The conjunction of Mercury and the Moon is scheduled for June 27, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Matt Champlin via Getty Images)
In June 2025, the sky will be graced by two rare combinations of twilight as the Moon first approaches elusive Mercury and then comes at a strikingly close distance to Mars.
Mercury is often difficult to see, and the Moon and Mars will be particularly close, so both events promise to be outstanding sights for astronomy enthusiasts.
The Moon-Mercury conjunction event will occur when the “Lightning Planet,” which orbits the Sun every 88 days, appears in the glow of our star in the after-sunset sky between June 21 and June 30. Mercury will be visible just above the western horizon for 30 to 45 minutes after sunset, according to NASA.
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On Thursday (June 26), a very thin crescent moon will appear between Mercury and two bright stars in the constellation Gemini — Pollux and Castor — creating a short line of light across the night sky after sunset. On Friday (June 27), the crescent moon will be higher in the sky, slightly above Mercury.
How low Mercury is and how long it can be seen during this period depends on your location, so it's worth checking Timeanddate.com or Stellarium.
That also includes watching what could be the month’s astronomical highlight on Sunday (June 29), when amateur astronomers will be treated to a stunning view of a 24% illuminated crescent moon located just below Mars in the constellation Leo, with just 0.2 degrees (12 arc minutes) separating them. The two bodies will appear so close that a fingertip held at arm’s length will be able to cover them.
The spectacle will be high in the western sky and easy to spot without any equipment, but the two objects will be so close that they will fit into the same field of view of a telescope. Although it is rare for the Moon and Mercury to be seen together in the night sky, and it is also unusual for the Moon and Mars to be close, conjunctions between our natural satellite and the planets are not all that uncommon. The planets orbit the Sun in more or less the same plane, called the ecliptic. This is the same path the Sun takes across the daytime sky as seen from Earth. The Moon's orbit around Earth is slightly different, but its highly inclined path deviates from the ecliptic by only five degrees. Twice a month, the Moon crosses the ecliptic (hence the name, as this sometimes causes solar and lunar eclipses), and so it can come particularly close to the planet from our perspective.
The next significant planetary conjunction will be the meeting of Venus and Jupiter in the pre-dawn hours of August 12, when the two brightest planets will form a dazzlingly close pair.
Originally published on Live Science.
Sourse: www.livescience.com
