In 2024, we had the best of the best astronomical events over the United States: northern lights visible multiple times from parts of the country that normally don't see auroras, and the total solar eclipse that wowed sungazers from Texas to Maine.
What's up in the sky in 2025? Here are the can't-miss astronomical events of the coming year.
January-February: A planet parade
As 2025 begins, you can easily spot four planets in the evening sky. Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars all shine brightly every night after sunset in January and February. In January and February, look for Venus and Saturn in the southwestern sky and Jupiter and Mars toward the southeast.
These planets will be spread out across a long arc but two unseen planets will be there as well. Uranus and Neptune, only visible through a telescope, will be part of the planetary alignment in the first quarter of the year.
In late February, Mercury joins the planet parade in the early evening sky as Saturn departs. You will only have a few weeks to spot the planet closest to the sun as Mercury will be lost in the sunset by mid-March.
Jan. 13: Lunar occultation of Mars
Maybe you've seen a solar eclipse (when the moon blocks out the light of the sun), but have you witnessed an occultation? That is when the moon passes in front of a star or planet and blocks its light for about an hour before moving on its way around the Earth. On the night of Jan. 13, the full moon will occult the red planet Mars. One moment you may see a red-colored "star" just to the moon's left, and the next moment - gone - the light of Mars will be blocked by the moon.
This ultra-rare occultation will be visible from most of the United States, but your time will vary slightly by your location. (From Cincinnati, for instance, Mars will be blocked by the moon from about 9:06 p.m.-10:17 p.m.)
March 13-14: Total lunar eclipse
It's not nearly as exciting as a total solar eclipse, but the United States will be graced with a total lunar eclipse on the night of March 13-14. This is when the Earth comes directly between the sun and full moon and casts an eerie shadow onto the lunar surface.
The partial lunar eclipse begins at 1:09 Eastern Daylight Time when you can observe the curved shadow of the Earth steadily blocking out the moonlight. The moon will be in totality and turn the color of blood (well, orange-ish at least) from 2:26 a.m. until 3:31 a.m. And the eclipse ends as the moon returns to normal brightness at 4:47 a.m. This will be the only total lunar eclipse visible from the United States in 2025. (The next one will be on March 3, 2026).
April/October: Lyrid and Orionids meteor showers
Amazing meteor shower displays are notoriously difficult to predict, but there are two dates to circle on your astronomical calendar. April 22-23 sees the return of the annual Lyrid Meteor Shower. On those nights, you may observe extra shooting stars radiating from the constellation Lyra the Harp.
Then on Oct. 21-22, the Orionid Meteor Shower peaks. On those nights, the moon will be nearly invisible, so the extra darkness may help you observe 10-20 shooting stars per hour.
Nov. 5: Supermoon
The largest and closest full moon of 2025 will occur on Nov. 5. Nicknamed the supermoon, it actually does appear noticeably bigger and brighter in the night sky. But you can catch any full moon in 2025 rising in the eastern sky just as the sun sets in the west. Make it your mission to stargaze, moongaze and planetgaze this coming year. And who knows, maybe we will witness another northern lights display.
Dean Regas is an astronomer, host of the Looking Up podcast, and author of six books including "100 Things to See in the Night Sky" and "How to Teach Grown-Ups About Pluto." He can be reached at: www.astrodean.com.
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