Tonight's sky on May 8, 2025, offers several visible planets and celestial objects depending on your location, such as Washington DC:
- Mars is visible after sunset and can be best seen in the early evening hours as it sets around 1:58 am
- Jupiter is also visible after sunset, best observed before it sets around 10:52 pm
- Venus and Saturn are visible before sunrise, with Venus rising at about 4:08 am and Saturn at 4:01 am, making them morning sky objects
- Mercury rises shortly before sunrise but is very close to the horizon, making it difficult to observe
- Neptune can be seen before sunrise but requires binoculars due to its faintness
- Uranus is very close to the Sun and thus difficult or impossible to see tonight
Additionally, the Moon is in its 1st quarter phase (84% illuminated), offering a detailed view of its craters and maria
. For comet and minor planet observers, several comets and asteroids are also present in the sky tonight, such as C/2020 S4 (PANSTARRS) in Serpens and 104P/Kowal in Sagittarius, but these generally require telescopes to observe
. In summary, the main visible planets tonight after sunset are Mars and Jupiter, with Venus and Saturn appearing in the early morning before sunrise. The Moon is also prominently visible in its first quarter phase
