June 5, 2026: Venus closes to within 4° of Jupiter after sunset while Mercury joins the evening planet lineup low in the west-northwest sky.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:17 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:22 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
Bright Evening Planets
Those two bright “stars” in the west-northwest after sunset are Venus and Jupiter. The Evening Star is to the lower right.
A Venus–Jupiter conjunction occurs at intervals of 10-15 months. The current pairing is easy to see after sunset. Tonight, the separation is 4.0°.
Venus never strays far from the sun and is never visible opposite the sun like the outer planets. It can rise 3-4 hours before sunrise or set at the same interval after sunset. As such, it is visible in the eastern sky before sunrise or after sunset in the western sky.
Jupiter can appear anywhere along the ecliptic — the plane of the solar system — and the zodiacal stellar backdrop, rising and setting opposite the sun. Currently, the planet slowly descends into evening twilight, reaching conjunction with the sun on July 29.
Venus appears to pass by Jupiter in four nights. While they appear close together in the sky, Jupiter is nearly five times farther away than Venus.
Through a telescope, Venus shows an evening gibbous phase that is 78% illuminated. In comparison, Jupiter’s globe is nearly 100% lit, although its apparent diameter is over twice Venus’ apparent size. Beyond the phase, Venus’ clouds are featureless, while Jupiter’s salmon and beige cloud bands are visible along with its four largest moons.
Both planets are in front of Gemini to the lower left of Pollux. All three celestial bodies fit into the same binocular field of view.
Mercury is in the region, 14° to Venus’ lower right near Castor’s toe. Use a binocular to look for it about 45 minutes after sunset. Then look for it without the binocular’s optical assist. The sky is still bright, but the planet is higher in the sky, about 10° above the horizon. When the sky is darker 15 minutes later, Mercury is lower in the sky. Find it earlier to follow it toward the horizon when more stars are visible. Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter span 17.8°.
Moon, Morning Planets
Meanwhile in the morning sky an hour before sunrise, the gibbous moon, 79% illuminated, is about 30° above the southern horizon. It is in front of Capricornus, nearly 15° to the lower right of Deneb Algedi. Look for Fomalhaut, the mouth of the Southern Fish, about 10° above the southeast horizon.
Saturn, Mars
Farther eastward, Saturn is nearly 20° above the east-southeast horizon. While not as bright as the evening planets, it is the brightest starlike body in the region. Wait for a better telescopic view of the planet later in the summer.
Mars emerges from the sun’s glare about five months after solar conjunction. The Red Planet’s visibility suffers from the shallow angle the ecliptic makes with the eastern horizon during the winter and spring months. In the evening, the three planets’ positions indicate that the ecliptic is highly inclined with the western horizon.
Mars is quite dim and less than 10° above the east-northeast horizon. The five bright planets are again visible during the nighttime hours, although use a binocular to locate Mars with a clear view of the horizon.
Watch Venus continue to overtake Jupiter as their conjunction approaches. Saturn, Mars, and the moon are visible before sunrise.
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