Mars, Jupiter, a total Lunar eclipse and a partial Solar eclipse feature this month.
by Mark Phillips using data from Dominic Ford’s in-the-sky.org
The charts show the sky at 21:00 GMT 15 March 2025.
Highlights:
- Jupiter and Mars still well placed.
- Saturn ring plane crossing occurs on 23 Mar, when the rings will be edge on and almost invisible. This happens every ~15 years. Unfortunately Saturn is too low to view after sunset.
- Conjunction of Venus and Mercury on 9 Mar.
- Conjunction of the 9-day old Moon and Mars, 1°40′ apart on 9 Mar
- Mercury at highest altitude and elongation 9 Mar
- 14 Mar Total Lunar Eclipse – difficult as it is very low for Edinburgh
- Spring/Vernal Equinox 20 Mar 09:01 GMT
- 29 Mar Partial Solar Eclipse 10:08 – 12:06 GMT
We hope to be live streaming from Calton Hill Observatory as well as having telescopes for solar observing. - British Summer Time (BST) begins March 30, 2025 01:00 GMT when clocks go forward 1 hour
Total Lunar Eclipse 14 March
The Moon will pass into Earth’s shadow on 14 Mar causing a total Lunar eclipse. Only part of the eclipse will be visible from Edinburgh and it will be low down in the sky. Some key events (GMT):
- 03:57 Penumbral eclipse begins, 20.9° altitude, 241° direction
- 05:09 Partial eclipse beings 11.5° alt, 257° direction
- 06:26 Total eclipse begins 1.2° alt, 272° direction
- 06:28 Sunrise
- 06:37 Moon sets from Edinburgh
- 07:31 Total eclipse ends (below the horizon)
See timeanddate.com for more details
Partial Solar Eclipse 10 June 2021, Mike McGovern
Partial Solar Eclipse 29 March
On 29 March the Moon will pass in front of the Sun causing a partial eclipse as seen from Edinburgh. We hope to live stream the eclipse using the Cooke 6″ telescope on Calton Hill and we will also have ASE members with solar telescopes outside the observatory for safe, live viewing of the Sun.
Some key events:
- 10:08:38 Partial eclipse beings, 31.6° altitude
- 11:07:05 Maximum eclipse, 35.8° alt
- 12:06:54 Partial eclipse ends, 37.6° alt
Conjunction of Venus and Mercury 9 March
On 9 Mar, Venus and Mercury will share the same right ascension, with Venus passing 6°20′ to the north of Mercury.
From Edinburgh , the pair will become visible at around 18:37 (GMT), 15° above your western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. They will then sink towards the horizon, setting 2 hours and 33 minutes after the Sun at 20:35.
Venus will be at mag -4.4, and Mercury at mag -0.2, both in the constellation Pisces.
To observe safely, make sure the Sun has set to avoid accidentally looking at it.
Click on an item to expand for more information:
For 1 March 2025 from in-the-sky.org
Mercury recently passed behind the Sun at superior solar conjunction. From Edinburgh, however, it will become visible at around 18:09 (GMT), 8° above your western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then sink towards the horizon, setting 1 hour and 28 minutes after the Sun at 19:14.
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 will soon pass in front of the Sun at inferior solar conjunction. From Edinburgh, however, it will become visible at around 18:09 (GMT), 24° above your western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then sink towards the horizon, setting 3 hours and 22 minutes after the Sun at 21:08.
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 recently passed opposition. From Edinburgh, it is visible in the evening sky, becoming accessible around 18:19 (GMT), 49° above your south-eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then reach its highest point in the sky at 20:48, 59° above your southern horizon. It will continue to be observable until around 04:20, when it sinks below 9° above your north-western horizon.
24 Feb 2025 – Mars ends retrograde motion
10 Jan 2027 – Mars enters retrograde motion
19 Feb 2027 – Mars at opposition
20 Feb 2027 – Mars at perigee
Jupiter is currently an early evening object, now receding into evening twilight. From Edinburgh, it is visible in the evening sky, becoming accessible around 18:09 (GMT), 55° above your southern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then reach its highest point in the sky at 18:15, 55° above your southern horizon. It will continue to be observable until around 01:31, 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 ring plane crossing
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 1° below 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
Data from in-the-sky.org
| Comet name | Mag | Constellation | Separation from Sun | Trend | Absolute magnitude last updated |
| C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) | 8.7 | Grus | 28° | Fading | 1 Feb 2025 |
| 21P/Giacobini-Zinner | 11.8 | Aquarius | 14° | Brightening | 4 Feb 2019 |
| C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) | 12.5 | Delphinus | 33° | Fading | 3 Dec 2024 |
| C/2022 E2 (ATLAS) | 13.7 | Cassiopeia | 80° | Fading | 1 Feb 2025 |
| 48P/Johnson | 13.9 | Capricornus | 4° | Brightening | 31 Oct 2018 |
| 12P/Pons-Brooks | 13.9 | Ara | 62° | Fading – in outburst | 3 Oct 2024 |
| C/2021 G2 (ATLAS) | 14.0 | Libra | 90° | Brightening | 4 Apr 2024 |
| 217P/LINEAR | 14.5 | Capricornus | 16° | Brightening | 30 Nov 2017 |
| C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS) | 14.7 | Taurus | 117° | Fading | 2 Dec 2023 |
| C/2023 C2 (ATLAS) | 14.7 | Aquarius | 14° | Fading | 5 Sep 2024 |
| 65P/Gunn | 14.9 | Ophiuchus | 55° | Brightening | 1 Aug 2017 |
| 154P/Brewington | 15.1 | Cancer | 156° | Fading | 8 Feb 2017 |
| C/2022 N2 (PANSTARRS) | 15.4 | Pisces | 33° | Brightening | 3 Dec 2024 |
| C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) | 15.5 | Pegasus | 45° | Fading | 1 May 2024 |
| 32P/ComasSola | 15.8 | Virgo | 106° | Fading | 14 Sep 2017 |
| 60P/Tsuchinshan | 15.8 | Pisces | 62° | Brightening | 3 Oct 2020 |
| 47P/Ashbrook-Jackson | 15.8 | Capricornus | 18° | Brightening | 29 Feb 2012 |
| C/2023 Q1 (PANSTARRS) | 16.1 | Camelopardalis | 120° | Fading | 4 Jan 2025 |
| 240P/NEAT | 16.2 | Piscis Austrinus | 21° | Brightening | 1 Mar 2018 |
| 43P/Wolf-Harrington | 16.2 | Aries | 73° | Brightening | 4 Dec 2018 |
| 69P/Taylor | 16.4 | Capricornus | 10° | Brightening | Unknown |
| C/2020 V2 (ZTF) | 16.5 | Indus | 45° | Fading | 30 Aug 2023 |
| C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) | 16.6 | Columba | 104° | Fading | 30 Aug 2023 |
| C/2024 B1 (Lemmon) | 16.6 | Hercules | 63° | Fading | 2 Nov 2024 |
| 13P/Olbers | 16.6 | Sagittarius | 46° | Fading | 3 Oct 2024 |
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 | Mar | 01 | 01 days | 07:02 | 12:23 | 17:46 | Aquarius | 07:39 | 13:40 | 20:04 | Pisces |
| 2025 | Mar | 08 | 08 days | 06:44 | 12:22 | 18:00 | Aquarius | 10:32 | 20:13 | 04:58 | Auriga |
| 2025 | Mar | 15 | 15 days | 06:26 | 12:20 | 18:15 | Pisces | 20:02 | 00:49 | 06:35 | Virgo |
| 2025 | Mar | 22 | 22 days | 06:07 | 12:18 | 18:29 | Pisces | 03:54 | 06:07 | 08:20 | Ophiuchus |
| 2025 | Apr | 01 | 03 days | 06:41 | 13:15 | 19:50 | Pisces | 07:24 | 16:02 | –:– | Aries |
Leo is a large equatorial constellation which represents a lion. It appears highest in the midnight sky in the months around February.
Its brightest star, Regulus lies very close to the ecliptic, the path that the Sun traces across the sky each year. The Sun passes through Leo each year between mid-August and mid-September.
North of Regulus, the lion’s mane is represented by a curved line of stars of second and third magnitude.
Lying away from the plane of the Milky Way, most of the deep sky objects in this area of the sky are galaxies of ninth magnitude or fainter. Among the brightest of these are the Leo Triplet, a close grouping of three gravitationally bound galaxies: M65, M66, and NGC 3628.
| Stars | Open Clusters | Globular Clusters | Galaxies |
| Regulus (mag 1.4) | Messier 66 (mag 8.9) | ||
| Denebola (mag 2.1) | NGC 2903 (mag 8.9) | ||
| Algieba (mag 2.2) | NGC 3521 (mag 9.1) | ||
| Zosma (mag 2.6) | Messier 96 (mag 9.2) | ||
| ε-Leo (mag 3.0) | Messier 105 (mag 9.3) | ||
| Chertan (mag 3.3) | Messier 65 (mag 9.3) | ||
| Adhafera (mag 3.4) | NGC 3628 (mag 9.4) | ||
| Subra (mag 3.5) | Messier 95 (mag 9.8) | ||
| η-Leo (mag 3.5) | NGC 3384 (mag 10.0) | ||
| γ²-Leo (mag 3.8) | NGC 3607 (mag 10.0) | ||
| ρ-Leo (mag 3.8) | NGC 3489 (mag 10.2) | ||
| Rasalas (mag 3.9) | NGC 3640 (mag 10.4) | ||
| ι-Leo (mag 4.0) | NGC 3412 (mag 10.5) | ||
| σ-Leo (mag 4.0) | NGC 3608 (mag 10.6) | ||
| λ-Leo (mag 4.3) | NGC 3810 (mag 10.8) | ||
| υ-Leo (mag 4.3) | NGC 3338 (mag 10.9) | ||
| A-Leo (mag 4.4) | NGC 3626 (mag 10.9) | ||
| b-Leo (mag 4.4) | NGC 3593 (mag 10.9) | ||
| φ-Leo (mag 4.5) | NGC 3705 (mag 11.0) | ||
| κ-Leo (mag 4.5) | NGC 3193 (mag 11.0) | ||
| 54-Leo (mag 4.5) | NGC 3189 (mag 11.1) | ||
| DQ Leo (mag 4.5) | NGC 3646 (mag 11.2) | ||
| 72-Leo (mag 4.6) | NGC 3239 (mag 11.4) | ||
| χ-Leo (mag 4.6) | NGC 3301 (mag 11.4) | ||
| π-Leo (mag 4.7) | NGC 3686 (mag 11.4) | ||
| p²-Leo (mag 4.7) | NGC 3900 (mag 11.4) | ||
| e-Leo (mag 4.8) | NGC 3596 (mag 11.5) | ||
| 40-Leo (mag 4.8) | NGC 2911 (mag 11.5) | ||
| d-Leo (mag 4.8) | NGC 3041 (mag 11.6) | ||
| τ-Leo (mag 4.9) | NGC 3655 (mag 11.7) |
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.