June 2, 2026: Venus rapidly overtakes Jupiter before their June 9 conjunction while Mercury joins the bright evening planet lineup low in the western sky after sunset.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:18 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:20 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 Line
Venus-Jupiter Conjunction Upcoming
With a week until the Venus–Jupiter conjunction, the Evening Star closes in on the Jovian Giant.
Step outside an hour after sunset and look toward the west-northwest. Two bright “stars” are about 20° above the horizon. The brighter one to the lower right is Venus, while the dimmer starlike body is Jupiter. Tonight, they are 6.8° apart, tightly fitting into the same binocular field of view.
Venus is overtaking the solar system’s largest planet as their striking conjunction occurs on June 9. Venus steps eastward about 10 times faster than Jupiter. Venus is 7.4° below Pollux, one of the Gemini Twins, while Jupiter is 6.3° to the star’s lower left.
Mercury Joins In
Mercury is over 15° to Venus’ lower right and less than 10° above the horizon. It is the third bright planet in front of Gemini, as the three planets span nearly 22°. They form a diagonal line from the west-northwest horizon through Jupiter, mirroring the ecliptic’s — the plane of the solar system — angle with the horizon.
To locate Mercury more easily, begin looking about 45 minutes after sundown, when the planet is higher in the sky, although twilight is brighter. Use a binocular to initially locate it.
While the three planets appear close together in the sky tonight, Mercury is nearly 100 million miles away. Venus is 16% farther than Mercury, while Jupiter is nearly six times the Elusive Planet’s distance from Earth.
Morning Sky
Meanwhile, before sunrise, the bright gibbous moon, 96% illuminated, is 15° above the south-southwest horizon. It is in front of Sagittarius’ brightest stars, popularly known as “The Teapot.” The moon is too bright to easily see them without a binocular.
Farther eastward, Saturn is easier to see with each passing week. It is over 15° above the eastern horizon. While not as bright as the three evening planets, Saturn outshines all the stars in the region.
Watch Venus overtake Jupiter during the next week as Mercury follows farther westward along the evening planet line.
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