May 2025 Night Sky Update - Last Minute Astronomer

Eta Aquarids Credit: NASA Marshall

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Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus, and the Eta Aquarid Meteor shower shine during May 2025.

I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.  

We’ll start by talking about this month’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.  

EVENTS

5th – ETA AQUARID METEOR SHOWER – Around 10-20 meteors per hour if we’re lucky, the Eta Aquarids are a minor shower that favors those in the southern hemisphere.  The best time this year is after midnight (when the Moon sets) and before dawn.  Just remember each meteor is a piece of debris left over from Halley’s comet, and we’re crashing into it at over 100,000 miles per hour, which crushes the atmosphere it hits, heating it up and causing the bright flash.  There is no real best time to see these this year, but the later, the better.  You never know when you’ll see something awesome. 

Some advice for watching: 

Find a dark location and lie down in a reclining chair or something that insulates you from the ground.

Check the weather to see if the skies will be clear 

Adapt your eyes to the dark by staying away from light sources or using a red light if you need to look at a star chart or not trip over something.  

Naked-eye PLANETS

Sunset 

Jupiter - About 30˚ up the sky in the W after sunset, above Taurus’ head, in between its horns, setting around 11pm.  Later in the month, Jupiter is lower in the sky and sets around sunset.

Mars - Almost straight above us after sunset, but toward the SW, between Gemini and Leo (in Cancer), setting by 2am. Throughout the month, Mars will move away from Cancer and toward Leo, a little lower in the sky, setting around 1am.

Jupiter and Mars beginning of May

Jupiter and Mars end of May

Morning

Venus, Saturn – A GREAT little challenge for the month!  In the beginning of May, get out up to an hour before sunrise, and look over a clear horizon to the East.  The easiest one to find will be Venus, hovering 10-15˚ above the horizon, and very bright.  It’ll be the last “star” to fade from view.  Saturn will be just 4˚ down and to the left of Venus.  Throughout the month, you’ll have to get out earlier and earlier since the Sun will rise earlier and earlier each day.  Venus will slowly get a little higher each day.  Saturn will also get higher, in fact higher than Venus, and further to the right, but will remain dimmer.

Venus and Saturn May 1st

Venus and Saturn May 31st

Lunar Events

LUNAR CYCLE

Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)

First Quarter Moon – 4th (Visible until midnight)

Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)

Full Moon – 12th (Visible all night)

Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)

Last Quarter Moon – 20th (Visible midnight into the morning)

Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)

New Moon – 26th (darkest skies)

LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS 

The Moon will be traveling across the sky as normal, passing by some planets at particular times. 

• 3rd - Find the Waxing Crescent Moon just 1.5˚ above Mars and the M44 star cluster, which can be seen with binoculars, setting around 2:30am.

  

  
  

• 21st - 25th - Get out before between 4:30am and sunrise and look East over a fairly clear horizon.  Venus and Saturn will be hanging out directly East, less than 15˚ above the horizon.  The Moon will be a nice crescent on the 21st, off in the SE, 15˚ to the right of Saturn, which is 15˚ to the right of bright Venus.  On the 22nd, the Moon will be just 4˚ to the right of Saturn. On the 23rd, the Moon will move between the two planets, a little close to Venus on the left than Saturn on the right. On the 24th, a VERY thin crescent Moon is just as high off the horizon as Venus is just 7˚ to the right. Lastly, on the 25th, find Venus, and the Moon will be as far to the left of Venus as Saturn is to the right of Venus.

  
  

  

  May 21st

  

  May 23rd

  

  May 25th

• 28th - Coming back around again, the VERY thin crescent Moon is just 7˚ above Jupiter, setting around 11pm.

  
  

  

  May 28th

• 31st - A second May encounter for Mars, being 5˚ up and to the left of the Moon.

May 31st

And that’s the sky for this month.  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. 

Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission.