Early risers across the US were treated to a striking celestial alignment Friday morning. Just before sunrise, the waning crescent moon appeared in close company with Venus — the brilliant “Morning Star” — and Regulus, the bright heart of the constellation Leo.
Triple conjunction of the moon, Venus, and Regulus, 6:15 AM Friday, Baltimore, Maryland (Voxitatis)This “triple conjunction” created a tight grouping in the eastern sky, with Venus shining especially bright against the dawn. For observers in northeastern Canada, Greenland, and parts of Europe, the event was even more dramatic: the moon briefly passed in front of Venus in what astronomers call a lunar occultation.
Conjunctions like this happen fairly often because the planets and the moon all travel close to the same path in the sky, called the ecliptic. As they follow this line, they frequently appear near one another from our vantage point on Earth.
While such gatherings are a matter of perspective rather than true closeness in space, they remain a vivid reminder of the graceful rhythms of our solar system.
Although Venus approached with 1° of the moon for this conjunction, the next conjunctions for the bright planets will not be as close:
- Sept. 24, 2025 — Moon & Mars: ~3°56′ (morning; low, tricky from East Coast)
- Oct. 5, 2025 — Moon & Saturn: ~3°19′ (evening sky)
- Oct. 13, 2025 — Moon & Jupiter: ~4°16′ (late night into dawn)
- Oct. 19, 2025 — Moon & Venus: ~3°41′ (dawn)
