May 1, 2026: See the Flower Moon tonight and track Venus in Taurus as it closes in on Jupiter. Today’s celestial almanac for sun, moon, and visible planets.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Venus as an Evening Star
Almanac for Sun, Moon, and Planets
Sun, Moon
Sun: At Chicago’s latitude, the sun shines for 14 hours, 2 minutes. During the month, daylight gains 58 minutes. In Miami, daylight spans 13 hours, 8 minutes, gaining 30 minutes during May. Farther north in Anchorage, the sun is in the sky for 16 hours, 15 minutes, gaining 147 minutes by month’s end. The sun is overhead at local noon at 15° north latitude. South of the equator, the sun shines in Auckland for 10 hours, 36 minutes, losing 47 minutes by May 31.
Today, May Day, is the traditional midpoint of spring. These days (Groundhog Day, May Day, Lammas Day, and Halloween), the middle of the seasons, are known as the cross-quarter days. This year, spring’s actual midpoint occurs May 6.
By the middle of spring in the northern hemisphere, the agricultural signs of the season are well established. Daylight is longer, flowers are blooming, the last frost date approaches, and fields are ready for planting.
Some European countries celebrate the season with dances, decorate animals with flowers, and exchange baskets of flowers. Spring is here. Celebrate the season. The Farmer’s Almanac has additional background about the day.
Moon: The moon reaches the Full (Flower) Moon today at 12:23 p.m. Central Time, when it is below the horizon in North America. The moon is opposite the sun. During morning twilight, the lunar orb is low in the west-southwest. After sunset, it is low in the southeast, and it is visible all night. Two hours after sunset, the bright moon is nearly 15° above the southeast horizon and over 20° to Spica’s lower left.
Tonight, the moon is low in the southeast in front of Libra, 5.6° to Zubenelgenubi’s lower right, the Scorpion’s southern claw.
A second Full moon occurs on May 31 at 3:45 a.m. Central Time, sometimes named a Blue Moon. Usually, an astronomical season (solstice to equinox or equinox to solstice) has three full moons. Following the traditions of naming a full moon after nature’s events in a season, there was no name for the extra full moon, so it was named “Blue.” This year, spring has three Full moons, although the year has 13 full moons. To keep the twelve seasonal names intact, so that the Harvest Moon occurs closest to the autumnal equinox, the season’s additional Full moon receives the blue designation.
An article in Sky & Telescope traced the origins of the term to the Maine Farmers’ Almanac in the 1930s. The Blue Moon name has been expanded over time to indicate the second full moon in a calendar month, a mistake noted by Sky & Telescope that has caught on in popular culture.
Planets Not Visible
Mercury: After a disappointing apparition in the eastern morning sky, the Elusive Planet reaches superior conjunction on the sun’s far side on May 14. About 10 days later, it appears in the western evening sky with Venus and Jupiter. Mercury is too close to the sun for easy observation.
Mars: After its solar conjunction during early January, the Red Planet slowly emerges from bright morning twilight. Its visibility suffers from the shallow angle the ecliptic — the plane of the solar system — makes with the eastern horizon during spring. It rises nearly an hour before daybreak, but 30 minutes later it is only 4° above the east horizon. It is too dim and the sky is too bright to see it.
Saturn: Like Mars, the Ringed Wonder is similarly situated in the predawn sky, rising only 10 minutes earlier than Mars. Its visibility is hampered by bright morning twilight, low altitude, and brightness. Like Mars, it becomes visible in less than two months.
Neptune: In the same region of the sky as Mars and Saturn, the Distant Planet is too faint to be seen during twilight.
Uranus: The Tilted World is still in the evening sky, but low in the west during twilight. It is washed out and not visible.
Planets Visible
Venus: The brilliant Evening Star shines from the west-northwest until it sets nearly 2 hours, 30 minutes after sunset. It is easily visible as early as 30 minutes after sunset. An hour after sundown, Venus is nearly 15° above the west-northwest horizon. Tonight, it passes Aldebaran in a wide conjunction, 6.4° to the star’s upper right. Venus continues stepping eastward in front of Taurus as it overtakes Jupiter.
Jupiter: As the second brightest starlike body in the sky tonight, Jupiter is nearly 40° to Venus’ upper left and about halfway from the west horizon to overhead. Moving eastward in front of Gemini, it is 7.6° to Pollux’s lower left, one of the Twins, and moves at about one-tenth of Venus’ speed. A Venus–Jupiter conjunction occurs on June 9. Watch Venus close the gap each night. Jupiter passes Castor on May 11 and Pollux 17 nights later in wide conjunctions.
Celebrate this traditional seasonal midpoint and look for Venus, Jupiter, and the Flower Moon in tonight’s sky.
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May 2026: Venus Tracks Through Taurus Toward Jupiter Conjunction. - 2026, April 30: Flower Moon Timing Explained with Venus and Jupiter in the Evening Sky
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