2026, May 8: Double Moon Shadows on Jupiter: Venus Shines Nearby in Tonight’s Evening Sky

May 8, 2026: See the shadows of Europa and Ganymede crossing Jupiter’s cloud tops while brilliant Venus shines lower in the western sky after sunset.

Jupiter's volcanically active moon Io casts its shadow on the planet in this dramatic image from NASA's Juno spacecraft. As with solar eclipses on the Earth, within the dark circle racing across Jupiter's cloud tops one would witness a full solar eclipse as Io passes in front of the Sun. (NASA Photo)
Photo Caption – Jupiter’s volcanically active moon Io casts its shadow on the planet in this dramatic image from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. As with solar eclipses on the Earth, within the dark circle racing across Jupiter’s cloud tops one would witness a full solar eclipse as Io passes in front of the Sun. (NASA Photo)

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:38 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:57 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 Planet, Morning Moon

This evening, the shadows of two of Jupiter’s moons move across the cloud tops, while brilliant Venus shines to the lower right. Before sunrise, the moon is in the southeastern sky.

Shadows on Jupiter

Jupiter, Gemini, May 8, 2026
Chart Caption – 2026, May 8: An hour after sunset, bright Jupiter is in the western sky below the Gemini Twins.

Sky watchers with telescopes can see an unusual scene of double shadows on Jupiter’s clouds.

Through a telescope after sunset in the eastern regions of North America, the shadows of Jupiter’s moons Europa and Ganymede are projected on the planet’s cloud tops. This begins at 7:45 p.m. Central Time, before sunset in Chicago. This is visible even as the sun sets, though the sky is brighter farther westward, making Jupiter a challenging find. Ganymede’s shadow leaves the cloud tops at approximately 8:20 p.m. Europa’s shadow leaves at about 10:30 p.m.

After sunset, Jupiter is that bright star less than halfway from the west horizon to overhead. It slowly rambles eastward in front of Gemini, 7.2° to Pollux’ lower left, one of the Twins.

Venus, Taurus

Venus, Taurus, May 8, 2026
Chart Caption – 2026, May 8: An hour after sunset, Venus is in the west-northwest between Aldebaran and Elnath, stars in Taurus.

Brilliant Venus is 32° to Jupiter’s lower right, about 15° up in the west-northwest at one hour after sunset. The Evening Star is visible as early as 30 minutes after sundown. As darkness falls, the planet appears in front of Taurus. Tonight, it passes between Aldebaran, 10.3° to the lower left, and Elnath, 6.4° to the upper right.

Aldebaran is the Bull’s brightest star, about 5° above the west-northwest horizon. Use a binocular to see it. Elnath is one of the horns. A Venus–Elnath conjunction occurs in four nights.

Watch Venus move quickly eastward against the starfield. Moving 10 times faster than Jupiter, it overtakes the solar system’s largest planet on June 9.

Morning Moon

Moon, May 8, 2026
Chart Caption – 2026, May 8: An hour before sunrise, the gibbous moon is in the south-southeast.

Before sunrise this morning, the slightly gibbous moon, 64% illuminated, is over 20° above the south-southeast horizon. The Last Quarter phase occurs tomorrow at 4:10 p.m. Central Time, when the moon is below the horizon in the western hemisphere.

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