NASA’s micro-mission Lunar Trailblazer will make macro-measurements of the lunar surface
The Conversation
January 6, 2025
Lunar Trailblazer is planned to launch in early 2025. Lockheed Martin Space
NASA’s upcoming Artemis II mission is slated to return astronauts to the Moon no sooner than April 2026. Astronauts were last on the Moon in 1972 during the Apollo 17 mission.
Artemis II will utilize NASA’s Space Launch System, which is an extremely powerful rocket that will enable human space exploration beyond Earth’s atmosphere. The crew of four will travel in an Orion spacecraft, which the agency launched around the Moon and successfully returned during the Artemis I mission.
But before Artemis II, NASA will send two missions to scout the surface of the lunar south pole for resources that could sustain human space travel and enable new scientific discoveries.
Planetary geologists like me are interested in data from Lunar Trailblazer, one of these two scouting missions. The data from this mission will help us understand how water forms and behaves on rocky planets and moons.
Starting with scientific exploration
PRIME-1, or the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment, will be mounted on a lunar lander. It’s scheduled for launch in January 2025.
Aboard the lander are two instruments: The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain, TRIDENT, and the Mass Spectrometer for Observing Lunar Operations, MSOLO. TRIDENT will dig down up to 3 feet (1 meter) and extract samples of lunar soil, and MSOLO will evaluate the soil’s chemical composition and water content.
Joining the lunar mining experiment is Lunar Trailblazer, a satellite launching on the same Falcon 9 rocket.
Think of this setup as a multimillion-dollar satellite Uber pool, or a rideshare where multiple missions share a rocket and minimize fuel usage while escaping Earth’s gravitational pull.
Bethany Ehlmann, a planetary scientist, is the principal investigator of Lunar Trailblazer and is leading an operating team of scientists and students from Caltech’s campus. Trailblazer is a NASA Small, Innovative Mission for PLanetary Exploration, or SIMPLEx.
These missions intend to provide practical operations experience at a lower cost. Each SIMPLEx mission is capped at a budget of US$55 million – Trailblazer is slightly over budget at $80 million. Even over budget, this mission will cost around a quarter of a typical robotic mission from NASA’s Discovery Program. Discovery Program missions typically cost around $300 million, with a maximum budget of $500 million.
Building small but mighty satellites
Decades of research and development into small satellites, or SmallSats, opened the possibility for Trailblazer. SmallSats take highly specific measurements and complement data sourced from other instruments.
Multiple SmallSats working together in a constellation can take various measurements simultaneously for a high-resolution view of the Earth’s or Moon’s surface.
SIMPLEx missions can use these SmallSats. Because they’re small and more affordable, they allow researchers to study questions that come with a higher technical risk. Lunar Trailblazer, for example, uses commercial off-the-shelf parts to keep the cost down.
These low-cost, high-risk experimental missions may help geologists further understand the origin of the solar system, as well as what it’s made of and how it has changed over time. Lunar Trailblazer will focus specifically on mapping the Moon.
A brief timeline of water discoveries on the Moon
Scientists have long been fascinated by the surface of our closest celestial neighbor, the Moon. As early as the mid-17th century, astronomers mischaracterized ancient volcanic eruptions as lunar mare, derived from the Latin word for “seas.”
Nearly two centuries later, astronomer William Pickering’s calculations suggested that the Moon had no atmosphere. This led him to conclude the Moon could not have water on its surface, as that water would vaporize.
However, in the 1990s, NASA’s Clementine mission detected water on the Moon. Clementine was the first mission to completely map the surface of the Moon, including the lunar poles. This data detected the presence of ice within permanently shadowed regions on the Moon in low resolution.
Scientists’ first water detection prompted further exploration. NASA launched the Lunar Prospector in 1998 and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009. The India Space Research Organization launched its Chandrayaan-1 mission with the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, M3, instrument in 2008. M3, although not designed to detected liquid water, unexpectedly did find it in sunlit areas on the Moon.
These missions collectively provided maps showing how hydrous minerals – minerals containing water molecules in their chemical makeup – and ice water are distributed on the lunar surface, particularly in the cold, dark, permanently shadowed regions.
Novel mission, novel science
But how does the temperature and physical state of water on the Moon change from variations in sunlight and crater shadows?
Lunar Trailblazer will host two instruments, the Lunar Thermal Mapper, LTM, and an evolution of the M3 instrument, the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper, HVM3.
The LTM instrument will map surface temperature, while the HVM3 will measure how lunar rocks absorb light. These measurements will allow it to detect and distinguish between water in liquid and ice forms.
In tandem, these instruments will provide thermal and chemical measurements of hydrous lunar rock. They’ll measure water during various times of the lunar day, which is about 29.5 Earth days, to try to show how the chemical composition of water varies depending on the time of day and where it is on the Moon.
These results will tell researchers what phase – solid or liquid – the water is found in.
Scientific significance and what’s next
There are three leading theories for where lunar water came from. It could be water that’s been stored inside the Moon since its formation, in its mantle layer. Some geologic processes may have allowed it to slowly escape to the surface over time.
Or, the water may have arrived on asteroids and comets that collided with the lunar surface. It may even have been created by interactions with the solar wind, which is a stream of particles that comes from the Sun.
Lunar Trailblazer may shed light on these theories and help researchers make progress on several other big science questions, including how water behaves on rocky bodies like the Moon and whether future astronauts will be able to use it.
César León Jr., Ph.D. Student of Planetary Geology, Washington University in St. Louis
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The Conversation
January 6, 2025
Lunar Trailblazer is planned to launch in early 2025. Lockheed Martin Space
NASA’s upcoming Artemis II mission is slated to return astronauts to the Moon no sooner than April 2026. Astronauts were last on the Moon in 1972 during the Apollo 17 mission.
Artemis II will utilize NASA’s Space Launch System, which is an extremely powerful rocket that will enable human space exploration beyond Earth’s atmosphere. The crew of four will travel in an Orion spacecraft, which the agency launched around the Moon and successfully returned during the Artemis I mission.
But before Artemis II, NASA will send two missions to scout the surface of the lunar south pole for resources that could sustain human space travel and enable new scientific discoveries.
Planetary geologists like me are interested in data from Lunar Trailblazer, one of these two scouting missions. The data from this mission will help us understand how water forms and behaves on rocky planets and moons.
Starting with scientific exploration
PRIME-1, or the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment, will be mounted on a lunar lander. It’s scheduled for launch in January 2025.
Aboard the lander are two instruments: The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain, TRIDENT, and the Mass Spectrometer for Observing Lunar Operations, MSOLO. TRIDENT will dig down up to 3 feet (1 meter) and extract samples of lunar soil, and MSOLO will evaluate the soil’s chemical composition and water content.
Joining the lunar mining experiment is Lunar Trailblazer, a satellite launching on the same Falcon 9 rocket.
Think of this setup as a multimillion-dollar satellite Uber pool, or a rideshare where multiple missions share a rocket and minimize fuel usage while escaping Earth’s gravitational pull.
Bethany Ehlmann, a planetary scientist, is the principal investigator of Lunar Trailblazer and is leading an operating team of scientists and students from Caltech’s campus. Trailblazer is a NASA Small, Innovative Mission for PLanetary Exploration, or SIMPLEx.
These missions intend to provide practical operations experience at a lower cost. Each SIMPLEx mission is capped at a budget of US$55 million – Trailblazer is slightly over budget at $80 million. Even over budget, this mission will cost around a quarter of a typical robotic mission from NASA’s Discovery Program. Discovery Program missions typically cost around $300 million, with a maximum budget of $500 million.
Building small but mighty satellites
Decades of research and development into small satellites, or SmallSats, opened the possibility for Trailblazer. SmallSats take highly specific measurements and complement data sourced from other instruments.
Multiple SmallSats working together in a constellation can take various measurements simultaneously for a high-resolution view of the Earth’s or Moon’s surface.
SIMPLEx missions can use these SmallSats. Because they’re small and more affordable, they allow researchers to study questions that come with a higher technical risk. Lunar Trailblazer, for example, uses commercial off-the-shelf parts to keep the cost down.
These low-cost, high-risk experimental missions may help geologists further understand the origin of the solar system, as well as what it’s made of and how it has changed over time. Lunar Trailblazer will focus specifically on mapping the Moon.
A brief timeline of water discoveries on the Moon
Scientists have long been fascinated by the surface of our closest celestial neighbor, the Moon. As early as the mid-17th century, astronomers mischaracterized ancient volcanic eruptions as lunar mare, derived from the Latin word for “seas.”
Nearly two centuries later, astronomer William Pickering’s calculations suggested that the Moon had no atmosphere. This led him to conclude the Moon could not have water on its surface, as that water would vaporize.
However, in the 1990s, NASA’s Clementine mission detected water on the Moon. Clementine was the first mission to completely map the surface of the Moon, including the lunar poles. This data detected the presence of ice within permanently shadowed regions on the Moon in low resolution.
Scientists’ first water detection prompted further exploration. NASA launched the Lunar Prospector in 1998 and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009. The India Space Research Organization launched its Chandrayaan-1 mission with the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, M3, instrument in 2008. M3, although not designed to detected liquid water, unexpectedly did find it in sunlit areas on the Moon.
These missions collectively provided maps showing how hydrous minerals – minerals containing water molecules in their chemical makeup – and ice water are distributed on the lunar surface, particularly in the cold, dark, permanently shadowed regions.
Novel mission, novel science
But how does the temperature and physical state of water on the Moon change from variations in sunlight and crater shadows?
Lunar Trailblazer will host two instruments, the Lunar Thermal Mapper, LTM, and an evolution of the M3 instrument, the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper, HVM3.
The LTM instrument will map surface temperature, while the HVM3 will measure how lunar rocks absorb light. These measurements will allow it to detect and distinguish between water in liquid and ice forms.
In tandem, these instruments will provide thermal and chemical measurements of hydrous lunar rock. They’ll measure water during various times of the lunar day, which is about 29.5 Earth days, to try to show how the chemical composition of water varies depending on the time of day and where it is on the Moon.
These results will tell researchers what phase – solid or liquid – the water is found in.
Scientific significance and what’s next
There are three leading theories for where lunar water came from. It could be water that’s been stored inside the Moon since its formation, in its mantle layer. Some geologic processes may have allowed it to slowly escape to the surface over time.
Or, the water may have arrived on asteroids and comets that collided with the lunar surface. It may even have been created by interactions with the solar wind, which is a stream of particles that comes from the Sun.
Lunar Trailblazer may shed light on these theories and help researchers make progress on several other big science questions, including how water behaves on rocky bodies like the Moon and whether future astronauts will be able to use it.
César León Jr., Ph.D. Student of Planetary Geology, Washington University in St. Louis
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
US company Firefly Aerospace to launch for Moon next week
By AFP
January 7, 2025
This undated handout image courtesy of Firefly Aerospace shows the fully assembled Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar lander vehicle - Copyright NASA/JPL-CALTECH/AFP/File Handout
US company Firefly Aerospace said Tuesday it is aiming to launch a lander to the Moon next week under an experimental NASA program that partners with the commercial sector to reduce costs.
If successful, it would mark only the second time an American robot has touched down on the lunar surface since the end of the Apollo era.
“Buckle up! Our road trip to the Moon is set to launch at 1:11 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Jan. 15, aboard a @SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket,” Texas-based Firefly Space wrote in a post on X.
The company’s lander, Blue Ghost, stands 2 meters (6.6 feet) tall and 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) wide. It will aim to deliver gear for 10 science research projects and technology demonstrations to a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille, located within Mare Crisium on the Moon’s northeast near side.
Blue Ghost will spend 45 days traveling to the Moon, followed by a planned 14-day operational phase on the surface.
Firefly Aerospace was awarded a $93 million contract in 2021 under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.
The program has recruited newcomer space companies to deliver scientific and technological payloads to the Moon, with the goal of fostering a private lunar economy and establishing a sustained presence there as part of the broader Artemis program.
The first CLPS mission, conducted by Pennsylvania-based Astrobotic in January 2024, ended in failure.
The company’s Peregrine lander launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket but was lost a few days later due to a fuel leak, ultimately burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.
A month later, Texas-based Intuitive Machines achieved a partial success. Its lander launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 and successfully touched down near the Moon’s south pole on February 22.
However, it broke a leg upon landing and came to rest at an angle, preventing its solar panels from receiving enough sunlight to keep its radio powered. Still, the mission completed several tests, transmitted photos, and marked the first American lunar landing since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
To date, only five countries have successfully soft-landed spacecraft on the Moon: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India, and Japan.
NASA eyes SpaceX, Blue Origin to cut Mars rock retrieval costs
By AFP
January 7, 2025
This NASA photo released on February 24, 2021, shows images from NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover in Jezero Crater on February 21, 2021
- Copyright NASA/JPL-CALTECH/AFP/File Handout
NASA announced Tuesday it may turn to Elon Musk’s SpaceX or Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin to help reduce the soaring costs of returning Martian rocks collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth.
Originally planned to deliver 30 sample tubes to Earth by the 2030s, the Mars Sample Return mission has faced rising expenses and delays, prompting the US space agency to explore more streamlined solutions.
The pivot comes as China progresses towards a simpler “grab-and-go” sample return mission to the Red Planet “around 2028,” according to state media, potentially making it the first nation to achieve the feat.
Outgoing NASA Administrator Bill Nelson revealed Tuesday that the agency is evaluating two potential architectures for landing a robotic platform on Mars, with a final decision expected in mid-2026.
The first option uses NASA’s tried-and-true Sky Crane system, a robotic jetpack that famously lowered the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers onto the Martian surface in 2012 and 2021, respectively.
The second involves a “heavy lift lander” developed by a commercial partner to place the necessary hardware on the surface.
“You all know that SpaceX and Blue Origin have already been ones that have expressed an interest, but it could be others as well,” said Nelson.
Under both scenarios, the lander would carry a scaled-down Mars Ascent Vehicle — a lightweight rocket designed to launch samples into Mars orbit.
There, the Earth Return Orbiter, being developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), would intercept the payload for the journey back to Earth.
NASA is also revising its power strategy for the lander. Instead of solar panels, which are vulnerable to Mars’s dust storms, the agency plans to use a nuclear battery for heat and energy.
With the Sky Crane option, NASA estimates expenses could range from $6.6 billion to $7.7 billion — far less than the $11 billion projected under the original plan, as reported in an independent audit.
Partnering with commercial providers could reduce costs further, to between $5.8 billion and $7.1 billion, with the return expected between 2035-2039, compared to 2040 under the original plan.
The mission’s timeline depends on variables like annual congressional funding and whether NASA and ESA opt for a direct Mars-to-Earth flight or a detour to a “cislunar orbit” around the Moon, where samples would need retrieval.
Meanwhile, China’s simpler mission could deliver samples years ahead of NASA, marking a significant symbolic victory.
Nelson downplayed comparisons between the programs, emphasizing the complexity and scope of NASA’s effort. “You cannot compare the two — ours… is an extremely well thought-out mission created by the scientific community of the world,” he said.
Perseverance landed on Mars in 2021 to search for evidence of ancient microbial life from billions of years ago, when the planet was warmer and wetter.
NASA announced Tuesday it may turn to Elon Musk’s SpaceX or Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin to help reduce the soaring costs of returning Martian rocks collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth.
Originally planned to deliver 30 sample tubes to Earth by the 2030s, the Mars Sample Return mission has faced rising expenses and delays, prompting the US space agency to explore more streamlined solutions.
The pivot comes as China progresses towards a simpler “grab-and-go” sample return mission to the Red Planet “around 2028,” according to state media, potentially making it the first nation to achieve the feat.
Outgoing NASA Administrator Bill Nelson revealed Tuesday that the agency is evaluating two potential architectures for landing a robotic platform on Mars, with a final decision expected in mid-2026.
The first option uses NASA’s tried-and-true Sky Crane system, a robotic jetpack that famously lowered the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers onto the Martian surface in 2012 and 2021, respectively.
The second involves a “heavy lift lander” developed by a commercial partner to place the necessary hardware on the surface.
“You all know that SpaceX and Blue Origin have already been ones that have expressed an interest, but it could be others as well,” said Nelson.
Under both scenarios, the lander would carry a scaled-down Mars Ascent Vehicle — a lightweight rocket designed to launch samples into Mars orbit.
There, the Earth Return Orbiter, being developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), would intercept the payload for the journey back to Earth.
NASA is also revising its power strategy for the lander. Instead of solar panels, which are vulnerable to Mars’s dust storms, the agency plans to use a nuclear battery for heat and energy.
With the Sky Crane option, NASA estimates expenses could range from $6.6 billion to $7.7 billion — far less than the $11 billion projected under the original plan, as reported in an independent audit.
Partnering with commercial providers could reduce costs further, to between $5.8 billion and $7.1 billion, with the return expected between 2035-2039, compared to 2040 under the original plan.
The mission’s timeline depends on variables like annual congressional funding and whether NASA and ESA opt for a direct Mars-to-Earth flight or a detour to a “cislunar orbit” around the Moon, where samples would need retrieval.
Meanwhile, China’s simpler mission could deliver samples years ahead of NASA, marking a significant symbolic victory.
Nelson downplayed comparisons between the programs, emphasizing the complexity and scope of NASA’s effort. “You cannot compare the two — ours… is an extremely well thought-out mission created by the scientific community of the world,” he said.
Perseverance landed on Mars in 2021 to search for evidence of ancient microbial life from billions of years ago, when the planet was warmer and wetter.
Total eclipse of the Moon, Saturn’s rings ‘disappear’, meteors: Guide to southern sky 2025
The Conversation
January 6, 2025
Image: Blood moon lunar eclipse via Shutterstock.com
In addition to the annual parade of star pictures or constellations passing above our heads each night, there are always exciting events to look out for in the sky. The year 2025 is no exception and has its fair share of such events.
Though the night sky is more spectacular from a dark country sky, you can see the events outlined here even if, like many others, you live in a light-polluted city. For most events you do not need a telescope or binoculars.
Here are some of the highlights.
March and September: eclipses of the Moon
During the early morning of Monday 8 September, the full Moon will move into the shadow of Earth and be totally eclipsed. The Moon will turn a red or coppery colour, because sunlight is bent or refracted by Earth’s atmosphere onto the Moon. The bent light is red, as we are looking at the reflection of sunrises and sunsets from around the globe.
Total eclipses of the Moon are more common than those of the Sun. They can be seen from all the regions on Earth where it is night.
Unlike eclipses of the Sun, lunar eclipses are safe to watch with the unaided eye. They are also safe to photograph. A tripod will help, as will a camera or phone able to take timed exposures.
The eclipse starts with Earth’s shadow gradually covering the Moon over about an hour. Similarly, after totality the shadow takes about an hour to leave the Moon.
Seen from Australia’s east coast, the total eclipse will last from from 3:30am to 4:53am on September 8. From New Zealand, this will be from 5:30am to moonset; from South Australia or the Northern Territory, 3:00am to 4:23am, and from Western Australia 1:30am to 2:53am.
Earlier in the year, on the evening of Friday March 14, people in Aotearoa New Zealand will be able to see a totally eclipsed Moon as it rises above the horizon just after sunset. Watchers in eastern Australia will also get a brief glimpse of a partially eclipsed Moon after moonrise, for 34 minutes from Sydney, 43 minutes from Brisbane and 16 minutes from Cairns.
March: Saturn’s ‘disappearing’ rings
Gazing at Saturn and its rings through a telescope is always a thrill, whether you are seeing them for the first or the hundredth time. However, in early 2025 the rings will seem to vanish as Earth passes through the plane of the rings.
This phenomenon occurs twice during Saturn’s 29-year path around the Sun, that is, at roughly 15-year intervals. Unfortunately, on March 24, the date when this will occur, the planet will be too close to the Sun in the sky for us to observe.
However, in the evenings until mid-February and in the morning from late March we will be able to see Saturn with quite narrow, tilted rings.
Note that a small telescope is needed to see Saturn with or without its rings. If you don’t have one yourself, you can go on a night tour at a public observatory like Sydney Observatory or an observing session with a local astronomical group, such as those at Melbourne Observatory with the Astronomical Society of Victoria.
May and December: meteor showers
The Eta Aquariids seen from Chile in 2022. Petr Horálek / ESO, CC BY
The two main meteor showers of the year are the Eta Aquariids and the Geminids.
In 2025, the Eta Aquariids are best seen on the morning of Wednesday May 7, while the Geminids will be most visible on the mornings of Sunday December 14 and Monday December 15.
This year, viewing conditions for both meteor showers are favorable, in the sense that there will be no bright Moon in the sky during those mornings. To see them, look towards the north-east (Eta Aquariids) and north (Geminids) before dawn starts brightening the sky.
The darker the sky you can find, the better. Keep away from street lights or any other light.
January, April and August: planets
The five planets you can see with the naked eye – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – move across the sky along a line called the ecliptic.
As the planets move, they sometimes appear to pass close to each other and take on interesting patterns. Of course, they only appear close from our point of view. In reality the planets are tens or hundreds of million kilometers apart.
In 2025, these patterns include:January 18–19: the brightest planet, Venus, is close to the ringed planet Saturn in the evening sky
April 1–15: Mercury, Venus and Saturn form a slowly changing compact group in the eastern sky near sunrise
August 12–13: Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets, are only separated by two moon-widths in the morning sky.
June and August: constellations
As the year progresses, different constellations appear in the evening sky. The perpetual chase of Orion and Scorpius (the hunter and the scorpion) across the sky was noted in 2024.
In 2025, keep an eye on the Southern Cross (known as Crux to astronomers) and Sagittarius (the archer).
The Southern Cross is the best-known constellation in the southern sky. It is easy to find, as it is made up of a compact group of bright stars in the shape of a cross.
Two pointer stars from the neighboring constellation of Centaurus, the centaur, also help to show its position. From Sydney and further south, the Southern Cross is always above the horizon. However, in the evenings, it is best viewed around June, when it is high in the southern sky.
The constellation Sagittarius is next to Scorpius. In the evenings, it is best placed for observation in August, as at that time of the year it is directly overhead.
A join-the-dots look at the brightest stars of the constellation gives the impression of a teapot, and it is often referred to by that name. Sagittarius is an important constellation for Australian astronomers, as it contains the centre of the Milky Way galaxy.
The information in this article comes from the 2025 Australasian Sky Guide. The guide has monthly star maps and has much more information to help with viewing and enjoying the night sky from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
Nick Lomb, Honorary Professor, Centre for Astrophysics, University of Southern Queensland
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The Conversation
January 6, 2025
Image: Blood moon lunar eclipse via Shutterstock.com
In addition to the annual parade of star pictures or constellations passing above our heads each night, there are always exciting events to look out for in the sky. The year 2025 is no exception and has its fair share of such events.
Though the night sky is more spectacular from a dark country sky, you can see the events outlined here even if, like many others, you live in a light-polluted city. For most events you do not need a telescope or binoculars.
Here are some of the highlights.
March and September: eclipses of the Moon
During the early morning of Monday 8 September, the full Moon will move into the shadow of Earth and be totally eclipsed. The Moon will turn a red or coppery colour, because sunlight is bent or refracted by Earth’s atmosphere onto the Moon. The bent light is red, as we are looking at the reflection of sunrises and sunsets from around the globe.
Total eclipses of the Moon are more common than those of the Sun. They can be seen from all the regions on Earth where it is night.
Unlike eclipses of the Sun, lunar eclipses are safe to watch with the unaided eye. They are also safe to photograph. A tripod will help, as will a camera or phone able to take timed exposures.
The eclipse starts with Earth’s shadow gradually covering the Moon over about an hour. Similarly, after totality the shadow takes about an hour to leave the Moon.
Seen from Australia’s east coast, the total eclipse will last from from 3:30am to 4:53am on September 8. From New Zealand, this will be from 5:30am to moonset; from South Australia or the Northern Territory, 3:00am to 4:23am, and from Western Australia 1:30am to 2:53am.
Earlier in the year, on the evening of Friday March 14, people in Aotearoa New Zealand will be able to see a totally eclipsed Moon as it rises above the horizon just after sunset. Watchers in eastern Australia will also get a brief glimpse of a partially eclipsed Moon after moonrise, for 34 minutes from Sydney, 43 minutes from Brisbane and 16 minutes from Cairns.
March: Saturn’s ‘disappearing’ rings
Gazing at Saturn and its rings through a telescope is always a thrill, whether you are seeing them for the first or the hundredth time. However, in early 2025 the rings will seem to vanish as Earth passes through the plane of the rings.
This phenomenon occurs twice during Saturn’s 29-year path around the Sun, that is, at roughly 15-year intervals. Unfortunately, on March 24, the date when this will occur, the planet will be too close to the Sun in the sky for us to observe.
However, in the evenings until mid-February and in the morning from late March we will be able to see Saturn with quite narrow, tilted rings.
Note that a small telescope is needed to see Saturn with or without its rings. If you don’t have one yourself, you can go on a night tour at a public observatory like Sydney Observatory or an observing session with a local astronomical group, such as those at Melbourne Observatory with the Astronomical Society of Victoria.
May and December: meteor showers
The Eta Aquariids seen from Chile in 2022. Petr Horálek / ESO, CC BY
The two main meteor showers of the year are the Eta Aquariids and the Geminids.
In 2025, the Eta Aquariids are best seen on the morning of Wednesday May 7, while the Geminids will be most visible on the mornings of Sunday December 14 and Monday December 15.
This year, viewing conditions for both meteor showers are favorable, in the sense that there will be no bright Moon in the sky during those mornings. To see them, look towards the north-east (Eta Aquariids) and north (Geminids) before dawn starts brightening the sky.
The darker the sky you can find, the better. Keep away from street lights or any other light.
January, April and August: planets
The five planets you can see with the naked eye – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – move across the sky along a line called the ecliptic.
As the planets move, they sometimes appear to pass close to each other and take on interesting patterns. Of course, they only appear close from our point of view. In reality the planets are tens or hundreds of million kilometers apart.
In 2025, these patterns include:January 18–19: the brightest planet, Venus, is close to the ringed planet Saturn in the evening sky
April 1–15: Mercury, Venus and Saturn form a slowly changing compact group in the eastern sky near sunrise
August 12–13: Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets, are only separated by two moon-widths in the morning sky.
June and August: constellations
As the year progresses, different constellations appear in the evening sky. The perpetual chase of Orion and Scorpius (the hunter and the scorpion) across the sky was noted in 2024.
In 2025, keep an eye on the Southern Cross (known as Crux to astronomers) and Sagittarius (the archer).
The Southern Cross is the best-known constellation in the southern sky. It is easy to find, as it is made up of a compact group of bright stars in the shape of a cross.
Two pointer stars from the neighboring constellation of Centaurus, the centaur, also help to show its position. From Sydney and further south, the Southern Cross is always above the horizon. However, in the evenings, it is best viewed around June, when it is high in the southern sky.
The constellation Sagittarius is next to Scorpius. In the evenings, it is best placed for observation in August, as at that time of the year it is directly overhead.
A join-the-dots look at the brightest stars of the constellation gives the impression of a teapot, and it is often referred to by that name. Sagittarius is an important constellation for Australian astronomers, as it contains the centre of the Milky Way galaxy.
The information in this article comes from the 2025 Australasian Sky Guide. The guide has monthly star maps and has much more information to help with viewing and enjoying the night sky from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
Nick Lomb, Honorary Professor, Centre for Astrophysics, University of Southern Queensland
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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