July 3, 2026: Mars approaches Uranus before sunrise while Venus closes on Regulus after sunset. Find Saturn, the Pleiades star cluster, Aldebaran, Jupiter, and the bright gibbous moon.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:21 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:29 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
Today’s Highlights
• Mars Nears Uranus
• Venus 1.0 AU from Earth
Mars Nears Uranus
During morning twilight, Mars marches eastward in front of Taurus. Beginning an hour before sunrise, use a binocular to find Mars 15° above the east-northeast horizon. It is not as bright as might be expected because it is nearly 200 million miles from Earth. The planet is relatively small compared to our home planet, and because its distance varies, its brightness fluctuates from its current visual intensity to one brighter than Jupiter at its brightest.
At this hour, Mars is 5.2° below the Pleiades star cluster and 8.6° to Aldebaran’s upper right, the Bull’s brightest star. The Red Planet and the stellar bundle appear in the same binocular field. By finding one, the other is easy to locate, although the light from the bright gibbous moon in the southern sky veils the view of the cluster’s faintest stars. While viewing this scene, look for Elnath, Taurus’ northern horn, over 15° to Aldebaran’s left. It is returning to the morning sky after conjunction with the sun.
Binocular View
Uranus is in the same binocular field with Mars nearby. Once you have spotted the star cluster, shift the binocular so that the star cluster is near the top and the Red Planet is near the bottom. Aquamarine Uranus is 0.6° to Mars’ lower left.
Uranus is considerably dimmer than Mars, only 2% of Mars’ brightness. The Tilted World is about the same brightness as star 39 Tauri (39 Tau), near 37 Tauri (37 Tau) to the upper left. The moonlight and clarity of the sky are factors in whether Uranus is visible this morning. With the moon waning, the sky should be slightly darker tomorrow morning for the Mars-Uranus conjunction.
Saturn
Meanwhile this morning, golden Saturn is nearly 40° above the southeast horizon. The Ringed Wonder is about twice Mars’ brightness and brighter than all the stars in the region. It slowly creeps eastward in front of Pisces’ fainter stars, further dimmed by the moonlight.
Venus Approaches Uranus
In the evening sky, Venus dominates the west after sunset. It steps eastward in front of Leo, 6.6° to Regulus’ lower right. Their conjunction is in less than a week.
Venus sets a few minutes earlier each evening as the ecliptic, the plane of the solar system, begins to flatten compared to the western horizon. Additionally, the planet appears slightly farther southward — to the left in the northern hemisphere — each evening. By month’s end, it sets nearly 20° south of tonight’s setting azimuth.
Tonight, Venus is 1 astronomical unit (AU) from Earth, equal to Earth’s distance from the sun. It reaches greatest elongation next month. Through a telescope, watch its phase shrink from an evening gibbous to a half-full phase, when it is two-thirds of an AU from Earth.
This evening, Jupiter is disappearing into evening twilight as it moves toward its solar conjunction later this month.
Try to see Mars through a binocular as it approaches tomorrow morning’s conjunction with Uranus. Look for Venus after sunset as it approaches Regulus.
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