Five exciting celestial events that you should not miss in 2025

A new year comes not only with new hopes and resolutions; it also shows up with many celestial events. While some celestial events are considered annual (for example, meteor showers, etc.), some are rare and can occur only in a few years. In this article, we present five such rare celestial events of 2025 to you and will give you some great opportunities to photograph them.

January-February 2025: Planetary party

For the whole months of January and February, six planets will line up in the sky to form a big arch. Right after sunset, starting from the western horizon, the planets Saturn, Venus, Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars will be there in the sky. While Both Neptune and Uranus are too dim to be visible to the naked eye, they can be easily captured with long exposures from a relatively dark sky. In addition to this planetary alignment, there will be a close conjunction between Saturn and Venus on 18^th January, when these two bright planets come close to one another, of course, from our perspective.

For a brief period of time, in late February, Mercury, the innermost planet of our solar system, will join the planetary party. Eventually, Mercury will replace Saturn, as the ringed planet will set right at sunset. However, Mercury will remain low in the western horizon and will be difficult to photograph. But if you have a clear western horizon, do not miss trying to photograph the close approach of Saturn and Mercury on 25^th February.

14^th March 2025: Total lunar eclipse

The moon will turn to blood red (also known as the “Blood Moon”) on 14^th March as the Earth’s shadow will be completely covering it. Like any other eclipse, the event will not be visible from everywhere around the world.

• Penumbral eclipse visible: Eastern Africa, Eastern Europe, Parts of Russia and China, Central Australia
• Penumbral + Partial eclipse visible: Western Africa, Western Europe, Parts of Eastern Russia and Eastern Australia
• Some of Total eclipse visible: Western Africa and UK, parts of Eastern Russia
• Entire eclipse visible: North America, Western part of South America, Antartica

You can check the details of the total lunar eclipse on 14^th March to see if and when it is visible from your location.

29^th March 2025: Partial Solar Eclipse

Who doesn’t wait for a solar eclipse? The sun, slowly being covered by the moon, presents a dazzling show in the sky. On 29^th March, parts of the globe will experience a partial solar eclipse (where the sun doesn’t get fully covered by the moon).

The partial eclipse will be visible from the following regions, in different degrees of coverage: Europe, North in Asia, North/West Africa, Much of North America, North and South America, Atlantic, and the Arctic. You can check the details of the partial solar eclipse on 29^th March to see if and when it is visible from your location.

Note for safety: If you are observing the solar eclipse with the naked eye or with a pair of binoculars, always remember to put on eclipse glasses or attach a filter in front of the binoculars. And if you are planning to photograph the eclipse with your telephoto lens, do not forget to get and attach a white light solar filter to your lenses.

12^th August 2025: Venus-Jupiter conjunction

In the month of August, if you see two bright objects coming close to one another in the night sky, no need to worry. These two would be Venus and Jupiter, and they are not on a collision course. From our perspective, they will be near to one another for the whole month of August. On August 12, however, they will be the closest. Before sunrise, these two objects will be hard to miss in the eastern sky. Both objects will be shining bright and can be easily spotted. If you decide to wake up early, you can see them even with your sleepy eyes,

The conjunction event can be photographed with a wide-angle lens. You can choose an interesting foreground to add to the field-of-view. With a telephoto lens or a telescope, the event will appear magnificent.

7^th September 2025: Total lunar eclipse

2025 is going to be really exciting. With the first lunar eclipse on 14th March, the year will present a second total lunar eclipse on 7th September. And this time, different regions of the globe are going to get lucky with the celestial event.

• Some of Total eclipse visible: Parts of Russia, eastern Australia, central Africa
• Entire eclipse visible: Eastern Africa, almost whole of Asia, Western and central Australia

You can check the details of the total lunar eclipse on 7^th September to see if and when it is visible from your location.

Now that you have time to plan for to plan for these events, start preparing. 2025 is going to be exciting!

Clear skies!