May 21, 2026: See the crescent moon near the Beehive Cluster after sunset while brilliant Venus and Jupiter shine in the western sky. Saturn appears before sunrise in the east.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:25 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:10 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
Night Sky
The crescent moon and two bright planets are in the western sky after sunset. Before sunrise, Saturn is low in the eastern sky.
Moon, Jupiter, Venus After Sunset
Step outside after sunset and look westward. The crescent moon, 35% illuminated, is nearly halfway from the west-southwest horizon to overhead. Tonight, it is in front of Cancer’s dim stars.
Binocular View
Look at the moon through a binocular to see the shadows of mountains and craters along the terminator – the curved day-night line. After investigating the moon’s contrasting light, move the binocular slightly so that the lunar orb is toward the upper left portion of the field of view. The Beehive Cluster appears near the lower right edge.
Sometimes known as Praesepe or the Manger, the Beehive star cluster is visible to the unaided eye in a rural location as a fuzzy region larger than the moon between Pollux and Regulus. It is about 600 light years away and thought to be about 400 million years old. The stellar bundle contains at least 350 stars with another 200 outliers.
The stars Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis are between the moon and the star cluster. They represent two donkeys eating from the manger.
The moon passes this region every month, although during brighter phases it washes out the cluster’s dimmer stars. The view improves after twilight ends, about two hours after sunset, although the cluster is then lower in the sky where thicker atmosphere dims the stars. Begin looking about an hour after sundown and recheck the scene at 15-minute intervals for the best views.
Venus Near Castor’s Foot
Meanwhile, brilliant Venus and Jupiter are to the moon’s lower right. Bright Jupiter, over 20° to the moon’s lower right and nearly 30° above the west horizon, is 6.4° to Pollux’s lower left. It slowly rambles eastward in front of the Twins.
Venus overtakes Jupiter leading up to their conjunction on June 9. Tonight, their gap is 18.7°, closing by about 1° each night.
The Evening Star is 19° to Jupiter’s lower right. It steps eastward in front of Gemini. Through a binocular, it is 2.6° to the upper right of Propus, Castor’s toe.
Saturn Before Sunrise
With the moon and planet display after sunset, Saturn appears in the eastern sky before sunrise. It continues to appear higher in the sky each morning. Noticeably dimmer than the evening planets, it is over 10° above the eastern horizon before sunrise.
The moon continues to wax in the western sky as Venus slowly overtakes Jupiter. Find the Beehive star cluster near the moon and look for Saturn in the eastern sky before sunrise.
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