Mars remains as Summer twilight takes over. Moon and Mars approach the Beehive.
by Mark Phillips using data from Dominic Ford’s in-the-sky.org
The chart shows the sky at 22:00 BST 15 May 2025.
You can see Mark’s talk on the Sky in May on our last meeting video.
Highlights:
- Summer twilight takes over with no astro-dark after 5 May until 9 Aug
- Mars is the only obvious planet remaining from the planetary parade but small telescopically at 7′ and fading at mag. 1.1.
- Jupiter is still visible but disappearing into the evening twilight.
- 3 May the Moon and Mars make a close approach to M44 (Praesepe / the Beehive)
- 5 May closest approach of M44 and Mars, about a Full Moon diameter apart
- Eta Aquariid meteor shower maximum on 6 May but radiant is low down for Edinburgh. Parent body is the famous comet 1/P Halley.
- Full Moon on 12 May and New Moon on 27 May
- Noctilucent clouds are possible from mid-May so keep an eye open for the very earliest signs (more usual from June).
M44, Moon and Mars
M44 by Nigel Gooodman
On 3 May, the Moon, Mars and the open cluster M44 will be within 2° of each other. The group should be observable at about 26° altitude around midnight BST.
Mars makes its closest approach to M44 on 5 May when it will be 37′ apart – about the same distance as the diameter of the Full Moon. The Moon will be absent this time though.
The open cluster M44 is known as the Beehive or Praesepe (Latin for “manger” or “crib”). It is one of the nearest clusters to Earth (600 light years) and contains around 1,000 stars. It can be seen with the naked eye under dark skies and it was first observed telescopically by Galileo in 1609. The cluster is about 1.5° across, the size of 3 full Moons.
Click on an item to expand for more information:
Showing for 15 May 2025
Mercury will soon pass behind the Sun.
21 Apr 2025 – Mercury at greatest elongation west
22 Jun 2025 – Mercury at highest altitude in evening sky
04 Jul 2025 – Mercury at greatest elongation east
19 Aug 2025 – Mercury at greatest elongation west
Venus is emerging into the morning sky as it approaches greatest elongation west.
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 is currently an early evening object, now receding into evening twilight. From Edinburgh, it will become visible at around 22:34 (BST), 32° above your western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then sink towards the horizon, setting at 02:44.
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 will soon pass behind the Sun at solar conjunction. From Edinburgh, it will become visible at around 21:48 (BST), 13° above your western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then sink towards the horizon, setting 2 hours and 36 minutes after the Sun at 23:54.
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 recently passed behind the Sun at solar conjunction.
06 May 2025 – Equinox on Saturn
13 Jul 2025 – Saturn enters retrograde motion
21 Sep 2025 – Saturn at opposition
28 Nov 2025 – Saturn ends retrograde motion
Uranus will soon pass behind the Sun at solar conjunction.
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 recently passed behind the Sun at solar conjunction.
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 |
| 21P/Giacobini-Zinner | 11.4 | Cetus | 6° | Fading | 4 Feb 2019 |
| 217P/LINEAR | 12.8 | Pisces | 28° | Brightening | 30 Nov 2017 |
| C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) | 12.9 | Phoenix | 56° | Fading | 3 Mar 2025 |
| C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) | 13.4 | Vulpecula | 78° | Fading | 3 Dec 2024 |
| C/2021 G2 (ATLAS) | 13.8 | Libra | 155° | Brightening | 4 Apr 2024 |
| 48P/Johnson | 13.9 | Cetus | 29° | Fading | 31 Oct 2018 |
| 65P/Gunn | 14.2 | Sagittarius | 107° | Brightening | 1 Aug 2017 |
| 12P/Pons-Brooks | 14.3 | Ara | 124° | Fading – in outburst | 3 Oct 2024 |
| C/2022 E2 (ATLAS) | 14.4 | Andromeda | 36° | Fading | 3 Mar 2025 |
| C/2023 C2 (ATLAS) | 14.8 | Pegasus | 44° | Fading | 5 Sep 2024 |
| 47P/Ashbrook-Jackson | 15.1 | Aquarius | 60° | Brightening | 29 Feb 2012 |
| C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS) | 15.2 | Taurus | 53° | Fading | 2 Dec 2023 |
| C/2022 N2 (PANSTARRS) | 15.3 | Pisces | 10° | Brightening | 3 Dec 2024 |
| 240P/NEAT | 15.3 | Cetus | 32° | Brightening | 1 Mar 2018 |
| 60P/Tsuchinshan | 15.4 | Taurus | 30° | Brightening | 3 Oct 2020 |
| C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) | 16.0 | Andromeda | 42° | Fading | 1 May 2024 |
| 69P/Taylor | 16.0 | Aquarius | 53° | Brightening | Unknown |
| 43P/Wolf-Harrington | 16.1 | Taurus | 33° | Brightening | 4 Dec 2018 |
| 32P/ComasSola | 16.1 | Virgo | 173° | Fading | 14 Sep 2017 |
| 168P/Hergenrother | 16.5 | Norma | 135° | Brightening | 15 Jan 2013 |
| 88P/Howell | 16.6 | Leo | 121° | Brightening | 1 Apr 2018 |
| C/2020 V2 (ZTF) | 16.7 | Tucana | 84° | Fading | 30 Aug 2023 |
| 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko | 16.9 | Ophiuchus | 139° | Brightening | 1 Apr 2018 |
| 78P/Gehrels | 16.9 | Capricornus | 83° | Brightening | 30 Sep 2020 |
| 110P/Hartley | 16.9 | Sagittarius | 99° | Brightening | 29 Feb 2012 |
The η-Aquariid meteor shower will be active from 19 April to 28 May, producing its peak rate of meteors around 6 May.
The parent body responsible for creating the η-Aquariid shower has been identified as comet 1P/Halley.
Seen from Edinburgh, the shower will not be visible before around 02:48 each night, when its radiant point rises above your eastern horizon. It will then remain active until dawn breaks around 04:29.
The radiant point culminates (is highest in the sky) after dawn – at around 09:00 BST – and so the shower is likely produce its best displays shortly before dawn, when its radiant point is highest.
The shower is expected to reach peak activity at around 04:00 BST on 6 May 2025.
From Edinburgh, the radiant of the shower will appear at a peak altitude of 13° above your horizon, and on the basis of this, we estimate that you are only likely to see only around 9 meteors per hour, even at the shower’s peak, since the radiant will be relatively low in the sky.
The Moon, in Leo, will be around first quarter phase at the shower’s peak, but will set at 03:52 and pose no interference later in the night.
| Date | Age of Moon | Sun | Moon | ||||||||
| Rise | Culm | Set | Constellation | Rise | Culm | Set | Constellation | ||||
| 2025 | May | 01 | 04 days | 05:26 | 13:08 | 20:51 | Aries | 07:07 | 16:54 | 01:36 | Taurus |
| 2025 | May | 08 | 11 days | 05:11 | 13:07 | 21:05 | Aries | 16:37 | 22:27 | 03:57 | Virgo |
| 2025 | May | 15 | 18 days | 04:57 | 13:07 | 21:18 | Taurus | 00:33 | 02:57 | 05:17 | Ophiuchus |
| 2025 | May | 22 | 25 days | 04:45 | 13:07 | 21:31 | Taurus | 03:10 | 08:51 | 14:53 | Aquarius |
| 2025 | Jun | 01 | 05 days | 04:32 | 13:09 | 21:46 | Taurus | 10:23 | 18:21 | 01:45 | Cancer |
Virgo is the second largest of all the constellations, lying on the celestial equator. It appears highest in the evening sky in the months around April.
It is one of the twelve zodiacal constellations, and the Sun passes through it each year between mid-September and the end of October. This includes the moment when the Sun passes southward across the equator at the September equinox.
In Greek mythology, Virgo is often identified as Dike, goddess of justice, who was the daughter of Zeus and Themis. She is often depicted holding the scales of justice, represented by the neighboring constellation Libra.
Together with neighboring Coma Berenices, Virgo is home to the brightest cluster of galaxies in the sky, the Virgo Cluster, which comprises well over 1,000 galaxies. Among these are eleven galaxies with Messier designations. The Virgo Cluster forms the core of an even larger structure, the Virgo Supercluster, of which the Local Group of galaxies, including the Milky Way, is an outlying member.
Brightest opbjects in Virgo
| Stars | Open Clusters | Globular Clusters | Galaxies |
| Spica (mag 1.1) | NGC 5634 (mag 9.5) | Messier 49 (mag 8.4) | |
| Porrima (mag 2.7) | Messier 104 (mag 8.6) | ||
| Vindemiatrix (mag 2.8) | Messier 87 (mag 8.6) | ||
| ζ-Vir (mag 3.4) | Messier 60 (mag 8.8) | ||
| δ-Vir (mag 3.4) | Messier 86 (mag 8.9) | ||
| Zavijava (mag 3.6) | NGC 4697 (mag 9.3) | ||
| γ-Vir (mag 3.7) | NGC 4365 (mag 9.4) | ||
| 109-Vir (mag 3.7) | Messier 90 (mag 9.5) | ||
| μ-Vir (mag 3.9) | NGC 4699 (mag 9.5) | ||
| Zaniah (mag 3.9) | Messier 59 (mag 9.6) | ||
| ν-Vir (mag 4.0) | NGC 4526 (mag 9.6) | ||
| Syrma (mag 4.1) | NGC 4753 (mag 9.7) | ||
| O-Vir (mag 4.1) | Messier 84 (mag 9.8) | ||
| κ-Vir (mag 4.2) | NGC 4535 (mag 9.9) | ||
| τ-Vir (mag 4.2) | NGC 4216 (mag 9.9) | ||
| θ-Vir (mag 4.4) | NGC 4636 (mag 10.0) | ||
| 110-Vir (mag 4.4) | NGC 5068 (mag 10.1) | ||
| λ-Vir (mag 4.5) | Messier 89 (mag 10.1) | ||
| π-Vir (mag 4.6) | NGC 4429 (mag 10.1) | ||
| χ-Vir (mag 4.7) | NGC 4762 (mag 10.2) | ||
| l-Vir (mag 4.7) | NGC 5363 (mag 10.2) | ||
| 61-Vir (mag 4.7) | Messier 58 (mag 10.3) | ||
| 69-Vir (mag 4.8) | NGC 5247 (mag 10.4) | ||
| σ-Vir (mag 4.8) | NGC 4596 (mag 10.5) | ||
| ψ-Vir (mag 4.8) | NGC 4536 (mag 10.5) | ||
| ξ-Vir (mag 4.8) | NGC 4754 (mag 10.5) | ||
| φ-Vir (mag 4.8) | NGC 4654 (mag 10.5) | ||
| ρ-Vir (mag 4.9) | NGC 5084 (mag 10.5) | ||
| CW Vir (mag 4.9) | NGC 4527 (mag 10.5) | ||
| ET Vir (mag 5.0) | NGC 4664 (mag 10.5) |
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Much of the material is provided with thanks to Dominic Ford on his excellent site in-the-sky.org.