Night Sky Highlights for April-June 2025
By Jim Mazur
Solar System
Mercury
The best chance to observe Mercury will be during the last 10 days of June and into the beginning of July when it will be low in the western sky right after sunset.
Venus
Venus will be visible in the east before dawn throughout the spring, getting higher in the sky as the spring progresses. It is moving away from Earth now, and its disk will gradually shrink in apparent size during this time period.
Mars
Mars will be visible in the evening throughout the spring as it moves through Gemini, Cancer, and Leo. It will be far from Earth, and its small disk will probably not show much of interest through a telescope.
Jupiter
Always a good telescopic view, Jupiter will be an easy target during the early evenings of April and the first part of May. It will be more difficult to spot after that, and in June it will be too close to the Sun to observe.
Saturn
Saturn will be in the morning sky this spring. Its rings will be nearly edge-on, and that may produce some interesting views through a telescope.
Uranus
Uranus will be close to the Sun during these three months and very difficult or impossible to observe. By the end of June it will begin to rise higher in the east during the morning twilight.
Neptune
Throughout 2025, Neptune will close to Saturn, making it possible to locate this gas giant by using Saturn as a starting point. These planets will reach a conjunction on June 29, when Neptune will be about 1 degree north of Saturn.
Deep Sky Objects
Here is a selection of some good targets for spring evenings, along with links to star-hop charts to find them.
Messier 49, Virgo
Bright elliptical galaxy in the Virgo cluster, about 52 million light years away. Star-hop chart
Messier 51, Whirlpool Galaxy, Canes Venatici
Beautiful face-on galaxy with an interacting companion, about 28 million light years away. Star-hop chart
Messier 53, Coma Berenices
Globular cluster, magnitude 7.6, about 58,000 light years away. Star-hop chart
Messier 63, Sunflower Galaxy, Canes Venatici
Oblong spiral galaxy with a bright center, about 27 million light years away. Star-hop chart
Messier 64, Black Eye Galaxy, Coma Berenices
Galaxy named for the large curving dust lane that surrounds its bright nucleus. Star-hop chart
Messier 95 and 96, Leo
Two 9th magnitude spiral galaxies, about 2/3 degree apart. Star-hop chart
Messier 104, Sombrero Galaxy, Virgo
Edge-on galaxy with pointy arms and a dust lane. Star-hop chart
NGC 3242, Ghost of Jupiter, Hydra
Blue-green planetary nebula about the apparent size of Jupiter. Star-hop chart
Cor Caroli, Canes Venatici
Nice double star, magnitudes 2.9 and 5.5, separated by 19″. Star-hop chart