Jupiter and Venus near conjunction, 10 August 2025 4:49am (photo by Kate St. John)

10 August 2025

When something exciting happens in the night sky it’s usually cloudy in Pittsburgh but not this week. Starting at 3:30am — or even 4am — you’ll see three celestial events: the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus (eastern sky), the full Moon (western sky) and the Perseid meteor shower (location of Perseus constellation).

Conjunction of Jupiter and Venus:

In the next few days, 11-13 August, Jupiter and Venus will rise only six to nine minutes apart and they’ll be close together. (Venus rises first at 3:30am). The annotated photo above at 4:49am shows how close they were this morning. Venus is the brighter one. Note that as time passes this month, these two will change their relative position.

Here’s today’s photo without markup.

Jupiter and Venus near conjunction, 10 August 2025 4:49am (photo by Kate St. John)

Full Moon:

The moon was officially full yesterday morning at 3:57am EDT. I took a picture seven hours before “full” as a thin cloud gave the moon an eyebrow.

Full moon rising in Pittsburgh, 9 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Perseid Meteor Shower:

On 12-13 August our planet will be passing through a belt of natural space debris from the comet Swift–Tuttle. As the chunks enter our atmosphere they generate a meteor shower that occurs every year in the general location of the constellation Perseus. Hence they are called the Perseids.

Best viewing is from midnight on 12 August through early morning 13 August, conveniently timed so you can see all three celestial events after 3:40am.

Note that if you live where you cannot see the stars (I do) you’ll have to find a dark sky to see the meteors. Also note that the full moon’s light will interfere with a clear view of the Perseids.

The complete sky show is explained in this short video from Marcy at EarthSky on YouTube