November 1, 2023: Venus passes Denebola this morning in a wide conjunction. The moon appears stuck on the Bull’s horn.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:23 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 5:45 p.m. CDT. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.
Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24
Here is today’s planet forecast:
Morning Sky
Step outside an hour before sunrise. Brilliant Venus, rising nearly four hours before sunrise, stands over 30° above the east-southeast horizon. This morning it passes 11.6° to the lower right of Denebola, the Lion’s tail, in a wide conjunction. Venus and the star are too far apart to fit into the same binocular field of view.
During October, the planet’s eastward dance through Leo was easy to watch. It passed Regulus, the pattern’s brightest star, October 9th. Over three weeks later it passes the tail star and moves into Virgo in two mornings.
Farther westward, the gibbous moon, 85% illuminated, is over halfway up in the west-southwest. It is 1.6° to the upper left of Elnath, the Bull’s northern horn, as if it is impaled by the charging animal. In celestial artwork, this is a precarious place.
Zeta Tauri, the southern horn, is 6.5° to the lower left of the lunar orb. Use a binocular to see the stars easier in this moonlight.
Bright Jupiter is below the moon and less than 15° above the western horizon. As it nears opposition in two mornings, the planet is retrograding, appearing to move westward against the starfield. It is 11.7° to the lower left of Hamal and 11.8° from Menkar.
At opposition, Jupiter rises into the eastern sky as the sunsets and sets in the west as the sun rises. The planet is bright enough to be seen near the horizon, with an unobstructed view. Later this month, the planet is no longer visible at this time interval.
Additionally, the gap from Venus to Jupiter continues to widen. This morning, they are nearly 132° apart. On December 10th, they are 180° apart. Venus rises as Jupiter sets. This is a planet-to-planet opposition, not unlike an outer planet’s solar opposition. With Venus and Jupiter, Earth is between the two planets.
Evening Sky
Mercury and Mars are not visible because they appear too close to the sun.
Jupiter and Saturn are visible after sundown. Saturn is easier to see in the south-southeast. One hour after nightfall, the Ringed Wonder is over 30° above the horizon. The planet’s westward retrograde has nearly ended. It stops and begins to move eastward again against the star field on November 4th.
This evening it is 6.7° to the upper left of Deneb Algedi, Capricornus’ tail. During its eastward ramble it begins to approach Skat, the Aquarian’s leg, and Lambda Aquarii (λ Aqr on the chart). Saturn is around 11° west of those stars tonight.
Jupiter, rising less than 10 minutes after sunset, is nearly 10° up in the east at this hour. By two hours after sunset, the Jovian Giant is over 20° above the horizon. Around midnight, the planet is in the southern sky and in the west before sunrise tomorrow.
Three hours after sunset, the gibbous moon, 79% illuminated, rises in the east-northeast. An hour later, the lunar orb is over 10° above the horizon. It is over 10° to the lower left of Elnath and over 50° to the lower left of Jupiter.
The moon is in the south over two hours before sunrise, when Jupiter is in the western sky and Venus is eastward.
RECENT PODCASTS
LATEST ARTICLES
- 2026, July 4: Mars–Uranus Conjunction, Moon and Saturn, Venus Near Regulus
July 4, 2026: Mars passes Uranus in a close conjunction before sunrise while Saturn shines in Pisces. After sunset, Venus approaches Regulus in Leo as their conjunction nears. - 2026, July 3: Mars Nears Uranus While Venus Closes on Regulus
July 3, 2026: Mars approaches Uranus before sunrise while Venus closes on Regulus after sunset. Find Saturn, the Pleiades star cluster, Aldebaran, Jupiter, and the bright gibbous moon. - 2026, July 2: Four Bright Planets and the Waning Gibbous Moon
July 2, 2026: See four bright planets and a waning gibbous moon during the nighttime hours. Find Saturn, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, the Pleiades star cluster, and Aldebaran. - 2026, July 1: July’s Outlook for the Sun, Moon, and Planets
July 1, 2026: This is the outlook for the visibility of the moon and planets for July 2026. The moon passes bright stars while the summer noon sun is lower in the sky. - 2026, June 30: Full Strawberry Moon Lights the Sky While Venus Approaches Regulus
June 30, 2026: The Full Strawberry Moon remains a bright nighttime sight while Mars moves away from the Pleiades, Saturn climbs higher in the eastern morning sky, and Venus approaches Regulus before their upcoming conjunction.