April 26, 2026: The waxing illuminated moon shines in front of Leo while Venus and Jupiter are in the west. See Venus align in altitude with Sirius and track its motion against Taurus.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:54 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:44 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
Evening Sky
Moon
The bright moon and two planets are in the evening sky. Step outside an hour after sundown. The bright moon, 80% illuminated, is high in the south-southeast, in front of Leo, 13.5° to Regulus’ lower left.
In this moonlight, use a binocular to trace the “Sickle of Leo,” a backward question mark shape with Regulus at the bottom.
Venus
Brilliant Venus and Jupiter are in the western sky. The Evening Star is visible in the west-northwest as early as 30 minutes after sunset, shining through the colorful hues of bright twilight. As the sky darkens, it is lower in the sky, about 15° above the horizon an hour after sunset.
About this time, look for Sirius in the southwest. For the next few evenings, Venus and the Dog Star are at about the same altitude – the same height above the horizon. There is no physical relationship between them; it is simply an interesting sight — the brightest planet and the brightest star shining in the western sky, although they are about 55° apart.
Venus steps eastward in front of Taurus. The constellation has rich star fields to compare to Venus’ motion.
Binocular Views
The planet is still in the same binocular field with the Pleiades star cluster, 4.6° to Alcyone’s upper left, the brightest star in the stellar bundle. Look for 37 Tauri (Tau), 0.6° to Venus’ upper right.
With the moonlight and Uranus’ very low altitude, try to see it – showing as an aquamarine star – 3.6° below Venus.
Tonight, Venus and some of the stars in the “V” of Taurus, outlined by Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster, tightly fit into the same binocular field. It passes Gamma Tauri (γ Tau) in two nights and Epsilon Tauri (ε Tau) on April 30.
Jupiter
Venus steps eastward ten times faster than bright Jupiter, 45° to the upper left. Venus overtakes it in a pretty conjunction on June 9. Watch this gap close during the next several weeks.
Jupiter is over halfway from the west-southwest horizon to overhead, 8.1° below Pollux, one of the Gemini Twins. Through a binocular, watch the Jovian Giant approach and pass Wasat. Their conjunction occurs in four nights.
The moon waxes toward its May 1 full moon phase. Venus moves against Taurus background stars, overtaking Jupiter during the next several weeks. Look for these nightly changes.
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