11 Dazzling Celestial Events to See in 2025, From a Total Lunar Eclipse to Rare Planetary Alignments
Carlyn KrankingAssistant Editor, Science and InnovationSkywatching brought people together in 2024, potentially more than ever before. Professional scientists, seasoned hobbyists and astronomical newbies turned their eyes skyward, united by the awe of staring at the cosmos.Millions of Americans watched the total solar eclipse that traced a path across the continent, darkening skies and revealing the suns ethereal corona. Dazzling auroras reached as far south as Florida, and a rare bright comet offered a stunning sight in western skies in the fall.Now, 2025 promises to be another captivating year in astronomy. Meteors will blaze through the night, a total lunar eclipse will bathe the moon in a blood-red glow, and Saturns rings will apparently disappear. On top of all that, keep an eye out for surprise aurora appearances as the sun experiences a high level of activity known as solar maximum.To make sure you dont miss a stunning celestial sight, mark your calendars for the following events, likely to be among the biggest astronomical spectacles of the year.January 15 to 16: Mars at opposition At opposition, Mars entire illuminated face will be aligned toward Earth, making the planet appear brighter and larger than usual. NASA / JPL / MSSSEarly in 2025, the red planet will reach a point known as opposition, a point of peak viewing when Mars, Earth and the sun form a line, with our planet in the middle. Like the moon when its full, Mars will be aligned with its entire illuminated face turned toward Earth. This setup makes opposition the best time to see and photograph a planet, according to Royal Museums Greenwich.All planets beyond Earths orbit can reach this alignment from our perspective. Jupiter, for example, hits opposition every 13 monthsand its just past that point now, still appearing at near-peak viewing.But Mars has the most anticipated planetary opposition of all, according to Star Walk. Its oppositions are the least frequent of the planets, occurring about every 26 months. And because Mars is closer to Earth than the gas giants, it appears to have the most dramatic increase in size when it reaches this position.On the evening of January 15, Mars will rise in the east as the sun sets in the west, and it will be visible nearly all night long. The red planet will appear brightly, even to the naked eye, but a pair of good binoculars or a small telescope will really bring out its features.February 28: All planets align in the sky All planets aligned in the sky in December 2022; not all are visible in this image. Brad McGinley Photography via Getty ImagesFor an even more dramatic planetary event, head outside on February 28. All seven of the solar systems other planets will appear together in Earths skies in a rare alignment.Technically, this is whats known as a planetary paradewhen we look at the sky, the planets will all be above the horizon, but in the actual, three-dimensional solar system, they arent really lined up. Besides, since all eight planets dont orbit on exactly the same planesome orbits are a little bit tilted in relation to each otherthe solar system cant truly align in full. But when the planets do sync up in their orbits, its known as a syzygyand that kind of event is extremely rare.Still, Februarys alignment is worth paying attention to. It will offer prime planetary viewing, as you can check off sightings of several of our celestial neighbors in a single night. Uranus and Neptune are too faint to see without a telescope, but Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury and Saturn will all be visible to the naked eye. But if youre trying to spot them all, youll have to time your skywatching well: Saturn and Mercury (as well as Neptune) will be near the sun at sunset, making them more difficult to see.The last time all the planets lined up this way was on April 8, 2024making the sight visible during the total solar eclipse over North America. A slightly smaller alignment of six planets will begin on January 21, featuring Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Venus. This spectacle will have a window of ideal visibility through February 21.March 14: Total lunar eclipse During a total lunar eclipse, also known as a blood moon, the full moon takes on a red hue. Stan Honda / AFP via Getty ImagesSometimes, full moons get called colorful names that are a bit of a fake-out: A blue moon isnt really blue, and a pink moon isnt really pink. But during the total lunar eclipse on March 14, you can truly see the moon take on a deep red hue.In a total lunar eclipse, the full moon passes through the shadow of the Earth. Sunlight that reaches the moon is filtered through our planets atmosphere, which scatters away shorter-wavelength blue light and allows red light to pass. This bathes our natural satellite in a rusty glow, giving this celestial event its more accurate nickname: a blood moon.Marchs eclipse will be visible from all U.S. states and parts of every continent, though only the Americas and Antarctica will see the full duration of the total eclipse phase. Totality will last for 65 minutesa stark contrast from the short-lived totality of a solar eclipse.Marchs moon has one more thing making it specialits also a micromoon. This phenomenon is the antithesis of a supermoon, in which the full moon appears bigger and brighter than usual. Micromoonswhich are, in turn, smaller and dimmer than the averagehappen when the full moon falls near our natural satellites apogee, or its farthest point in its orbit around Earth.The farthest full moon of the year will be Aprils, at a distance of more than 252,000 miles from our planet.March 29: Partial solar eclipse A partial solar eclipse seen from North Cascades National Park in Washington on August 21, 2017 NASA / Bill IngallsEvery solar eclipse is accompanied by a lunar eclipse either two weeks before or afterthe events are always paired. Following Marchs total lunar eclipse, the sun will cast the moons shadow across a portion of the globe in a partial solar eclipse, with the best view seen from parts of Canada, where up to roughly 93 percent of the sun will be covered.Unlike the solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, this one wont see any period of totality. But through a pair of eclipse glasses, viewers can watch the moon take a bite out of the sun, obscuring just part of its face. While the moon passes between the sun and Earth in both cases, the three celestial bodies are not perfectly aligned during a partial eclipse, leaving some of the sun visible.This eclipse will trace a path over several continents, including portions of North America, Europe and Asia. In the United States, only eastern states will be able to glimpse the event: parts of Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia will be able to see some of the sun get blocked out by the moon, per Forbes Arianna Johnson.Another partial solar eclipse will happen on September 21, but that one will only be visible from Australia, Antarctica, New Zealand and areas of the southern Pacific and Atlantic oceans. (Its total lunar eclipse companion will appear over Asia, Australia and parts of Europe and Africa two weeks prior.)For U.S.-based space enthusiasts, traveling to see Marchs eclipse over Canada might be more feasible. Bring a pair of eclipse glasseswith no totality happening during this event, youll always need protection when looking at the sun. Even if you dont travel, you can appreciate the sight: Kick back, turn on a live stream and enjoy the spectacle from the comfort of your home.April 21 to 22: Lyrid meteor shower Lyrid meteors streak across a starry sky above Germany in 2018. Daniel Reinhardt / picture alliance via Getty ImagesComing after a few months of relative quiet, as far as shooting stars are concerned, the Lyrids each year kick off a series of meteor showers that stretches throughout the late spring, summer, fall and early winter. The Lyrid meteor shower will be active from around April 15 to April 30, with the peak rate of meteors occurring from April 21 to 22.This narrow window will see roughly 10 to 15 meteors per hour under prime conditions of cloudless skies and darkness, but the moon will be just under half full, providing a little bit of a barrier to viewing. You can avoid the moons glare by looking for the shower before it rises, in the late evening of April 21, writes EarthSky.Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through a trail of rocks and dust in space left behind by some celestial object, often a comet. These cometary remains burn up in our planets atmosphere, appearing as shooting stars to those on the ground. For the Lyrid shower, the comet in question is Comet Thatcher, a long-period orbiter that takes 415.5 years to complete its journey around the sun.Lyrid meteors appear across the whole sky, but they look like theyre coming from the harp constellation, Lyra. If youre trying to find the constellation, look for its brightest star, Vega. But keep a wide view of the skyand most importantly, find a dark area away from artificial lights. Give your eyes 20 to 30 minutes to adjust to the dark, and put your phone awayits glow can interfere with your night vision.August 12 to 13: Perseid meteor shower The Perseid meteor shower is one of the best-known and most highly anticipated celestial events of the year. NASA / Preston DychesEach August, skywatchers look forward to the annual Perseid meteor shower. The spectacle, one of the most prolific showers of the year, falls during the summermeaning you could likely gaze at the sky in the comfort of a warm night.In prime conditions of dark skies and no moon, viewers could spot upwards of 100 meteors per hour on the nights of the showers peak. In 2025, that period falls on the night of August 12 to the morning of August 13but unfortunately, the peak will occur just days after a full moon this time around, meaning that fainter meteors are likely to get washed out.The plentiful Perseids come from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, a relatively large object that takes 133 years to orbit the sun. To viewers on the ground, the meteors seem to originate around the constellation Perseus, a point known as the showers radiant. But these bright, fast meteors can be seen throughout the sky. The peak tends to build throughout the night, with the shower best observed just before dawn.As one of the highest-yield annual meteor showers, the Perseids remain a crowd favorite, even if 2025s showing will be a little lackluster, obscured by the shining moon.September 21: Saturn at opposition Saturn will reach its optimal point for viewing in September, appearing its brightest and biggest. To see its rings, youll need to use a telescope or powerful binoculars. NASA / JPLWhile January is Mars time to shine, September is for Saturn. The iconic, ringed planet will reach opposition during this month, making it appear its brightest and largest of the year. The sun, the Earth and Saturn will form a line, with the gas giants fully illuminated side facing toward us. Though youll need a telescope or powerful binoculars to see Saturns rings, the planet is visible to the naked eye.Beyond opposition, 2025 is a special year for Saturnthe gas giant will temporarily appear to lose its rings from Earths perspective. That phenomenon also has to do with alignmentevery 13 to 16 years, our planet and Saturn become situated in a way that lets us view its rings edge-on. Since the rings are so thin, they dont reflect much light when we see them from this angle. As such, theyll seemingly disappear for 44 days beginning in March. Theyll also undergo a second brief window of invisibility in November, appearing their narrowest on November 23.October 8: Draconid meteor shower The Draconid meteor shower is often a weak one, but some years have been known to produce outbursts or even plentiful storms of shooting stars. Mike Lewinski via Flickr under CC BY 2.0Most of the time, the Draconid meteor shower is one of the lesser celestial events, generating no more than ten meteors per hour during its peak. But in rare cases, the shower produces something much more fantastic: a meteor outburst with higher rates of shooting stars streaking across the sky. With luck, astronomers say this just might be one of those years.The Draconids are produced when the Earth moves through a trail of debris left behind by the comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. When these bits of rock and dustsome as small as a grain of sandcollide with Earths atmosphere, theyre traveling at roughly 13 miles per second, and they burn up in fiery streaks.The most recent Draconid outburst happened in 2018, when 21P/Giacobini-Zinner had just passed its perihelion, or the closest point to the sun on its 6.6-year orbit. That year, European viewers reported upwards of 100 meteors per hour.Now, the comet is returning from its journey around our solar system, and it will reach perihelion in March. So, come October, there will be a real possibility of heightened Draconid activity.Thats not allthe Draconids have one other trait that could make them extra special. Throughout history, the shower has generated rare but astounding meteor storms, sending dozens to hundreds of meteors every minute falling like snow through the sky. In 1933, a Draconid meteor storm shocked European viewers, and in 1946, that spectacle came to the United States.As for whether well see a full-fledged meteor storm this year, EarthSky writes probably not but you never know.When watching the fickle Draconids, its important to manage your expectationsespecially this year, as the shower happens just one day after a bright full moon. Still, astronomers will be keeping their eyes on the sky in case of an outburst. Nick Moskovitz, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory, told Smithsonian magazines Olatunji Osho-Williams in October that he, for one, definitely will be paying close attention.October 22: Orionid meteor shower The Orionid meteor shower peak will coincide with a new moon this year, offering prime viewing conditions. Jeff Sullivan via Flickr under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Meteors will blaze through the night sky again in October as shooting stars appear to emanate from the constellation Orion. Named for the celestial hunter, the Orionid meteor shower has a long duration, from September 26 to November 22.The peakduring which 10 to 20 meteors per hour can be seen under dark skies with no moonwill fall around October 22. But according to Royal Museums Greenwich: There is a broad maximum lasting about a week roughly centered on that date. So, you might want to take multiple nights to look, and be patient if you dont see meteors the first time.This year, the showers peak will coincide with a new moon, offering the darkest possible skies and, as a result, the best possible viewing conditions. Find a spot away from the glow of cities and any artificial lights, then look up.An annual meteor shower, the Orionids are produced by the debris trail left by Halleys Comet, which loops around the sun once every 76 years and was the first comet to ever have its return predicted. It remains one of the best-known and most eagerly anticipated orbiters. Halleys Comet will make its next return to our solar system in 2061.November 5: Closest supermoon of the year Supermoons are closer to Earth than the average full moon, making them look slightly bigger and brighter than usual. George Frey / Getty ImagesSupermoons arent rare, and when theres one, there are othersthey always appear consecutively. This year, supermoons occur in October, November and December, followed by a fourth one to close out the sequence in January 2026. But Novembers moon will be the closest to Earth of them all, at 221,965 miles away.The moons orbit around our planet is oval-shaped, meaning its sometimes closer to us and sometimes farther away. Each time the full moon occurs when our natural satellite is within 90 percent of its perigee, or the nearest point to Earth, we call it a supermoon. Compared to the average full moon, a supermoon is up to 8 percent larger and 16 percent brighter because of its proximity.December 13: Geminid meteor shower Geminid meteors fly over Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. KPNO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / R. Sparks (NSF NOIRLab)Known for its prolific shooting stars, the Geminid meteor shower is one of the most anticipated celestial events each year. With a waning crescent moon in 2025, the meteors are likely to be a little washed out by the glow. But the shower is sure to outdo 2024s Geminid peak, which fell almost squarely on the day of the full moon.The shower, which lasts from December 1 to December 21, will peak on the night of December 13 to 14. During that narrow window, up to about 120 meteors per hour will streak through the sky, best visible under prime conditions of darkness. Though meteors will appear in all directions, they seem to emanate from the constellation Gemini, which gives the shower its name.While many other annual meteor showers are caused by the debris trail of a comet, the origin of the Geminid shower is a little more mysterious. Astronomers know the Geminid debris comes from a celestial body called 3200 Phaethon, but the nature of that rock is uncertain. Classified as an asteroid, 3200 Phaethon acts like a comet, per NASA. Some scientists have even speculated that its a dead comet or a new classification altogether, called a rock comet. Regardless, its annual show is known to be astounding.If youre planning to catch the shower, dress warmlyin early December, you may have to brave the cold. But in astronomy, cold weather can be a benefit, creating extra-clear skies without much moisture in the air. Those intrepid skywatchers who venture outside for the Geminids in winter are rewarded with an outpouring of bright meteorsand one of the years best astronomical sights.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Astronomy, Mars, Meteors, Moon, Outer Space, Planets, Saturn, Sky Watching Guide, solar eclipse, Solar System, Sun