March 14, 2026: The crescent moon tilts with the season before sunrise, Venus shines in evening twilight, and Jupiter dominates the south-southeast after dark. Here’s today’s sky guide.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:04 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:56 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
Almanac for Sun, Moon, and Planets
Sun, Moon
• Sun: At nearly all latitudes, except those closest to the poles, daylight is nearing 12 hours. At Chicago’s latitude, the sun is in the sky for 11 hours, 52 minutes — two minutes longer in Miami and 11 minutes shorter in Anchorage. South of the equator, the sun is overhead at 2° latitude at local noon. Daylight spans 12 hours, 24 minutes in Auckland.
• Moon: The moon is near the end of the current lunation. The New Moon phase occurs on March 18. This morning it is low in the southeastern sky during morning twilight. The moon’s horns, or cusps, nearly point horizontally toward the south. The illuminated edge faces the sun below the horizon. Because the ecliptic makes a shallow angle with the southeastern horizon at this time of year, the line from the moon to the sun is nearly horizontal, causing the cusps to appear nearly horizontal as well. Look for earthshine, sunlight reflected from Earth’s features that gently lights the lunar night.
Visible Planets
• Venus: The Evening Star continues to appear higher in western evening twilight. It is easily visible 35 minutes after sunset, about 10° above the western horizon. It shines brightly through twilight. As the sky darkens further, Venus is lower in the west and may be obscured by clouds or terrestrial features. Tonight, the planet sets 80 minutes after sunset. Look for it earlier during twilight.
• Jupiter: The Jovian Giant is high in the south-southeast as darkness falls. Until Venus returns to a darker sky, Jupiter dominates the night sky. It slowly moves eastward in front of Gemini, near Castor and Pollux, the Twins. Watch Jupiter approach and pass the star Wasat through a binocular. Tonight, Venus and Jupiter are nearly 95° apart. Watch this gap close as Jupiter appears farther westward each night and Venus overtakes it. Their conjunction occurs on June 9 in the western sky.
• Uranus: The Tilted World is in the western sky in the same binocular field as the Pleiades star cluster. Appearing as an aquamarine star, it is near the stars 13 and 14 Tauri (Tau).
Planets Hidden by Bright Sunlight
• Mercury: The Elusive Planet speeds into the morning sky for an unimpressive morning appearance. The views suffer from the ecliptic’s low angle with the eastern horizon. It rises about 40 minutes before sunrise in the east-southeast, lost in bright morning twilight.
• Mars: Like Mercury, the Red Planet is west of the sun, rising less than 30 minutes before sunrise in the east. It first appears in a darker sky in about three months.
• Saturn: The Ringed Wonder’s apparition has finished. Saturn is still east of the sun, setting less than an hour after sunset in the west. It is too faint to be seen through brighter evening twilight.
• Neptune: The Distant World is in the same direction in the solar system as Saturn, but considerably farther away and much fainter. It is not visible.
As the seasonal change in daylight occurs, look for the crescent moon low in the southeastern sky during morning twilight, displaying a uniquely seasonal tilt. After sunset, find Venus low in the west before it sets and Jupiter high in the south-southeast. In darkness, look for Uranus through a binocular in the western sky.
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