The Christmas sky show: What to see in the night sky on December 25

The Christmas 2025 skywatching guide explains what can be seen in the night sky on Dec. 25 after sunset. The guide is meant for people viewing the sky without equipment, as well as those using binoculars or a small backyard telescope.

Most of the sights described are visible from across the United States, weather and light conditions allowing.

Christmas night comes after the busy parts of the day are over. Once it gets dark, the sky offers a clear set of objects that rise and set at known times. The moon appears first, followed by a bright planet in the early evening.

Later at night, another planet rises in the east, and several well-known star patterns become easy to find.

The guide gives simple directions to help people know where to look. It also explains how to judge distance in the sky using your handheld at arm’s length. This helps estimate how far apart objects appear from one another.

For people who received new binoculars, a telescope, or a camera, Christmas night offers a chance to try them out. For others, the sky can still be followed without equipment. The guide brings together timing, directions, and basic tips to help observers understand what they are seeing and when to look for it.
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Moon and Saturn in the early evening

Just after the sun had gone down on December 25th, the moon could be seen low in the southwest direction, looking like a waxing crescent. A little more than one-third of the lunar surface is sunlit, so the moon is very visible yet not too bright to wash out the other nearby objects.

Saturn is the closest bright object to the moon in the sky. It looks like one bright and steady point of light and is less than 15 degrees to the left and slightly above the moon. To better understand that distance, one fist held at arm's length covers about 10 degrees of the sky. You can also cover about five degrees by putting three fingers side by side at arm's length.

Moon and Saturn are the two celestial bodies that could still be spotted in the early night hours. They go down shortly after 23:00 local time for those watching in the United States.

By using a small telescope, one may be able to see some of Saturn's bigger moons. These are Titan, Rhea, Tethys, and Dione. It is quite difficult to see the rings of Saturn this year because they are almost edge, on from the Earth following a ring plane crossing in early 2025.

The moon also shows surface detail. Smooth dark areas called lunar seas can be seen, including Mare Crisium and Mare Fecunditatis. 
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Jupiter, stars, and finding the North Star

As the evening goes on, Jupiter rises in the eastern sky. It appears among the stars of Gemini, close to Castor and Pollux. Jupiter is the brightest planet visible on Christmas night and the second brightest object overall, after the moon.

Over several hours, Jupiter moves higher and then crosses the sky from east to west. Nearby, Orion becomes easy to spot. Its three belt stars form a straight line that helps observers find the rest of the constellation. Above Orion are the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters, located in Taurus.

Looking north, observers can find Polaris, often called the “North Star.” Its height above the horizon matches the observer’s latitude. This means it appears lower in southern states and higher farther north.

Polaris can be found using the Big Dipper. To find Polaris, draw an imaginary line from the two outer stars of the Big Dipper’s bowl, Merak and Dubhe, and follow it across the sky. The next bright star along that line is Polaris.

As the night goes on, the stars appear to circle this point, which is why Polaris stays in the same place. Because of this, Polaris is often used for navigation and for long-exposure photos that show star trails circling the sky.
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