Mercury makes its best evening appearances in early March and late June/early July. For morning watchers, the best time to catch the smallest planet is mid-August.
Venus is crazy bright in the evening sky from the start of 2025 until mid-March. It quickly reappears in the morning sky by late March/early April. It remains easily visible in the pre-dawn sky until mid-November.
Mars is at opposition on January 15—meaning it’s closest to Earth and bright in the sky—outshining any nighttime star. Mars stays visible in the evening sky all the way to October’s end.
Jupiter stays bright in the evening sky all the way to early June. By mid-July, the king planet returns in the morning sky. By November, Jupiter returns to the evening sky.
Saturn hangs on in the evening sky for the first two months and then switches to the morning sky in mid-April.
January
January 4: Earth at perihelion, closest point to the sun, 91.4 million miles
January 5: Latest sunrise at 7:23 a.m. CST in Milwaukee
January 14: 20th anniversary of Huygens probe landing on Saturn’s moon—Titan
January 16-18: Saturn and Venus close in evening sky
January ? Launch of NASA’S Blue Ghost Mission 1, a lunar lander
January ? Launch of JAXA’s (Japan) lunar lander/rover Resilience
January 29: Chinese New Year—Year of the Snake; second new moon after winter solstice
Early 2025: Launch of NASA’S Intuitive Machines 2 (PRIME 1), a lunar lander
February
February 23-25: Mercury and Saturn close in evening sky, difficult to see
March
March 9: Spring ahead! Daylight Saving Time begins
March 12: Saturn at solar conjunction—behind sun—moving to morning sky
March 14: Pi Day and Einstein’s birthday
March 14: Total Lunar Eclipse! 12:09 a.m. to 3:47 a.m.
March 18: USSR cosmonaut Aleksey Leonov makes first space walk
March 20: Spring begins at 4:01 a.m. CDT
March 22: Venus at inferior conjunction, between Earth and sun, moving to morning sky
March 29: Partial Solar Eclipse for NE USA, Europe—not visible in Wisconsin
April
April 9-11: Saturn and Mercury close in morning sky—difficult to see
April 11-17: 55th anniversary of Apollo 13 mission to the moon
April 24: 45th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope
May
May 1-7: Saturn and Venus close in morning sky
June
June 3: 60th anniversary of first American spacewalk by astronaut Ed White
June 7-9: Jupiter and Mercury close in evening sky, difficult to see
June 24: Jupiter at solar conjunction—behind sun—moving to morning sky
June 13: Earliest sunrise, 5:12 a.m. CDT in Milwaukee
June 20: Summer Solstice starts at 9:42 p.m. CDT
June 27: Latest sunset, 8:35 p.m. CDT in Milwaukee
July
July 3: Earth at aphelion, the farthest point from the sun, 94.5 million miles
July 14: 10th anniversary of New Horizons flying by Pluto
July 17: 50th anniversary of USA & USSR docking of Soyuz & Apollo spacecrafts
July 25: Pluto at opposition
August
August 11-13: Jupiter and Venus close in morning sky
August 12-14: Perseids meteor shower peaks
September
September 20: Saturn at opposition, up all night
September 22: Fall arrives with the autumnal equinox at 1:19 p.m. CDT; Partial Solar Eclipse in New Zealand
September 23: Neptune at opposition
Fall 2025? Launch of NASA’S Griffin Mission 1, a lunar lander
October
October 22: 50th anniversary of first surface image of Venus by Soviet Union's Venera 9
November
November 2: Fall back! Daylight Saving Time ends; 25th anniversary of Expedition 1—first crew at International Space Station (ISS)
November 5: Closest supermoon of 2025, moon 7% bigger than average full moon
November 11-13: Mercury and Mars close in evening sky, difficult to see
November 21: Uranus at opposition
December
December 5: Bepi-Colombo - ESA mission goes into orbit around Mercury
December 8: Earliest sunset, 4:17 p.m. CST in Milwaukee
December 12-14: Geminid meteor shower peaks
December 21: Winter Solstice starts at 9:02 a.m. CST