June 8, 2026: See Venus and Jupiter only 2 degrees apart after sunset with Mercury nearby in Gemini. Find the bright planets and moon before sunrise with Saturn and Mars.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:16 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:24 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
Venus Threads Between Jupiter and Pollux
One evening before the Venus–Jupiter conjunction, the Evening Star seems to be threading its way between Jupiter and Pollux, one of the Gemini Twins.
Step outside an hour after sunset. Two bright starlike bodies are close together about 15° above the west-northwest horizon. The brighter one to the upper right is Venus. Their separation is 2.0°, about four apparent full-moon diameters apart. Pollux is 4.8° to Venus’ upper right. Venus is still west of or below a line from Jupiter to Pollux. All three celestial bodies fit into the same binocular field of view.
Every 10–15 months, Venus passes Jupiter. Sometimes this occurs near the sun, such as on August 25, 2027, followed by a conjunction on November 10, 2028, in the predawn sky in the east-southeast. These conjunctions are not necessarily rare, but infrequent enough to be notable. After Sun and Moon, Venus and Jupiter rank next on the brightness scale, making this a spectacular sight.
While Venus passes 1.6° to Jupiter’s upper right tomorrow, the Jovian Giant is nearly six times farther away than the Evening Star.
Mercury After Sunset
In addition, Mercury joins the two brighter planets in front of Gemini. Begin looking for it about 45 minutes after sundown through a binocular. Appearing starlike, the Elusive Planet is about 10° above the west-northwest horizon and over 13° to Venus’ lower right. The three worlds span 14.2°. As the sky darkens further, Mercury is lower in the sky. Track it as it seems to disappear into the thicker atmosphere near the horizon that blurs and dims celestial bodies.
Photograph the Planets
Record the three planets and the stellar background with exposures up to five seconds using a tripod-mounted camera or steady camera phone. Vary the zoom settings to capture only Venus and Jupiter or the entire region with Mercury and the colorful hues of evening twilight.
Before Sunrise
Before sunrise, Saturn, Mars, and the moon are visible. One hour before sunrise, the three bodies lie along the plane of the solar system, angled low across the eastern horizon at this season. The morning half moon (Last Quarter) is over 30° above the east-southeast horizon in front of Aquarius’ dim stars.
Saturn, over 20° above the east-southeast horizon, is over 25° to the moon’s lower left. It slowly creeps eastward in front of Pisces, made of faint stars hidden by morning twilight.
Farther eastward, Mars is nearly 10° above the east-northeast horizon and over 30° to Saturn’s lower left. The Red Planet marches eastward in front of Aries, over 12° to Hamal’ lower left, the Ram’s brightest star. Use a binocular to see Mars through morning twilight. The Mars–Moon span is nearly 60°.
Look in the west-northwest for the two bright planets with Mercury nearby after sunset. During morning twilight, see Saturn, Mars, and the moon along the eastern horizon.
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