When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.A bevy of comets, a “blood moon” total lunar eclipse and impressive northern lights were just three of the skywatching highlights in 2025. Here’s how they unfolded. | Credit: Credit: L-R, J. Winsky & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab), NASA AWESOME Mission, NASA/Don Pettit and Babak Tafreshi via X, Josh DuryWhat was your skywatching highlight of 2025? A comet becoming visible to the naked eye? Mars disappearing behind the moon? Or did you glimpse a “blood moon” total lunar eclipse and see the northern lights at last?Here’s what happened in the skies in 2025, in spectacular images.1. A Wolf Moon “eats” MarsMars rises out of a lunar occultation from Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona on Jan. 13, 2025. (Image credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Winsky & A. Sorensen | Credit: J. Winsky & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)Mars comes to a bright opposition in Earth’s sky only once every 26 months. But just before its big day came on Jan. 15, it grabbed skywatchers’ attention when it crossed paths with the moon. North America had a ringside seat to the full Wolf Moon’s occultation of the Red Planet, which happens just once every 14 years from a specific place on Earth’s surface.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRead more: Mars hides behind the full Wolf Moon in gorgeous photos from around the world2. A “great comet” appearsComet C/2024 G3 (Atlas) appears in the sky over a rural area near Firmat, Argentina, on Jan. 20, 2025. | Credit: Patricio Murphy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)If you don’t remember 2025’s “great comet,” it’s probably because you’re in the Northern Hemisphere. Back in mid- to late January, Comet 2024 G3 (ATLAS) made a close pass of the sun befo …
