March 11, 2026: Daylight hours continue converging toward 12 hours across both hemispheres. The Last Quarter Moon stands near Antares before sunrise, while Venus and Jupiter dominate the evening sky. Uranus remains visible near the Pleiades through a binocular, though its viewing window is narrowing.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:09 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:53 p.m. CDT. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
Venus as an Evening Star
The Celestial Almanac for Sun, Moon, and Planets
Sun and Moon
Sun: In Chicago, the sun is above the horizon for 11 hours, 44 minutes. In Miami, daylight lasts 10 minutes longer. In Anchorage, daylight spans 11 hours, 24 minutes, nearly an hour longer than on March 1.
South of the equator, the sun is overhead at latitude 3° south. In Auckland, the sun shines for 12 hours, 31 minutes. Daylight at all these locations is converging toward 12 hours.
Moon: The moon reaches Last Quarter phase at 4:38 a.m. Central Time. Before sunrise, it is about 20° above the south-southeast horizon, 11.6° to the lower left of Antares, Scorpius’ brightest star, and less than 10° above Shaula and Lesath at the tip of the Scorpion’s tail.
Planets Visible Tonight
Venus: The Evening Star continues climbing into the western evening sky. It is visible as early as 30 minutes after sunset, low in the west. Waiting another 15 minutes places it lower, but the darker sky improves the view.
Jupiter: After Venus sets about 70 minutes after sunset, Jupiter dominates the night sky. Even shortly after sunset, the Jovian Giant is easy to see high in the southeastern sky. One hour after sunset, it stands out against Gemini, with Castor and Pollux nearby.
Jupiter resumed eastward motion after retrograde ended yesterday. Use a binocular to watch it approach and pass Wasat (δ Gem).
Uranus: The Tilted World is easy to locate through a binocular in the same field of view as the Pleiades star cluster, which resembles a tiny dipper. Uranus appears as an aquamarine star near 13 and 14 Tauri (Tau).
Begin looking near the end of evening twilight, about 90 minutes after sunset. The planet’s visibility is declining as it begins the night lower in the western sky. Brighter moonlight returns to the western sky after March 23.
When the moon wanes in early April, another period of moonless evenings begins, but Uranus is only about 30° above the western horizon at twilight’s end. The thicker air near the horizon dims and blurs the view. By late April, when moonlight returns, the planet is only 10° high in the west.
Look for Uranus during the next 10 days before moonlight interferes, and again in early April before low altitude and atmospheric filtering make observation difficult.
Planets Not Visible
Mercury: The Elusive Planet is entering the morning sky but remains hidden in bright twilight, rising only 33 minutes before sunrise.
Mars: The Red Planet is also west of the sun in bright morning twilight, rising 26 minutes before sunrise. Mars becomes visible in the morning sky during late spring.
Saturn: After displaying its rings nearly edge-on, Saturn is now immersed in bright evening twilight. It passes behind the sun later this month.
Neptune: The most distant planet is in the same region of the sky as Saturn, hidden by bright twilight.
Look for Venus, Jupiter, and the moon during the nighttime hours. Uranus is a fairly easy binocular target near the Pleiades.
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