Look up, there’s lots to see in 2025!
January
3rd: The slim crescent Moon appears beside Venus.
3rd: Quadrantid Meteor Shower peak. A high-rate meteor shower known for their colour and leaving fine trails. Best visible after the Moon sets at 8.30pm.
4th: The Moon passes in front of planet Saturn, after 5pm. Local times will vary.
10th: Venus at greatest elongation. The bright star beside the Moon is planet Jupiter.
12th: Venus appears at half phase.
13th: Full Moon: the Wolf Moon. Moonrise from 3pm.
13/14th: Conjunction of the Moon and planet Mars.
16th: Mars is now at “opposition” which means it is at its brightest and largest in the sky.
29th: New Moon. Astronomical darkness from 7pm.
February
1st: Imbolc. The ancient seasonal festival celebrating the beginning of Spring and the goddess Brigid, also marked as St.Brigid’s Day.
9th: The Moon and planet Mars appear extremely close together in the sky.
12th: Full Moon: the Snow Moon. Moonrise from 5pm.
19th: Venus at greatest brightness in the evening sky.
28th: New Moon. Astronomical darkness from 8pm.
March
1st – 8th: Irish Astronomy Week.
8th: The Moon and planet Mars appear very close together in the sky.
12th: The bright star beside planet Venus after sunset is planet Mercury.
14th: Full Moon and Total Lunar Eclipse. The Worm Moon. Moonrise from 7pm. Only a partial eclipse will be visible for UK & Ireland, between 5am and 7am.
20th: Spring Equinox. Day and night are at equal length. This day marks the beginning of the astronomical spring season.
22nd: Earth Hour 2025.
29th: Partial Solar Eclipse. Visible between 9.54am – 12.14pm.
29th: New Moon. Astronomical darkness from 9pm.
30th: Clocks go forward 1 hour for the start of British Summer Time.
April
1st & 2nd: The Pleiades star cluster is partially occulted by the slim crescent Moon.
10th: 60th anniversary of George Barnett’s death. “Geordie” was a local historian, archaeologist, and discovered the Beaghmore Stone Circles.
13th: Full Moon: the Pink Moon. Moonrise from 9.30pm.
14th: Annie Maunder Day. Designated day celebrating the birth of noted astronomer Annie Maunder, born in 1868 in Strabane, County Tyrone.
22nd: Lyrid Meteor Shower peak. A moonless sky provides ideal conditions for observing this year’s shower, caused by debris from Comet Thatcher as it burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
22nd: Venus now appears at its greatest brightness in the dawn sky: the morning star.
27th: New Moon. Astronomical darkness from 11.30pm.
21st to 28th: International Dark Sky Week.
May
1st: Bealtaine. The ancient seasonal festival celebrating the beginning of Summer, also marked as May Day.
2nd: National Space Day 2025.
3rd: The bright star next to the Moon is planet Mars.
12th: Full Moon: the Flower Moon. Moonrise from 10pm.
22nd – 24th: The bright stars beside the slim crescent Moon in the dawn sky are planets Venus and Saturn, visible from 4am.
27th: New Moon. No astronomical darkness.
June
1st: Conjunction of the Moon and planet Mars, seen from 11pm.
11th: Full Moon: the Strawberry Moon. This is the lowest Full Moon in 18.6 years, as it reaches a major standstill. Moonrise from 11pm.
21st: Summer Solstice: The Sun reaches its most northerly point in the sky giving us the longest period of daylight and the shortest night. In the weeks around the Summer Solstice there is no official darkness as the Sun doesn’t get low enough below the horizon for most parts of the UK & Ireland. Known as “Midsummer’s Day” this seasonal half-way point in the year has been marked and celebrated since ancient times, and midsummer sunrise alignments can be found at sites like Newgrange, Stonehenge, the Hill of Tara, and Beaghmore Stone Circles.
22nd: Venus appears below the crescent Moon in the dawn sky from 3am onward.
25th: New Moon. No astronomical darkness.
July
4th: A rare chance to easily find the hard-to-spot seventh planet Uranus. At around 3am the Pleiades star cluster, planet Uranus and planet Venus appear in a line, before dawn.
10th: Full Moon: the Buck Moon. Moonrise from 10.30pm.
15th & 16th: The Moon and planet Saturn appear beside each other in the night sky.
24th: New Moon. No astronomical darkness.
August
1st: Lughnasadh. The ancient seasonal festival celebrating the beginning of harvest season. Named after the god Lugh who marked the day in memory of his mother, the goddess Tailtiu.
9th: Full Moon: the Sturgeon Moon. Moonrise from 9.30pm.
12th: Conjunction of planets Venus and Jupiter less than a degree apart in the dawn sky, visible from around 4am.
12th: Perseid Meteor Shower peak. The best meteor display of the year but unfortunately this year it will be hampered by the bright full moon. Sightings still possible but fewer will be visible.
20th: A beautiful display in the pre-dawn sky as the slim crescent moon appears between our two brightest planets: Venus and Jupiter.
23rd: New Moon. Astronomical darkness from 11pm.
September
7th: Full Moon: the Harvest Moon. Total Lunar Eclipse takes place just before the Moon rises for us in the UK & Ireland, but the partial eclipse phase will be visible for nearly an hour after moonrise. Local times will vary but generally between 7pm and 9pm. Moonrise from 8pm.
12th: The Moon passes in front of the Perseids star cluster between 9pm and midnight.
19th: The dawn sky features planet Venus next to the slim crescent Moon, and star Regulus, the bright star of the constellation Leo.
21st: New Moon. Astronomical darkness from 9.30pm.
21st: Saturn is at opposition and easily spotted from dusk, remaining in the sky until 2am.
22nd: Autumn Equinox. Day and night are at equal length. This day marks the beginning of the astronomical autumn season.
October
3rd: The Andromeda Galaxy is well placed in the night sky for viewing. This is the furthest object you can see with the naked eye.
4th – 10th: World Space Week 2025.
4th: International Observe the Moon Night 2025.
7th: Full Moon: the Hunter’s Moon. The first of this year’s 3 “supermoons”. Moonrise from 6.30pm.
13th & 14th: The bright star beside the Moon is planet Jupiter.
19th: Venus appears beside a crescent Moon in the pre-dawn sky around 6.30am.
21st: New Moon. Astronomical darkness from 8pm.
22nd: Orionid Meteor Shower peak. Occurs during New Moon, the best time to view meteors away from moonlight. These fast meteors are known for leaving visible trails caused by the Comet Halley.
26th: Clocks go back 1 hour for the end of British Summer Time.
31st: Samhain. The ancient seasonal festival celebrating the beginning of Winter, also marked as Halloween.
November
1st & 2nd: The bright star beside the Moon is planet Saturn.
5th: Full Moon: the Beaver Moon. Visually the biggest and brightest “supermoon” of the year. Moonrise from 4pm.
9 & 10th: The bright star beside the Moon is planet Jupiter.
17th: Leonid Meteor Shower peak. A moonless sky provides ideal conditions for observing this year’s shower. Known for fast bright meteors with excellent trails caused by debris from the Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Be sure to watch the whole sky and let your eyes adjust fully to the dark.
18th: Venus rises at 6am beside a slim crescent Moon low in the sky. It will soon exit the morning sky after 8 months as the morning star.
20th: New Moon. Astronomical darkness from 6.30pm.
29th: The bright star below the Moon is the planet Saturn.
December
4th: Full Moon – the Cold Moon. Moonrise from 3pm. The Moon will also pass in front of the Pleiades star cluster before dawn on the 5th.
7th: Planet Mercury will be visible in the dawn sky from 6am to 7.30am.
7th: Jupiter appears as a bright star beside the Moon.
13 /14th: Geminid Meteor Shower peak. One of the best meteor showers of the year as the Moon won’t rise until 1am. A high-rate shower known for bright meteors active from 4th to 20th December. The radiant lies east of the noticeable winter constellation Orion but make sure to observe as much of the sky as possible.
15th: The Orion Nebula is well placed for viewing, visible from after sunset below the 3 main stars of “Orion’s belt”.
17th: The planet Mercury appears together with a slim crescent Moon low in the dawn sky.
20th: New Moon. Astronomical darkness from 6pm.
21st: Winter Solstice. The shortest day of the year and the longest night has been marked throughout Ireland for over 5000 years. The word ‘solstice’ comes from Latin ‘sol’ (sun) and ‘sistere’ (to stand still) referring to this motion when the sun reverses direction in the sky. After the Winter Solstice days become longer and nights shorter as spring approaches – the return of light and warmth. Some archaeologists believe that the Beaghmore Stone Circles have been constructed in relation to the rising of the sun at the solstices.
22nd: Ursid Meteor Shower peak. Its radiant is near our north star: directly overhead.
Credit: timeanddate.com, in-the-sky.org, Stellarium, and Philip’s Stargazing 2025.