Southern Hemisphere night sky tonight, April 2025

If you're based in the Southern Hemisphere and want to know what you can see in the night sky tonight, this page is for you.

Our monthly-updated night-sky guide will show you what you can see in the Southern Hemisphere over the coming weeks.

We'll include monthly highlights, stars, constellations, planets and deep-sky objects.

For more advice, read our guides to Southern Hemipshere stargazing and the best night-sky targets to see in Australia.

Highlights

Photograph of a crescent Moon, Mercury and Venus in the evening twilight. Credit: Pete Lawrence — A waxing crescent Moon sits 7.5° east-northeast from mag. –1.2 Mercury on the evening of 11 March 2024. Credit: Pete Lawrence

June and July see Mercury making its best evening return for 2025 in the Southern Hemisphere.

After emerging from behind the Sun in early June as a fully lit 5-arcsecond disc, it’s visible low in the twilight by mid-June, showing a phase like a gibbous Moon.

At month’s end, the disc has grown to 7.5 arcseconds with a quarter Moon shape.

During July, Mercury heads towards inferior conjunction as it grows to around 11 arcseconds, looking like a fingernail sliver as it is returns to the twilight glow.

Stars and constellations

The Milky Way in the constellations Scorpius and Sagittarius above the Cerro Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Credit: Babak Tafreshi, TWAN

Scorpius returns to early evenings, sitting on its tail above the eastern horizon. Above it is faint Libra, the Scales.

Both constellations are part of the zodiac, meaning ‘circle of animals’. So where do scales fit in?

In ancient times, Libra was part of Scorpius.

The names of its two brightest stars, Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali, betray their origins, translating to ‘southern claw’ and ‘northern claw’.

Today the scales are often depicted being carried by Lady Justice.

Planets

Mars at Opposition by Matt Watson, Sydney, Australia. Equipment: Takahashi Mewlon 250, Losmandy G11, ZWO ASI174MM mono, Baader RGB filters, A Televue 3x Barlow

Mercury returns to the evening sky mid-June in the Southern Hemisphere, reaching maximum altitude in early July.

Mars is now low in the northwest evening sky, departing around 22:00.

From 14th to 20th, the Red Planet is within 2° of the blue star Regulus, showing nice colour contrast.

Saturn and Neptune rise around 01:00 mid-month, with Venus remaining a prominent beacon close to the eastern horizon from around 04:00.

In early June, Uranus rises quickly out of the dawn glare, closing the month 5° below Venus.

Deep sky

This month, a visit to the lesser-known constellation of Norma.

A prominent bright knot 5° across is easily visible, which includes the impressive open star cluster NGC 6067 (RA 16h 13.2m, dec. –54° 13’).

Just 0.4° north of the fifth-magnitude yellow star Kappa Normae, this mag. +5.6 0.2°-diameter rich cluster shows a couple of dozen bright stars, surrounded by around 100 fainter members displaying numerous doubles and curved lines of stars.

In fact, its brightest member is a double, V340 Normae, with mag. +8.6 and +9.1 components, separated by 9 arcseconds.

Returning to Kappa, move 3.2° west to the striking double star Dunlop 193 (RA 15h 51.1m, dec. –55° 03’).

The double has a bright (mag. +5.8) white primary with a fainter (mag. +9.0) orange companion, a comfortable 18 arcseconds apart.

Southern Hemisphere Star Charts

Access this month's and all previous star charts for the Southern Hemisphere by clicking on the links below.

Best things to see in the Southern Hemisphere sky, June 2025

Highlights

Stars and constellations

Planets

Deep sky

Southern Hemisphere Star Charts

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