April 16, 2026: Venus shines in the west-northwest after sunset while Jupiter stands high in the west-southwest. The moon nears New phase, hidden in bright morning twilight.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:09 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:33 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 and Moon
Sun: At Chicago’s latitude, daylight lasts 13 hours, 24 minutes, compared to 12 hours, 48 minutes in Miami. Farther northward, daylight spans 14 hours, 50 minutes in Anchorage. In two days, true darkness does not occur, only daytime and twilight. At latitude 10° north, the sun appears overhead at local noon. South of the equator, daylight’s length decreases. In Auckland, daylight spans 11 hours, 7 minutes.
Moon: The moon approaches the New Moon phase tomorrow at 6:52 a.m. Central Time. The moon rises 45 minutes before sunrise. Its visibility is veiled by bright morning twilight.
Planets Not Visible
Some almanacs and sky watching web sites are calling for visible conjunctions of the moon with Mars and Saturn today. Geometrically, the moon appears near both planets, but this event is not visible in bright morning twilight. These planets rise during bright morning twilight, rendering them hidden. Neptune rises before the sun as well, and this faint planet’s visibility is overwhelmed by twilight.
Mercury retreats into the morning twilight after its greatest elongation earlier this morning. Still rising before sunrise, it is veiled by dawn’s early light.
Uranus is an evening planet, shining near the Pleiades star cluster in the west-northwest after sunset. It can be seen, but it is a challenging view.
Evening Planets
Venus: The Evening Star is easily seen after sunset in the west-northwest. It can be seen as early as 30 minutes after nightfall. About 30 minutes later, Venus is over 10° above the horizon. It steps eastward in front of Aries and approaches the border with Taurus. Each night Venus is farther northward along the horizon, mirroring the sun’s northerly change. Tonight, it is 9.8° below the Pleiades star cluster. Venus passes by in a week, entering the same binocular field with the star cluster on April 20. Venus is nearly 20° to Aldebaran’s lower right, the Bull’s brightest star, and nearly 25° above the west horizon.
Jupiter: After Venus, Jupiter is the second brightest star in tonight’s sky. It is high in the west-southwest, over 55° to Venus’ upper left. It slowly rambles eastward, only one-tenth of Venus’ eastward pace, in front of Gemini, near the Twins, Castor and Pollux. Through a binocular, watch it approach the star Wasat, 1.8° to the upper left. Their conjunction occurs in two weeks. Venus overtakes Jupiter on June 9.
Look for Venus and Jupiter after sunset. The sun appears farther northward, lengthening daylight across the northern hemisphere.
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