by Mark Phillips using data from Dominic Ford’s in-the-sky.org
You can see Mark Phillips’ presentation on The Sky in February at our last meeting.
The charts show the sky at 21:00 GMT 15 February 2025.
Highlights:
- Jupiter and Mars still well placed.
- Venus will reach its highest point in the sky in its 2024–2025 evening apparition on 10 Feb. It will be shining brightly at mag -4.4.
- The crescent Moon and Venus will be close together on the evening of 1 Feb, just 2° apart.
- There is a Lunar occultation of Mars on 9 Feb, but Edinburgh is just too far South and it will only be grazing and not occulted. From Orkney it will be at 18:50–19:09 UT.
- Full Moon 12 Feb, New Moon 28 Feb.
- The constellation of Gemini is prominent in the southern sky.
- It is National Astronomy Week from 1 – 9 February. We will be doing some livestreams as part of the event, weather permitting. Watch out for details on the NAW website.
Click on an item to expand for more information:
For 15 Feb 2025 from in-the-sky.org
Mercury recently passed behind the Sun at superior solar conjunction. From Edinburgh, it is not observable – it will reach its highest point in the sky during daytime and is 2° below the horizon at dusk.
Venus 2025-01-10, Mark Phillips
25 Dec 2024 – Mercury at greatest elongation west
08 Mar 2025 – Mercury at greatest elongation east
09 Mar 2025 – Mercury at highest altitude in evening sky
04 Apr 2025 – Mercury at highest altitude in morning sky
Venus is visible as an evening object, having recently passed greatest elongation east. From Edinburgh, it will become visible at around 17:39 (GMT), 29° above your south-western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then sink towards the horizon, setting at 21:28.
10 Feb 2025 – Venus at highest altitude in evening sky
31 May 2025 – Venus at greatest elongation west
19 Aug 2025 – Venus at highest altitude in morning sky
14 May 2026 – Venus at highest altitude in evening sky
Mars by David Brett, 2025-01-19
Mars recently passed opposition. From Edinburgh, it is visible in the evening sky, becoming accessible around 17:44 (GMT), 38° above your eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then reach its highest point in the sky at 21:44, 60° above your southern horizon. It will continue to be observable until around 05:26, when it sinks below 8° above your north-western horizon.
16 Jan 2025 – Mars at opposition
24 Feb 2025 – Mars ends retrograde motion
10 Jan 2027 – Mars enters retrograde motion
19 Feb 2027 – Mars at opposition
Mars by Ron Morley, 2025-01-01
Jupiter is currently an early evening object, now receding into evening twilight. From Edinburgh, it is visible in the evening sky, becoming accessible around 17:39 (GMT), 52° above your south-eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then reach its highest point in the sky at 19:07, 55° above your southern horizon. It will continue to be observable until around 02:21, when it sinks below 7° above your north-western horizon.
04 Feb 2025 – Jupiter ends retrograde motion
11 Nov 2025 – Jupiter enters retrograde motion
10 Jan 2026 – Jupiter at opposition
11 Mar 2026 – Jupiter ends retrograde motion
Saturn will soon pass behind the Sun at solar conjunction. From Edinburgh, it is not observable – it will reach its highest point in the sky during daytime and is no higher than 8° above the horizon at dusk.
15 Nov 2024 – Saturn ends retrograde motion
23 Mar 2025 – Saturn ring plane crossing
06 May 2025 – Equinox on Saturn
13 Jul 2025 – Saturn enters retrograde motion
Uranus is currently an early evening object, now receding into evening twilight. From Edinburgh, it will become visible at around 18:45 (GMT), 50° above your southern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then sink towards the horizon, setting at 01:53.
30 Jan 2025 – Uranus ends retrograde motion
06 Sep 2025 – Uranus enters retrograde motion
21 Nov 2025 – Uranus at opposition
04 Feb 2026 – Uranus ends retrograde motion
Neptune will soon pass behind the Sun at solar conjunction. From Edinburgh, it is not observable – it will reach its highest point in the sky during daytime and is no higher than 11° above the horizon at dusk.
07 Dec 2024 – Neptune ends retrograde motion
04 Jul 2025 – Neptune enters retrograde motion
23 Sep 2025 – Neptune at opposition
10 Dec 2025 – Neptune ends retrograde motion
Data from in-the-sky.org
| Comet name | Mag | Constellation | Separation from Sun | Trend | Absolute magnitude last updated |
| C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) | 3.7 | Piscis Austrinus | 20° | Fading | 4 Jan 2025 |
| C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) | 11.9 | Aquila | 28° | Fading | 3 Dec 2024 |
| 21P/Giacobini-Zinner | 12.9 | Aquila | 17° | Brightening | 4 Feb 2019 |
| C/2022 E2 (ATLAS) | 13.4 | Cassiopeia | 100° | Fading | 3 Oct 2024 |
| 12P/Pons-Brooks | 13.7 | Ara | 50° | Fading – in outburst | 3 Oct 2024 |
| 48P/Johnson | 14.0 | Capricornus | 5° | Brightening | 31 Oct 2018 |
| C/2021 G2 (ATLAS) | 14.1 | Libra | 71° | Brightening | 4 Apr 2024 |
| C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS) | 14.5 | Taurus | 140° | Fading | 2 Dec 2023 |
| 154P/Brewington | 14.5 | Lynx | 162° | Fading | 8 Feb 2017 |
| C/2023 C2 (ATLAS) | 14.6 | Aquarius | 15° | Fading | 5 Sep 2024 |
| 65P/Gunn | 15.1 | Ophiuchus | 45° | Brightening | 1 Aug 2017 |
| 217P/LINEAR | 15.2 | Sagittarius | 8° | Brightening | 30 Nov 2017 |
| C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) | 15.2 | Cygnus | 54° | Fading | 1 May 2024 |
| C/2022 N2 (PANSTARRS) | 15.4 | Pisces | 48° | Brightening | 3 Dec 2024 |
| 32P/ComasSola | 15.8 | Virgo | 87° | Fading | 14 Sep 2017 |
| 60P/Tsuchinshan | 15.9 | Pisces | 76° | Brightening | 3 Oct 2020 |
| C/2023 Q1 (PANSTARRS) | 15.9 | Camelopardalis | 125° | Fading | 4 Jan 2025 |
| 13P/Olbers | 15.9 | Sagittarius | 34° | Fading | 3 Oct 2024 |
| 47P/Ashbrook-Jackson | 16.0 | Sagittarius | 10° | Brightening | 29 Feb 2012 |
| 43P/Wolf-Harrington | 16.2 | Aries | 89° | Brightening | 4 Dec 2018 |
| C/2024 B1 (Lemmon) | 16.2 | Hercules | 54° | Fading | 2 Nov 2024 |
| C/2020 V2 (ZTF) | 16.3 | Pavo | 42° | Fading | 30 Aug 2023 |
| 240P/NEAT | 16.4 | Piscis Austrinus | 28° | Brightening | 1 Mar 2018 |
| C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) | 16.4 | Columba | 112° | Fading | 30 Aug 2023 |
| 69P/Taylor | 16.5 | Capricornus | 15° | Brightening | Unknown |
No major meteor showers this month.
You can see all meteors captured by ASE cameras on our Meteor Camera page.
| Date | Age of Moon | Sun | Moon | ||||||||
| Rise | Culm | Set | Constellation | Rise | Culm | Set | Constellation | ||||
| 2025 | Feb | 01 | 03 days | 08:05 | 12:24 | 16:45 | Capricornus | 09:24 | 15:01 | 20:58 | Aquarius |
| 2025 | Feb | 08 | 10 days | 07:51 | 12:25 | 17:00 | Capricornus | 11:34 | 21:20 | 06:05 | Taurus |
| 2025 | Feb | 15 | 17 days | 07:36 | 12:25 | 17:15 | Capricornus | 21:02 | 02:12 | 08:20 | Virgo |
| 2025 | Feb | 22 | 24 days | 07:19 | 12:24 | 17:31 | Aquarius | 05:03 | 07:23 | 09:40 | Ophiuchus |
| 2025 | Mar | 01 | 01 days | 07:02 | 12:23 | 17:46 | Aquarius | 07:39 | 13:40 | 20:04 | Pisces |
Gemini is a northern constellation, dominated by its two brightest stars, Castor and Pollux. It is visible throughout the northern winter months, culminating at midnight around New Year.
Both the galactic plane and the line of the ecliptic pass through this area of the sky: the Sun crosses the border from Taurus shortly after the June solstice, and remains in Gemini until late July.
Gemini is home to a number of open clusters, the brightest of which is M35.
| Stars | Open Clusters | Globular Clusters | Galaxies |
| Pollux (mag 1.2) | Messier 35 (mag 5.1) | NGC 2339 (mag 11.8) | |
| Castor (mag 1.6) | NGC 2129 (mag 6.7) | NGC 2365 (mag 12.2) | |
| Alhena (mag 1.9) | NGC 2395 (mag 8.0) | NGC 2418 (mag 12.2) | |
| TYC1877-1716-2 (mag 2.3) | NGC 2420 (mag 8.3) | NGC 2481 (mag 12.5) | |
| α-Gem (mag 2.9) | IC 2157 (mag 8.4) | NGC 2487 (mag 12.6) | |
| μ-Gem (mag 2.9) | NGC 2331 (mag 8.5) | NGC 2342 (mag 12.6) | |
| Mebsuta (mag 3.0) | NGC 2158 (mag 8.6) | NGC 2492 (mag 12.7) | |
| Propus (mag 3.3) | NGC 2266 (mag 9.5) | NGC 2389 (mag 12.9) | |
| ξ-Gem (mag 3.3) | NGC 2355 (mag 9.7) | NGC 2290 (mag 13.0) | |
| Wasat (mag 3.5) | NGC 2304 (mag 10.0) | NGC 2289 (mag 13.2) | |
| λ-Gem (mag 3.6) | NGC 2234 | IC 486 (mag 13.2) | |
| κ-Gem (mag 3.6) | NGC 2265 | NGC 2291 (mag 13.2) | |
| θ-Gem (mag 3.6) | IC 2156 | NGC 2341 (mag 13.2) | |
| ι-Gem (mag 3.8) | NGC 2435 (mag 13.4) | ||
| Mekbuda (mag 4.0) | NGC 2486 (mag 13.5) | ||
| υ-Gem (mag 4.1) | NGC 2274 (mag 13.5) | ||
| ν-Gem (mag 4.1) | IC 2199 (mag 13.6) | ||
| ρ-Gem (mag 4.2) | NGC 2275 (mag 13.6) | ||
| 1-Gem (mag 4.2) | NGC 2379 (mag 13.6) | ||
| σ-Gem (mag 4.3) | NGC 2294 (mag 13.8) | ||
| τ-Gem (mag 4.4) | IC 2196 (mag 13.9) | ||
| 30-Gem (mag 4.5) | NGC 2333 (mag 14.1) | ||
| e-Gem (mag 4.7) | NGC 2449 (mag 14.1) | ||
| g-Gem (mag 4.9) | NGC 2370 (mag 14.2) | ||
| O-Gem (mag 4.9) | NGC 2498 (mag 14.3) | ||
| χ-Gem (mag 4.9) | NGC 2288 (mag 14.4) | ||
| φ-Gem (mag 5.0) | NGC 2411 (mag 14.4) | ||
| b-Gem (mag 5.0) | NGC 2357 (mag 14.5) | ||
| A-Gem (mag 5.0) | NGC 2454 (mag 14.5) | ||
| f-Gem (mag 5.0) | IC 454 (mag 14.5) |
Use the chevrons to choose the month:
Much of the material is provided with thanks to Dominic Ford on his excellent site in-the-sky.org.