October 26. 2025: At this season, Arcturus appears before sunrise and after sunset, while the moon shines near Sagittarius. Learn how bright stars like Arcturus, Vega, and Capella trace long paths near the circumpolar region.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:16 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 5:52 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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Arcturus
At this season, the star Arcturus appears both before sunrise and after sunset. Typically, a star rises after sunset and then sets before sunrise, or it disappears into morning sunlight to reappear in the eastern sky the following evening.
Stars that rise farther north are visible for longer periods. In the northern sky, stars such as those forming the Big and Little Dippers, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and Draco never set. These are known as the circumpolar stars. Those near this region remain above the horizon for extended times.
Three bright stars — Arcturus, Vega, and Capella — lie near the circumpolar region. Depending on the season, they can be seen after sunset in the western sky and before sunrise in the eastern sky. In the same sense, they rise in the east before sunrise, disappear into daylight, and reappear in the west after sunset.
For Vega, this effect occurs for several weeks during December and January. Capella appears before sunrise and after sunset around the summer solstice.
This morning, Arcturus rises nearly two hours before sunrise and sets over two hours after sundown. At 45 minutes before sunrise, it is about 10° above the east-northeast horizon, over 30° to Venus’ upper left. After sundown, the star is low in the west-northwest.
Evening Moon
This evening, the moon, 25% illuminated, is low in the south-southwest. It appears in front of Sagittarius, nearly between Alnasl (“the point of the arrow”) and Kaus Media (“the middle part of the bow”), indicating their association with the Archer.
For the next several mornings, look for Arcturus before sunrise in the eastern sky and after sundown in the west.
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