Two eerie ‘Blood Moon’ total lunar eclipses and Saturn’s rings vanishing – the 2025 space events you must not miss
THERE’S no end of awe-inspiring sights to see overhead – but 2025 will bring four special events that you shouldn’t miss.
Stargazers, mark your calendars.
DOUBLE BLOOD MOONS
A blood moon might sound ominous, but it’s just a fun name for a space effect called a lunar eclipse.
And there are two such lunar eclipses happening in 2025.
The first is due to take place from March 13 into March 14, and the second will occur from September 7 into September 8.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon.
This puts the Moon into the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, known as the umbra.
It means that sunlight isn’t directly reaching the Moon, but some is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere.
This can give the Moon a reddish hue for a few hours, hence the name Blood Moon.
SATURN’S VANISHING RINGS
This one must not be missed – as it doesn’t happen very often.
Saturn’s rings will effectively vanish from view if you’re looking from Earth.
Both the Earth and Saturn are tilted to slightly different degrees.
And at some points, Saturn’s rings are tilted to exactly the right way that we’re seeing them edge on.
That means they appear to vanish. Of course they haven’t really gone, it’s just a matter of perspective.
It happens every 15 years, roughly, and is best seen with an amateur telescope.
And you’ll be able to see the event in March and November 2025.
Best dark-sky locations to view the stars
Here are the 10 best locations to see the night sky in the U.S. and U.K.:
United States
- Death Valley National Park – California
- Arches National Park – Utah
- Vermillion Cliffs National Monument – Arizona
- Samuel H. Boardman Scenic Corridor – Oregon
- Acadia National Park – Maine
- Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park – Arizona
- Adirondack Mountains – New York
- Waimea Canyon – Kauai, Hawaii
- Bisti Badlands – New Mexico
- Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest – California
United Kingdom
- Cairngorms National Park (Tomintoul and Glenlivet – Cairngorms) – Scotland
- North York Moors National Park – North East England
- Yorkshire Dales National Park – North East England
- Northumberland National Park (with Kielder Water and Forest Park) – North East England
- Lake District National Park – North West England
- Snowdonia National Park – Wales
- Elan Valley – Wales
- Brecon Beacons National Park – Wales
- Exmoor National Park – South West England
- South Downs National Park – South East England
VENUS AND JUPITER MEET-UP
Venus and Jupiter aren’t exactly neighbours: they’re hundreds of millions of miles apart.
But in 2025, they’ll look like they live right next door to each other.
From late August 11 into the morning of August 12, the pair of planets will be extremely close in the night sky.
If you’ve ever seen either planet, you’ll know that they shine brightly in the sky.
The Sun's top tips for amateur stargazers
Here's an easy guide to get you started...
- Head up somewhere high
- Avoid light pollution
- Bring binoculars
- Wrap up warm and bring a snack
- Sit out in the dark for at least half an hour to let your eyes adjust
- A star spotter guide and a compass can help you find a particular constellation or star
- Alternatively, consider using an app like Night Sky on iPhone
Planets are typically far brighter than stars, so they’re great for stargazers to spot.
Venus will be the brighter of the pair, but Jupiter will also be plainly visible.
It’s best viewed with a telescope so you can see Jupiter’s details – but this event can be clearly seen even with the naked eye.
GEMINIDS
The Geminids meteor shower isn’t exactly rare because it happens every year.
Why can meteors be multi-coloured?
Meteors can turn all sorts of colours when they burn up, depending on what they're made up of.
The chemical composition of a meteor can be the difference of it shining a blue-green, an orange-yellow, and even violet.
If a meteor burns a bright green or blue, it is because it has magnesium inside it.
If it burns an orange-yellow, it’s composition features sodium.
If it’s just yellow, it’s made up of iron.
If it shines violet, it has a lot of calcium inside it.
If it’s red, this is most likely the result of glowing air plasma, or atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen.
But it’s one of the best opportunities to see a shooting star.
You can expect to see as many as 120 to 160 meteors per hour at the Geminids peak.
We see the shooting stars because we’re in the debris field of the asteroid 3200 Phaetheon.
You can usually see shooting stars from December 4 through to December 16.
What's the difference between an asteroid, meteor and comet?
- Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth)
- Meteoroid: When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids
- Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it’ll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up
- Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn’t vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth’s atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite
- Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them (thanks to the ice and dust vapourising)
But you’d typically expect the peak to occur on December 14.
The meteors can appear at any point in the sky, so all you really need is a clear night and a bit of patience.
Make sure you let your eyes adjust to the darkness – this also means not looking at your phone screen.