star ² Cnc (Zeta-2 Cancri, mag. +6.1) being positioned a short distance away, itself being part of a triple star system. Also on August 26th, at 23 hours UT, Mercury (mag. -0.9) enters Leo, the Lion, positioned 16°.5 to the East of Venus.

On August 27th Venus passes 10°.5 North of the star Tarf ( Cnc or Beta Cancri, mag. +3.5), positioned at the South-western corner of the constellation's lambda-shaped () figure. The name is derived from the Arabic Al Tarf meaning 'the End', i.e. the end of the Crab's leg. An exoplanet was detected orbiting Tarf in 2014. Designated Beta Cancri b, it is almost 300 light years distant and has a mass of almost eight Jupiters. It orbits Tarf in a period of 1.7 years at a local distance of 1.7 AU.

On August 28th the planet passes 4°.5 South of the star  Cnc (Lambda Cancri, mag. +5.9), a multiple star which, for many observers under typical night sky conditions, is close to the limit of naked-eye visibility. Its brightest component (Lambda Cancri A) was formally named Piautos by the IAU in 2018, after the name of a lunar station in an ancient Coptic manuscript. Meanwhile Mercury heads out of view in the dawn twilight, with Venus trailing 17°.1 to its West and Jupiter 33° to its West.

Venus crosses to the North of the ecliptic on August 29th. At 11 hours UT on August 30th Venus occults the magnitude +7.4 star SAO 97869 (also known by the designations HIP 41765 and TYC 1387-01215-1), blocking the star from view for up to three minutes. The event is visible in darkness from the Western USA (Arizona, California, Nevada, western Utah, Oregon, Idaho and Washington), Western Canada (western British Columbia) and Western Mexico; from all these locations the planet is positioned low over the Eastern horizon shortly after its rising. The star disappears behind Venus' bright limb (an 84% illuminated crescent) at about 1129 UT and re-appears from behind its dark limb at about 1133 UT.

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At the start of September Venus is positioned around 1° South of the star cluster known as Praesepe (pronounced 'PRE-SEEP-EE'), designated M44 or NGC 2632. It is also known by the names Beehive Cluster (the reason being evident when one looks at the cluster through binoculars) or, more rarely, The Manger. Venus takes some 15 hours to traverse the angular width of the cluster, commencing its passage at around 01 hours UT on September 1st and completing it at around 16 hours UT on the same day. At 0544 UT on September 2nd the planet passes just 7' (0°.11) North of the star Asellus Australis ( Cnc or Delta Cancri, mag. +3.9). It is one of two stars - the other being Asellus Borealis ( Cnc or Gamma Cancri, mag. +4.6) - which flank the star cluster on its Eastern side.

In early September Venus is rising 3½ hours before the Sun at latitude 60° North, reaching an altitude of 18° in the East at 30 minutes before sunrise. At 50° North the planet rises three hours ahead of the Sun, reaching 21° high in the East at 30 minutes before sunrise. At latitudes further South the durations, altitudes and directions at a half-hour before sunrise are as follows: 2½ hours before sunrise, reaching 23° in the East (at 30° North); two hours before sunrise, reaching 20° in the ENE (at the Equator) and 1½ hours before sunrise, reaching 10° in the ENE (at 35° South).

On September 5th Venus passes 5°.6 North of the star Acubens ( Cnc or Alpha Cancri, mag. +4.2), which is positioned at the South-eastern corner of the Crab constellation.

On September 7th Venus passes 5°.1 South of Nahn ( Cnc or Xi Cancri, mag. +5.7), a star close to the naked-eye threshold which was 'newly-named' by the IAU in 2018. Nahn ('the Nose') formed part of a lunar asterism in Persian astronomy.

Venus enters Leo on September 9th, a constellation which is now only beginning to emerge into the morning sky after a period out of view, lost in the solar glare. At this time of year only Northern hemisphere observers are able to view it - at least partially - for a short period of time before dawn.

Cloud Details are revealed in ultraviolet light in this digitally-sharpened image of Venus by Clyde Foster (Oryx Observatory, Khomas, South Africa) taken in February 2024 (click on the thumbnail for a larger image). The planet was 87% illuminated and measured about 12" across. Foster used a 14-inch (355 mm) Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector telescope fitted with a UV filter and a CMOS camera (Image: Clyde Foster / ALPO-Japan)

On September 13th Venus passes 4°.7 North of the star Subra ( Leo or Omicron Leonis, mag. +3.5), which marks the paw of the Lion's foreleg. Between September 14th and 19th Venus is positioned South of the asterism (star pattern) known as the Sickle of Leo, at the Western end of the constellation, which appears to the naked-eye as a backward question-mark (). The constellation's brightest star Regulus ( Leo or Alpha Leonis, mag. +1.4) is in the equivalent position of the dot. The passage starts at 20 hours UT on the 14th, when Venus passes 9°.4 South of Ras Elased Australis ( Leo or Epsilon Leonis, mag. +2.9), at the upper North-western end ('pointed end') of the sickle.

On September 16th the planet passes 12°.2 South of the star Rasalas ( Leo or Mu Leonis, mag. +3.9), located at the top of the Sickle of Leo. An exoplanet (Mu Leonis b) was discovered orbiting the star in 2014. Located 106 light years away, it has a mass equivalent to just under 2½ Jupiters and it orbits Rasalas at a local distance of 1.1 AU in a period of 358 days.

At around 12 hours UT on September 19th, from some locations of the world, the waning crescent Moon is seen to pass in front of Venus, obscuring it from view for a short time, in an event called a lunar occultation. The event is visible in twilight and/or darkness from north-western Canada (central & eastern Northwest Territories, extreme Northern Manitoba, extreme Northern Saskatchewan and extreme North-eastern Alberta), the Arctic Ocean and Arctica. It can be seen in daylight (taking the necessary precautions to shield the Sun from view) from north-eastern Canada (Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island), Greenland, Iceland, Europe, northern & western Russia, northern & central Africa (as far West as Morocco and as far South as the Central African Republic) and the Middle East (except UAE, Oman & eastern Yemen). Further details of this event can be found by following the link in the 'Moon near Venus Dates' section below. At the time of the occultation Regulus is located only 30' (0°.5) to the South of Venus; the planet passes North of the star at 1245 UT on the same day. Venus will occult Regulus during the planet's morning apparition in 2044.

On September 21st Venus passes 8°.2 South of the star Algieba (¹ Leo or Gamma-1 Leonis, mag. +2.3), located at the base of the Lion's neck (although the name is Arabic for 'the forehead'). It is a double star with golden-yellow components (¹ Leo and ² Leo) of magnitudes +2.3 and +3.6, separated by an angular distance of 4".7. The pair are about 130 light years from Earth and they orbit each other in a period of 554 years. The star is easily split in small telescopes and is considered to be one of the finest double stars in the night sky. In 2009 an exoplanet was detected orbiting ¹ Leo, designated Gamma-1 Leonis b. It is believed to be a gas giant with a mass equivalent to about nine Jupiters, taking 428 days to complete one orbit of its parent star.

At 1729 UT on September 24th the planet passes 1° North of  Leo (Rho Leonis, mag. +3.8), a supergiant variable star located beneath the Lion's belly, roughly mid-way between its foreleg and hind leg.

By late September Venus' solar elongation has reduced to 25° and, with a 90% illuminated phase, it appears only slightly gibbous through telescopes. The apparent disk diameter is around 11", i.e. only half the size it had been in early June and a third of the size it had been in early May. With such a small disk size, little can now be discerned in the way of the planet's characteristic cloud markings.

Mid-Southern hemisphere observers now have only a couple of weeks remaining in which to observe Venus. At latitude 35° South, the planet rises in twilight only an hour ahead of the Sun, attaining just 5° in altitude in the ENE at 30 minutes before sunrise.

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At 0856 UT on October 2nd Venus passes through perihelion (its closest orbital position to the Sun) at a distance of 0.7184 AU (107.4 million kms or 66.8 million statute miles) from Sun.

In early October Northern hemisphere observers are able to see rather more of the Lion's stellar figure as it rises into the Eastern sky before dawn, although it is visible for only a short period of time. At 1518 UT on October 3rd Venus passes 13°.9 South of Zosma ( Leo or Delta Leonis, mag. +2.7), which is located at the top of the Lion's rump. Thirty-eight minutes later the planet passes 8°.9 South of Chertan ( Leo or Theta Leonis, mag. +3.3), which is located at the hip joint (coxa) of the Lion's hind leg. The Right Ascension of  Zosma and Chertan differ by just 7 seconds (meaning that they cross the local meridian only 7 seconds apart), consequently between 1518 UT and 1558 UT the three celestial bodies appear to form a North-South line through the Lion's rump. Venus passes 21' (0°.35) South of the star Leo (Sigma Leonis, mag. +4.0), positioned at the foot of the Lion's hind leg, at 0351 UT on October 5th.

At 1515 UT on October 8th the planet passes 4°.9 North of the star Leo (Upsilon Leonis, mag. +4.3), which is located only 7' (0°.11) from Leo's South-eastern border with Virgo, the Maiden. The star, which is 172 light years away, has an exoplanet (Upsilon Leonis b) with a mass equivalent to that of one-half Jupiter. It orbits the star at a local distance of 1.2 AU over a period of 385 days. Venus enters Virgo at 1715 UT on the same day, a constellation which Southern hemisphere observers are already having some difficulty viewing in the dawn twilight. By this time the planet's motion against the background stars has accelerated to a speedy 1°.24 per day.

Venus passes 3°.4 South of the star  Vir (Nu Virginis, mag. +4.0), located at the top of the Maiden's head, at 13 hours UT on October 10th. The planet passes 51' (0°.85) North of Zavijava ( Vir or Beta Virginis, mag. +3.6), positioned at the back of her head, at 1452 UT on October 11th. Before standardization by the IAU in 2016 Zavijava was also known by the names Zavijah, Zavyava or Alaraph.

From around mid-October, observers situated at mid-Southern latitudes begin to lose sight of Venus from the dawn sky as the planet sinks into the bright Eastern horizon.

'Morning Star'  A painting by Polish artist Józef Szermentowski (1833-1876), held at the National Museum in Warsaw, appears to show a brilliant Venus accompanied by a bright star, with a prominent waning lunar crescent beneath them (click on the thumbnail for a larger image). Painted in either Poland or France, the date assigned to the artwork is 1874 (a zoomable version of the painting can be seen at the MNW website).

The current writer considers that the picture may be a representation of the sky looking ESE at dawn on October 20th 1873, during the planet's 1873-74 morning apparition (nineteen 'Venus cycles' prior to the 2025 apparition). The bright 'star' just to the lower right of Venus may have been Jupiter, which was positioned not far from Venus on this date, although not in the same relative position (the two planets were in conjunction only five days earlier).

If this interpretation is correct, then Venus will return to approximately the same position in the sky (near the star Zavijava in western Virgo) on October 13th 2025 (the waning crescent Moon will appear 'below' Venus on October 20th). A biography of Józef Szermentowski can be seen on Wikipedia  (Image: Józef Szermentowski / Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie).

Venus crosses to the South of the celestial equator (where = 0°) on October 16th, causing the planet to rise at the due East point on the local horizon across the inhabited world.

At 0010 UT on October 18th Venus passes 11' (0°.18) North of Zaniah ( Vir or Eta Virginis, mag. +3.8), another star which is positioned at the rear of the Maiden's head.

On October 22nd Venus passes 5°.5 North of the star  Vir (Chi Virginis, mag. +4.6), a star which in 2009 was found to have an exoplanet, named Chi Virginis b (or HD 110014 b). It is thought to have a mass equivalent to 11 Jupiter masses, orbiting Chi Virginis at a distance of 2.1 AU in a period of 835 days. Later that same day the planet passes 1°.3 South of the double star Porrima ( Vir or Gamma Virginis, mag. +3.5), named after one of the Roman goddesses of prophecy. It is a binary star comprising components of magnitude +3.4 and +3.5, appearing to the naked-eye as a single star of magnitude +2.9. The pair orbit each other in a period of 169 years, their separation varying greatly throughout. They came closest together around 2006, when they were just 0".4 apart, making them difficult to separate in anything but the largest of telescopes. The pair are now widening and are becoming easier to separate in amateur telescopes, being 3".4 apart and aligned North-South in relation to each other.

In late October Venus is rising two hours before sunrise at 60º North, 1¾ hours before sunrise at 50º North, 1¼ hours before the Sun at 30º North and one hour before the Sun at the Equator. At thirty minutes before sunrise, Venus attains an altitude of 9º in the ESE at 60º North, 10º in the ESE at 50º North, 10º high in the East at 30º North and just 7º high in the East at the Equator. Telescopes turned towards Venus now show a tiny disk measuring a little over 10" across with a phase of around 96% - so slightly gibbous that the planet effectively appears 'full'.

At 2130 UT on October 28th Venus passes 15' (0°.25) South of another double star,  Vir (Theta Virginis, mag. +4.4), which the planet will occult in the year 2044.

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At 05 hours UT on November 1st Venus passes 3º.8 North of Virgo's brightest star, Spica ( Vir or Alpha Virginis, mag. +1.0), a blue-white star which dominates the South-eastern region of the constellation.

By November 6th Venus' solar elongation has reduced to just 15º and from the latitudes which are still able to see it, the planet is rising in twilight once more. The planet enters Libra, the Balance or Scales, on November 13th. Observers at high-Northern latitudes lose sight of Venus from around the third week of November.

On November 25th Venus passes 1° to the South of Mercury, the planets moving in opposite directions against the stars of Libra as one planet enters the morning sky and the other leaves it. But with a solar elongation of only 10° Mercury is too close to the Sun to be observable; it will enter the morning sky in a few days' time, beginning its fourth and final morning apparition of the year. By November 26th Venus is positioned just 10º West of the Sun and is increasingly difficult to view from most remaining latitudes.

By month's end Venus becomes lost from view in the bright East-south-eastern sky from Southern Tropical latitudes.

From around early December, observers at mid-Northern latitudes begin to lose sight of Venus from the dawn sky. The planet enters Scorpius, the Scorpion, on December 3rd, passing into Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, on December 7th. Mercury (mag. -0.4) reaches its greatest elongation (20º.7 West of the Sun) in Libra on the same day, in an apparition which is favourable to Northern hemisphere observers.

Observers at Equatorial and Northern Tropical latitudes lose sight of Venus by the second week of the month, bringing the 2025 morning apparition to a formal close.

Venus crosses the ecliptic heading Southwards on December 19th and enters Sagittarius, the Archer, on December 21st.

Venus reaches superior conjunction (passing behind the Sun as seen from the Earth) in central Sagittarius on January 6th, positioned 0°.7 South of the Sun's centre. The planet is now at a very distant 1.7108 AU (255.9 million kms or 159 million statute miles) from the Earth. Were it to be visible from the Earth at this point, Venus would have an apparent diameter of just 9".8 and would shine at magnitude -3.9.

Having passed from the morning to the evening sky, Venus remains out of view - lost in the solar glare - for a further month, as it makes its slow passage on the far side of its orbit from the Earth. The planet becomes visible once again from around early February 2026, when it is seen shortly after sunset from Equatorial and Northern Tropical latitudes as an 'Evening Star' in the WSW, heralding a new evening apparition of Venus which lasts through to October of that year.

[Terms in yellow italics are explained in greater detail in an associated article describing planetary movements in the night sky.]

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Venus Conjunctions with other Planets:

Morning Apparition 2025

Viewed from the orbiting Earth, whenever two planets appear to pass each other in the night sky (a line-of-sight effect) the event is known as a planetary conjunction or appulse. Not all planetary conjunctions will be visible from the Earth, however, because many of them take place too close to the Sun. Furthermore, not all of them will be seen from across the world; the observers' latitude will affect the altitude (angle above the horizon) at which the two planets are seen at the time of the event and the local season will affect the sky brightness at that particular time. A flat, unobstructed horizon will normally be required to observe most of them.

Planetary conjunctions are generally considered most noteworthy when they involve two bright planets, and none are more spectacular than those involving Venus. During the course of a typical Venusian apparition, Venus moves through eight or more zodiac constellations and in doing so it passes other planets in the sky - and in the case of Mercury, often on more than one occasion.

Because Venus never appears more than 47° from the Sun, it follows that any planetary conjunction involving Venus will also never occur above this angular distance, i.e. its solar elongation will always be less than 47°. For an Earthbound observer, a superior planet (i.e. Mars and beyond) seen at such a small elongation poses something of a problem, since it will then be considerably more distant from the Earth - and therefore fainter - than when it is closest and brightest in the sky (namely, at opposition, when its elongation is 180° from the Sun). Jupiter is affected to a much lesser extent since it is always above magnitude -1.6 (brighter than Sirius, the brightest star in the sky).

Planetary conjunctions between Venus and Jupiter are arguably the most spectacular to view, and one such event occurs during the 2025 morning apparition. The conjunction of August 12th 2025 takes place in central Gemini, the two planets being separated by 0°.8. They contrast nicely with the much wider (and much dimmer) stellar pair of Castor ( Gem or Alpha Geminorum, mag. +1.6) and Pollux ( Gem or Beta Geminorum, mag. +1.1), the brightest stars in the constellation, positioned 12° to their North-east (Castor and Pollux themselves point South-eastwards towards Mercury, of magnitude +1.5, which is just beginning a morning apparition). At latitude 50° North Venus and Jupiter reach around 25° high in the East as Jupiter fades from view in the dawn sky, whilst at 30° North the pair are around 32° high, also in the East. At mid-Southern latitudes the pair stand around 12° to 18° high in the North-east when Jupiter disappears in the twilight. The two planets rise in darkness between latitudes of about 55° North and 40° South.

The Venus-Saturn conjunction of April 29th 2025 is observable from latitudes South of the mid-Northern hemisphere. At 40° North the planets reach 13° above the ESE horizon when Saturn disappears from view whilst at 20° North they are 25° high in the ESE. From the Equator Southwards the pair are positioned between 32° and 36° high (about 'one-third of the way up the sky') towards the East (Equator) or the North-east (45° South) at Saturn's disappearance. At magnitude -4.4 Venus is close to its brightest for this apparition, however Saturn is a poor magnitude +1.0, close to its dimmest since its rings are edgewise-on to the Earth at this time.

A 10°-wide conjunction between Venus and Saturn on March 30th 2025 takes place at the start of both Saturn's 2025-26 apparition and Venus' 2025 morning apparition and is the most challenging of all of the five conjunctions. On this occasion Venus is pulling away from the Sun and is moving retrograde just prior to looping through the Circlet of Pisces. The conjunction is visible only between latitudes 7° North and about 45° South, the pair reaching only 8° above the Eastern horizon at Saturn's disappearance, the ringed planet being several degrees higher in altitude than Venus. The planetary pair are seen in continuous twilight from latitudes South of about 30° South. This conjunction is followed a month later by a second with Saturn on April 29th (described above), by which time Venus is moving direct, having completed its loop and having left the Circlet behind it.

A conjunction between Venus and Uranus on July 4th 2025 takes place about a month after Venus' greatest Western elongation, when the planet is positioned a wide 43° from the Sun. The separation between the two planets (2°.4) is however also wide. As Uranus disappears from view at the start of dawn in the Southern hemisphere, the pair are positioned 24° high in the ENE at 15° South, 21° high in the North-east at 25° South, 18° high in the North-east at 35° South and 13° high in the North-east at 45° South. From the Northern hemisphere, where the summer solstice has recently passed, the pair are positioned in the ENE as dawn commences, the altitudes being as follows: 14° at 30° North, 19° in the Northern Tropics and 24° at the Equator. The event is not observable from latitudes North of the mid-Northern hemisphere. Uranus is a tricky object to observe whenever it is involved in conjunctions with Venus because Uranus is only just visible to the naked-eye and Venus is, of course, the brightest of the naked-eye planets. Consequently the glare caused by Venus' brilliance (in this instance mag. -4.0) makes it difficult to see the much fainter Uranus (+5.8) beside it. In such events, binocular observers in particular may find it easier to position Venus just outside the binocular field of view so that Uranus may be more comfortably seen.

The Venus-Neptune conjunction of May 4th 2025 takes place at a solar elongation of 42° and is favourable to Southern hemisphere observers. When Neptune disappears from view at the start of dawn, the pair are positioned 21° high in the East at the Equator, 24° high in the ENE at latitude 25° South and 20° high in the ENE at 45° South. At 20° North the pair only reach 13° above the Eastern horizon at Neptune's disappearance. They are visible after rising for about 50 minutes (from the Northern Tropics), 1½ hours (from the Equator), 1¾ hours (from the Southern Tropics) and 2 hours (from latitude 45° South). Optical aid is always required to glimpse Neptune as a pale-blue 'star', and even when the elongation is favourable, the glare caused by Venus makes it difficult to see the much fainter planet beside it. As with Uranus, in such instances binocular observers should position Venus just outside the binocular field of view so that Neptune may be more comfortably viewed.

The five planetary conjunctions with Venus which are observable during the 2025 morning apparition are summarised in the table below.

Venus conjunctions with other planets during the 2025 morning apparition (click on the thumbnail for the full-size table)  The column headed 'UT' is the Universal Time (equivalent to GMT) of the conjunction (in hrs : mins). The separation (column 'Sep') is the angular distance between the two planets, measured relative to Venus, e.g. on 2025 April 29, Saturn is positioned 3°.7 South of Venus at the time shown. The 'Fav. Hem' column shows the Hemisphere in which the conjunction is best observed. Observers situated at latitudes close to those shown in the 'Notes' column will most likely find the conjunction difficult or impossible to observe because of low altitude and/or bright twilight.

In the 'When Visible' column, a distinction is made between Dawn and Morning visibility; the term Dawn refers specifically to the twilight period before sunrise, whilst the term Morning refers to the period before twilight begins (some conjunctions take place in darkness, others do not, depending upon latitude). The 'Con' column shows the constellation in which the planets are positioned at the time of the conjunction.

To find the direction in which the conjunctions are seen on any of the dates in the table, note down the constellation in which the planets are located ('Con' column) on the required date and find the constellation's rising direction for your particular latitude in the Rise-Set direction table.

The table is extracted from a longer table showing Venus conjunctions with other planets from 2021 to 2025 on the Venus Conjunctions page.

Although any given conjunction takes place at a particular instant in time, it is worth pointing out that, because of the planets' relatively slow daily motions, such events are interesting to observe for several days both before and after the actual conjunction date.

There are in fact two methods of defining a planetary conjunction date: one is measured in Right Ascension (i.e. perpendicular to the celestial equator) and the other is measured along the ecliptic, which is inclined at 23½° to the Earth's equatorial plane (this is due to the tilt of the Earth's axis in space). An animation showing how conjunction dates are determined by each method can be found on the Jupiter-Uranus 2010-11 triple conjunction page. Although conjunctions measured along the ecliptic can be significantly closer, the Right Ascension method is the more commonly used, and it is the one which is adopted here.

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Moon near Venus Dates,

March to October 2025

The Moon is easy to find, and on one or two days in each month, it passes Venus in the sky. Use the following tables to see on which dates the Moon passes near the planet during the 2025 morning apparition:

The Moon moves relatively quickly against the background stars in an Eastward direction, at about its own angular width (0º.5) each hour (about 12º.2 per day). Because it is relatively close to the Earth, an effect called parallax causes it to appear in a slightly different position (against the background stars) when seen from any two locations on the globe at any given instant; the further apart the locations, the greater the Moon's apparent displacement against the background stars. Therefore, for any given date and time listed in the table, the Moon will appear closer to Venus when seen from some locations than others. For this reason, the dates shown in the table should be used only for general guidance.

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Credits

• The dates of Venus' constellation boundary crossings and its directions, altitudes and visibility durations were determined from the commercial software RedShift 5 by Maris Technologies Ltd. The planetary conjunction details and the times and separations of the lunar conjunctions with Venus (Moon near Venus dates) were obtained from RedShift 5 using the 'Conjunctions' option of the 'Sky Diary'.
• Directions, altitudes and visibility durations of planetary conjunctions at dawn were determined using the 'Night Sky Map & Planets Visible' utility at TimeandDate.com.
• The future dates of stellar occultations by Venus were obtained from the website The Sky and Its Phenomena by Italian amateur astronomer Pierpaolo Ricci, as was the date of Venus' next highest declination (May 2028).
• Data relating to Venus' changing distances from the Sun/Earth were obtained from NASA JPL's Horizons System and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan's 'Celestial Phenomena' utility.
• Information on the cultural origins of the IAU's 'newly-named' stars were obtained from the following sources: Revati, Bharani, Chamukuy: UniverseToday.com; Tianguan: Wikipedia's Zeta Tauri page; Lilii Borea: Ian Ridpath's Star Tales website, with supplementary information from Wikipedia; Nahn, Piautos: Wikipedia's Lambda Cancri page; Jishui: Ian Ridpath's Star Tales Gemini page.
• Information on exoplanets was obtained from NASA's Exoplanets website.

Copyright  Martin J Powell  March 2025