September 26, 2025: Find Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn before sunrise. The crescent moon is in the southwest after sunset with Scorpius.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:43 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:40 p.m. CDT. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
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Venus Summary Article
Three Bright Planets
The bright planets – Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn – span the sky from the east to west. The crescent moon is in the southwest after sunset.
The morning planets, spanning over 150°, seem to hang from the ecliptic, the plane of the solar system, which is easily identified in the eastern sky with the stars of Leo and Gemini.
Venus
An hour before sunrise, brilliant Venus is less than 15° above the eastern horizon. Each morning it opens a larger gap to Jupiter and Saturn. The Morning Star is 8.3° to Regulus’ lower left, Leo’s brightest star, and 2.0° to the lower left of Rho Leonis (ρ Leo).
Through a telescope, Venus displays a morning gibbous phase, 90% illuminated.
Jupiter
Bright Jupiter, over 45° to Venus’ upper right and nearly 55° up in the east-southeast, slowly rambles eastward in front of Gemini, 6.9° to the lower right of Pollux.
Through a steady binocular, up to four of its largest moons are visible. A telescope reveals the planet’s cloud tops. This morning from the Americas, the moon’s Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa are visible to the east of the planet. They line up with the plane of Jupiter’s cloud bands.
Saturn
Saturn is low in the west, in front of dim Pisces. The planet is approaching a limit of visibility from the thick atmosphere that dims and blurs celestial objects near the horizon. It is considerably dimmer than Venus and Jupiter, but brighter than most stars this morning.
The Ringed Wonder is best observed when it is higher in the sky, around the midnight hour. Through a telescope, Saturn displays subtle cloud stripes and the distinctive rings. Currently the rings nearly appear as a line as we are seeing them from the edge.
Saturn appears again in the east-southeast after sunset as it begins its all-night trek westward.
Evening Moon
At 45 minutes after sunset, the crescent moon, 23% illuminated, is only 10° above the southwest horizon. It is 2.3° to the lower right of Pi Scorpii (π Sco). Later tonight, the moon occults (eclipses) the star for sky watchers in Hawaii. The lunar crescent is 9.1° to Antares’ lower right, Scorpius’ brightest star.
Look for the three bright planets before sunrise. Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn continue to gleam from their locations near the ecliptic. The star fields behind Venus and Jupiter are easily identified. The evening moon is low in the southwest.
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