The Planets
Planet Data For May
Click on any planet below to go straight to its section.
The table below shows key data for the planets this month, including rise, transit and set times, as well as magnitude, apparent size and position data (right ascension and declination).
Events that occur when the sun is below the horizon are shown with a black background and white text. All other events happen when the sun is in the sky and other for not visible for observation.
May 2025 sadly has some of the poorest planet viewing for quite some time. Mercury and Uranus are too close to the sun to be viewed, Venus, Neptune and Saturn have glimpses but only in the very early morning, while Mars and Jupiter are visible in the evening but both long past their best. We’ve got fingers crossed for better news in June!
All of the images below can be opened full screen in a new tab by clicking on them
Mercury
05th May
Although some distance from the sun at 05:45 this morning, the shallow ecliptic stops us seeing good views of the planet.
15th May
Mercury heads towards the sun for most of this month and is not visible for backyard astronomers.
25th May
With just four days to go before the planet passes behind the sun, we’re getting no better view today.
Mercury is a decent distance from the sun as May opens but the morning ecliptic is so shallow that it barely rises above the horizon as the sun’s glow gets too bright for us to observe it.
This small planet’s superior conjunction – when it passes behind the sun – is on the 29th May, so the gap between it and our star shrinks all month leading up to that moment. Consequently, we’re not going to catch a glimpse of it for a while yet.
Venus
05th May
This view looking east at 5:30 in the morning shows Venus clearly visible, with Saturn nearby.
15th May
The brightest planet is pulling away from the sun but with sunrise getting ever earlier at the moment, we don’t have long to view it.
25th May
You’ll need to be outside at 5am to get this view of Venus against a dark sky with the almost-new moon nearby.
Unlike Mercury, Venus is pulling away from the sun towards its maximum elongation on the 31st of the month. On the one hand, that’s great for observers because it’s putting distance between itself and our star. And yet… May means very early sunrises and Venus observers needing to set an early alarm clock for the best views.
Regular observers of the brightest planet will see its disc grow from about 30% to 50% illuminated over the 31 days of May as it steadily makes its way on a journey that’ll take it behind the sun in January next year. Its disc size, although shrinking, stays impressively large this month, and is actually larger than Jupiter’s in the first days of May.
Mars
05th May
Mars is a rare evening planet this month. Here, we see it midway between horizon and zenith at 10pm.
15th May
Traveling from Cancer to Leo, the view of Mars is little changed at the same time tonight.
25th May
The one thing we see now is how small the Martian disc has already become.
It feels like mere days since Mars was at its glorious best and already it’s shrunk to a ghost of its brightest self. Now less than twice the diameter of Uranus in our telescopes, it’ll be a long time before we once more have the chance to enjoy surface details.
Thankfully, shining at magnitude one means it is still easy for us to see and being high in the sky at 10pm makes it one of the few conveniently placed planets this month.
Jupiter
05th May
Although still bright and large, the mighty Jupiter is headed for the horizon as the sky gets dark.
15th May
At 9:30 in the evening, this gas giant is only 12° above the western horizon and sets an hour later.
25th May
There’s only a month to go before Jupiter passes behind the sun, so this is one of the last chances to see it in the evening.
It feels a little like all of the planets are deserting us this month, and Jupiter is no exception. Its journey is to the back of the sun, passing behind our star on 24 June, which is why it rapidly sinks lower and lower in the evening sky this month.
At the beginning of May, it’s large and bright enough to be observed but becomes challenging in the last few days as the sky is barely dark before the planet heads for the horizon.
It’ll be August mornings before we get our next decent chance to observe the largest gas giant in the solar system.
Saturn
05th May
At 5am we can see that viewing Saturn is also hit by the shallow ecliptic: it’s low even though a good way from the sun.
15th May
Still at 5am, Saturn is 13° above the horizon and finally decently observable, if only for a short while before the sky gets too bright.
25th May
We’ll need to be observing at 4:30 to get this view because of the earlier sunrise.
Saturn finally comes back into focus for telescope observers this month but not without its challenges. The early sunrise means we’ll need to set a very early alarm clock to get the best views of it and the shallow ecliptic ensures it never gets too high in the sky before dawn ruins the show… but things improve from here onwards.
Uranus & Neptune
15th May – Uranus
Uranus passes behind the sun – superior conjunction – on the 17th, so there’ll be no seeing it this May.
15th May – Neptune
At 5am in the middle of the month, Neptune is hiding out between Venus and Saturn, where a sub-optimal view of it can be grabbed.
It’s not a great viewing month for the distant ice giants but we can spy Neptune in the early hours of the morning. Uranus, on the other hand, passes behind the sun the 17th and so is not visible to us at all in May.
All Planets Viewer
Use the table below to see when each of the planets is observable for each day this month. Click on it for full screen.
A planet is classed as observable when it is more than 10° above the horizon and the sky is dark enough for it to be observed.
Planet ephemeris tables produced with the kind permission of Dominic Ford. Sky images are courtesy of SkySafari Pro 6.