With 2024 drawing to a close, it’s time to start marking your calendar best astronomical events that await us in 2025. The main protagonists will be the eclipsewith particular reference to that partial solar of March 29, 2025 which will also be visible from Europe and which acts as a starter to the total ones of 2026 and 2027 which return to the old continent after more than 25 years. There will also be no shortage of recurring events such as meteor showersstarting on January 2-3 with the Quadrantids, planetary conjunctionsthe Full Moon closest to Earth from 2019 and the passage to perihelion of comet C/2024 G3, which promises to be the brightest of 2025. Also pay attention to the aurorasgiven that the Sun in 2025 will still be in the peak activity of the current solar cycle.
The best astronomical events of 2025
One of the first events that will accompany us in 2025 is the transition to perihelion (closest point to the Sun) of comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS). This long-period comet (approx 160,000 years) will pass to you alone 13.5 million km from the solar surface the January 13thprobably becoming as bright as Venus, thus configuring itself like the brightest comet of 2025. Unfortunately, the comet’s orbital configuration makes it very difficult to observe from our latitudes, favoring observers in the southern hemisphere. The only days on which it will be possible to attempt the difficult observation with professional instruments from Italy will be: first days of Januarywhen the comet will rise about 40 minutes before the Sun in a south/southeast direction.
The partial solar eclipse of March 29
2025 will be the appetizer for the great return of the total solar eclipse in Europe in 2026 and 2027, after the last one which took place more than 25 years ago in 1999. March 29 in fact there will be one partial solar eclipse which will also affect Italy, albeit briefly. At the coordinates of Rome, the partial solar eclipse will last approximately 56 minutesfrom 11.35 to 12.31, reaching maximum at 12.03 when only a modest 3% of the solar disk will be obscured by the Moon. This value rises to approximately 10% to the coordinates of Milanwhile it drops almost to 0% at the coordinates of Naples. The highest coverage will be in northern Canada and will be approximately 92%. 2025 will also see one second partial solar eclipseThe September 21stwhich however will only affect southern Australia, the South Pacific and Antarctica.
The total lunar eclipses of March 13 and September 7
The two solar eclipses of 2025 will be accompanied by as many total lunar eclipses. The first will take place on the morning of March 14, 2025when, at the coordinates of Rome, the penumbral eclipse will begin at 4.57 and then transform into a partial eclipse at 6.09 reaching the maximum at 6.25amjust before moonset. Unfortunately, the effective maximum of the partial eclipse will only occur after the Moon has set, so it will not be visible from Italy. Since the Moon will be entirely immersed in the Earth’s penumbra, it will acquire a characteristic reddish colour due to the passage of sunlight through the Earth’s atmosphere, this is why this Moon is often referred to journalistically as the “Blood Moon”.
There second lunar eclipse of September 7, 2025 it will be instead much more spectacular since it will be total also from Italy. The total eclipse will begin practically in conjunction with the rising of the Moon at 7.30 pm and then reach maximum around 8.11pm when the entire lunar disk will be immersed in the shadow generated by the Earth, ending at 8.52pm. Coinciding with the maximum of the total eclipse, the Moon will be close to the horizonso make sure you have a clear view towards the east/south-east. Also in this case the Moon will take on the characteristic red color.
The three supermoons of October, November and December
The last three months of the year will bring as many gifts “supermoons“, a journalistic term which indicates a full Moon which occurs when the latter is within 90% of the perigee (point of maximum proximity to the Earth), making it larger (up to 10%) and brighter (up to 30 %) of a normal full Moon. The first “supermoon”, also called a “harvest moon”, will occur on October 6, 2025followed by the “super beaver moon” of November 5, 2025and finally by the “cold supermoon” of December 4, 2025. The “supermoon” of November 5in particular, will be the Full Moon closest to Earth since 2019, making our satellite exceptionally bright and big in the sky.
The peak of the Quadrantids – January 2nd and 3rd – and the other swarms
The Quadrantids they will be the meteor shower, and the astronomical event, which will open 2025. Generated by the debris ofasteroid 196256the Quadrantids reach theirs peak around January 2-3when even more than 100 per hour can be observed coming from the constellation of Bootes. The name Quadrantids derives from the Mural Quadrant, an old constellation which today is part of that of Bootes.
The other three major meteor showers generating at least more than 50 meteors per hour at peak are the Eta Aquarids, the Perseids, and the Geminids. The Eta Aquarids they peak around May 6thwith a number of meteors per hour equal to approximately 50. They are produced by the debris of Halley’s comet and their name derives from the radiant from which the meteors appear to come which coincides with the star of the same name in the constellation of Aquarius. August is instead the turn of Perseidsthe shooting stars par excellence, whose peak occurs between 12 and 13 August. The Perseids are named after the radiant in the constellation Perseus and are generated from comet debris Swift Tuttlepeaking at around 100 meteors per hour. The Geminidsgenerated by debris from asteroid 3200 Phaethon, peak between 14 and 15 December and cause the most abundant number of sightings of all meteor showers, up to even 150 per hour.
Appointment with Mars on January 16th and with Saturn on November 8th
Two other events not to be missed in 2025 concern Mars and Saturn. The first in January will reach its best visibility, being at theopposition (side opposite the Sun on the celestial vault) with the Earth the January 16th at a distance of 96 million km.
Saturn it will instead be in opposition The September 21, 2025but the real date to mark is that ofNovember 8when the rings of Saturn will be visible from Earth completely cuttingcausing the planet to lose the characteristic that makes it so recognisable.
Planetary conjunctions
Other minor, but no less spectacular, celestial events that will occur in 2025 will concern the conjunctions between planets and Moon. We leave on January 4th with thelunar occultation of Saturnwhen the Lord of the Rings will pass into perspective behind the thin crescent of the crescent Moon at 6.55pm approximately, allowing us, even just with the aid of binoculars, to enjoy a fascinating spectacle in which Saturn will eclipse behind the Moon.
The next appointment is with a close encounter between Venus and Saturn. The two planets will in fact be in conjunction the evening of January 18th starting from the setting of the Sun, separated angularly by only two degrees.
The February 28 instead a will occur planetary alignmentwhich is nothing other than the concomitant presence in the sky of all 7 planets of the Solar System excluding Earth. In fact, immediately after sunset, we will have Mercury, Saturn and Neptune low on the western horizon, accompanied by Venus, still to the west, but higher in the sky, and then by Uranus, Jupiter and Mars which will instead be visible until midnight (Jupiter) and 3 a.m. (Mars).
Venus will be in an orbital configuration (inferior conjunction concomitant with high latitude north on the ecliptic) with the Earth and the Sun such that it will be visible at both dawn and dusk for a few days from 18 to 21 March. This is a rare event which will occur again only in 2033.
Other three conjunctions noteworthy are those of Venus and Jupiter of August 12thof Moon Venus and Regulus of September 19thand of Venus and Mercury of November 25th.
Watch out for the auroras, even at low latitudes
In 2025 the Sun could reserve new surprises for us. The solar cycle current is in fact at its peak and the great solar activity genus coronal mass ejections which if adequately powerful and directed towards the Earth can produce auroras visible even at lower latitudes than usual, as has already happened twice this year, on 11 May and 12 August 2024.
Equinoxes and solstices
We conclude as always by mentioning the dates and times of equinoxes and gods solstices. THE’spring equinox will happen March 20 2024 at 11:01 am Italian time, the summer solstice will happen June 21st 2025 at 6:42 am, theautumnal equinox The September 22nd at 10.19pm, while the winter solstice The December 21st 2025 at 5.03pm.
