April 25, 2026: Venus and Jupiter shine in the western sky after sunset while the moon occults Regulus. See Taurus, Gemini, and the evening sky lineup.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:55 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:43 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 Chicago’s latitude, daylight lasts 13 hours, 48 minutes, 48 minutes longer than Miami’s duration. Farther northward, in Anchorage, the day spans 15 hours, 42 minutes, nearly two hours longer than Chicago. In Alaska, complete darkness does not occur, only daylight and twilight. The sun is overhead at local noon at latitude 13° north. South of the equator, in Aukland, daylight spans 10 hours, 48 minutes.
Moon: Tonight, the moon occults (eclipses) the star Regulus, Leo’s brightest star, after sunset in the southern sky for sky watchers in the eastern U.S., Caribbean basin, and eastern South America. In the Central Time Zone, the occultation begins before sunset and ends during evening twilight. Farther westward, the event occurs before sunset. Here are disappearance and reappearance times for select U.S. cities:
| City | Sunset | Regulus Disappears | Reappears |
| Miami | 7:49 p.m. | 8:33 p.m. | 9:59 p.m. |
| Atlanta | 8:18 p.m. | 8:18 p.m. | 9:36 p.m. |
| Washington, DC | 7:56 p.m. | 8:41 p.m. | 9:23 p.m. |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 8:38 p.m. | 8:34 p.m. | 9:18 p.m. |
More details are available at IOTA’s website. Convert Universal Times (UT) by subtracting four hours for EDT, five hours for CDT, and so on. In the list, the top set of times is for disappearance of Regulus behind the moon. The second list farther down the web page is for reappearance times. Compare them to local sunset times.
Tonight, one hour after sunset, the moon, 71% illuminated, is 60° up in the south. For most observers in the western hemisphere, the lunar orb is about 1° to Regulus’ lower left.
Planets Not Visible
Mercury: After the Elusive Planet’s unfavorable greatest elongation earlier this month, it retreats into morning twilight, rising about 30 minutes before sunrise. It reaches superior conjunction on May 14 before entering the evening sky for a planetary display with Venus and Jupiter.
Mars: The Red Planet continues to emerge from bright twilight. The ecliptic’s shallow angle with the eastern horizon hampers its visibility. Mars appears in the eastern sky in about eight weeks.
Saturn: Like Mars, the Ringed Wonder’s visibility is affected by the ecliptic’s angle before sunrise.
Neptune: Already a faint planet, the Distant Planet is immersed in bright morning twilight.
Evening Planets
Venus: The Evening Star shines brightly from the west-northwest after sunset. It is visible as early as 30 minutes after sunset, setting over 100 minutes later. One hour after sundown, find it nearly 15° above the horizon. Veus steps eastward in front of Taurus.
Tonight, Venus is 3.9° to Alcyone’s upper left, the brightest Pleiad, and 10° to Aldebaran’s lower right, the Bull’s brightest star.
Use a binocular to see Venus with the Pleiades star cluster and Uranus, 2.5° to Venus’ lower right. While these articles declared Uranus’ observing window closed several weeks ago, this same binocular field is worth the attempt.
Jupiter: The Jovian Giant, 45° to Venus’ upper left, is over halfway from the west-southwest horizon to overhead. It slowly rambles eastward in front of Gemini, 8.2° below Pollux, one of the Twins. In this moonlight, use a binocular to see Jupiter 0.8° to the right of Wasat. Watch the bright planet close in to pass the star in five nights.
Jupiter’s eastward ramble is only 10% of Venus’ nightly motion. The Evening Star overtakes Jupiter on June 9 for a close conjunction after sunset.
While waiting for Mars and Saturn to reappear in the morning sky, look for the moon near Regulus, and Venus and Jupiter in the western sky after sunset. Daylight continues to lengthen across the northern hemisphere.
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