Venus is getting better visible at the end of dusk low in the west. By the end of the month, it will have reached Aldebaran in Taurus.

Jupiter transits around sunset 81 degrees high. It moves slowly toward Pollux. Venus is still far away but fast approaching Jupiter.

Mercury is visible until mid-month low at dawn around 5:30 am.

Uranus remains 4 degrees south of the Pleiades, but gets visible only quite low in the sky. The last good possibility of viewing it is on the 23rd when it is visible in binoculars just 0.8 degrees south of Venus.

The moon will be in the evening sky again on the 18th, in the vicinity of Venus. Two days later it can be seen almost overhead (86 degrees high) at 3:30 pm.

On April 20th, there is a rare event that three planets are within a 3 degree circle: Mercury, Mars, and Venus. They are visible from more southern latitudes by naked eye. In Tucson, one will need binoculars to find them around 5:30 am about 5 degrees above the eastern horizon. They will be almost in a straight line.

Around April 22, the Lyrics Meteors are visible after 10 pm.

On March 7th, Venus and Saturn are visible in the west at dusk, separated by only 1 degree. Saturn is lost in twilight a day or two later while Venus is slowly climbing higher.

Uranus is only 4 degrees south of the Pleiades. After April it will take 84 years before it gets that close again.

Jupiter transits around 8 pm at 81 degrees altitude, perfect for evening observations with a telescope.

Mercury begins to be visible in the morning on March 20th, the spring equinox. It rises around 5 am and is best visible at 5:30 in the east.

Comet MAPS C/2026 A1 is the first comet discovered in 2026. It is a Kreuz group comet. This means it will get extremely close to the sun: 0.001 AU. Perihelion is April 4th, by which time it may have evaporated. It may become a spectacular comet in the evening sky in late March, or it may be barely findable with binoculars. It may be visible during daylight next to the sun around April Fools day. Around March 21, it will become brighter than magnitude 6, but setting at 8:20 pm and 6 minutes earlier each following day.

Mercury, Venus, and Mars are all behind the Sun. Mercury and Venus pass the Sun and thus will become evening planets in February. Mars lags behind, so that it will become a morning planet, but not until May.

Saturn transits a little before sunset. Its rings open up fast, from .8 to 2.0 degrees, or from .5 to 1.3 arc-seconds width.

Neptune is approached by Saturn, from 3 to 1.7 degrees distance. Saturn will pass Neptune in February.

Uranus is transiting 77 degrees high around 8 pm. It is 4 degrees south of the Pleiades and just visible by naked eye at magnitude 5.6.

Jupiter comes in opposition on the 10th. It is still near Pollux. With a diameter of 46 arc-seconds, it is a perfect object in telescopes. At magnitude -2.7, it casts shadows at very dark sites. On the 6th, Ganymede’s shadow starts crossing Jupiter’s disk, followed by the moon itself 20 minutes later. Ganymede shows up as a small dark disk on Jupiter in telescopes, but not as dark as its black shadow.

January is the month when the sunset gets delayed by 28 minutes, more than every other month.

Saturn is transiting around 7 pm, later this month at 6 pm, ideally suited for evening observations. Its rings open and brighten up by a factor of three this month, but remain as thin as a line. All moons orbit back and forth on the same line.

Neptune is 3 degrees east of Saturn. On February 15, it will be the minimum in 35 years, less than 1 degree.

Uranus is 4.5 degrees south of the Pleiades. This month is the closest distance during its 84 year orbit.

Jupiter rises at 8 pm, later at 7 pm. It is near Pollux. It is getting close to opposition.

Mercury is very easy to see around 6:15 to 6:30 am. It rises even before twilight starts.

The Moon is back in the evening sky on the Solstice, the 21st, as a thin crescent. The highest Full Moon in its 18-year nodal cycle occurs on New Year’s Day at 11 pm with an altitude of 86 degrees, not far from 90 degrees.

Saturn is transiting around 9 pm, later this month at 8 pm, ideally suited for evening observations. Its rings can open up to 27 degrees. In July they were open by only 3 degrees. During the second half of November it is only a minuscule 0.2 degrees. Since they are will illuminated, they show up as a line of no thickness in a telescope. The line has brighter and dimmer parts as the different rings have different brightness.

Neptune is only 4 degrees to the northeast of Saturn. Saturn will pass it on Friday November 16, finishing the triple conjunction between both planets this opposition period. The last one was 1989. The following conjunction in 2061 will be single.

Uranus is in opposition on November 21st. This is the closest opposition to the Pleiades, only 4 degrees to the south. This happens once every 84 years.

Jupiter rises around 9 pm, becoming a better evening object. It is close to Pollux in Gemini.

Venus rises around 6 am during twilight. It remains low before the sun comes up.

Mercury will start its best apparition of 2025 on November 28, lasting for a whole month, rising even before dawn starts.

The first sighting of the moon after New Moon will be on November 21st. It will be difficult to see, even though it is well illuminated two days after new Moon. However, its extreme southern declination of -29 degrees gives it a low elevation above the southwestern horizon.

Comet Lemmon is still a bright comet of magnitude 5 with a significant tail. It sets around 8 pm in Ophiuchus, but this time gets earlier every day by 5 minutes. Its days of visibility are soon over.

Mars is just visible at dusk during the first half of October.

Mercury is visible during the second half of October, a little better than Mars. It passes Mars two degrees south on the 20th.

Saturn transits 55 degrees high during late evening. Its rings are thin, and thinning further. The ring tilt decreases from 1.5 to .6 degrees. On the 5th, a transit of Titan occurs across Saturn’s disk, starting at 6:25 pm. Titan’s shadow moves near Saturn’s North Pole from 9:26 to 11:44 pm.

Neptune is 3 degrees to the northeast of Saturn.

Uranus is up during late evening, 4 degrees south of the Pleiades.

Jupiter rises around midnight and is high up by dawn.

Venus rises around 5 am and is 20 degrees high by sunrise.

The moon moves across the Pleiades on the 9th from 8 to 10 pm.

Mars is the evening planet, getting lower in the west at the end of twilight.  In September it becomes difficult to see.

Saturn rises at midnight at the beginning of July, but already at sunset by its opposition on September 20. Its rings are very faint since their southern side only started to get illuminated in May. They are visible as a line extending on both sides of the planet.

Venus rises around 3 am. It is 20 degrees high in the east by the time dawn starts.

Jupiter rises shortly before the sun at the beginning of July, but already around 1 am by late September. Venus and Jupiter are only 1 degree apart from each other on August 12, a beautiful sight.

Mercury is well visible during dawn in the second half of August, about 15 degrees below Venus.

Uranus is visible in the morning sky.

Neptune is only 1 degree south of Saturn all July and August, increasing to 2 degrees by late September, a rare chance to see both planets in the same telescopic field.  Once they separate next year, it will take until 2061 before they get together again. That conjunction will not be visible because the sun will be too close.  So the next chance will be in 2097.

Minor planet (4) Vesta is still relatively bright at magnitude 7.

The moon is close to Venus on the morning of August 20, when Jupiter is also nearby. The three brightest objects in the sky fit within a 10 degree field.

The Perseid meteor shower is active from late July to late August with a maximum on August 12. While it gets dark around 8 pm, the moon rises at 9:15 pm, leaving little time of dark sky.