July 4, 2026: Mars passes Uranus in a close conjunction before sunrise while Saturn shines in Pisces. After sunset, Venus approaches Regulus in Leo as their conjunction nears.
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
• Close Mars-Uranus Conjunction
• Moon and Saturn
• Venus Nears Regulus
Before Sunrise
Moon
An hour before sunrise, the bright gibbous moon, 84% illuminated, is in the southern sky. Now in front of western Aquarius, the lunar orb is 7.6° to Deneb Algedi’s upper left, Capricornus’ tail. Look for Fomalhaut, the mouth of the Southern Fish, 20° to the moon’s lower left and nearly 20° above the horizon.
Saturn
Farther eastward and nearly 45° east (to the left) of the moon, golden Saturn stands nearly 40° above the southeast horizon. It slowly creeps eastward in front of Pisces’ dim stars, further dimmed by this morning’s moonlight that veils the sky. Even at this level of twilight and moonlight, its rings are visible through a telescope. Better views are ahead when the planet is visible in darkness and a bright moon is not in the sky.
Mars-Uranus Conjunction
Today Mars and Uranus are in conjunction. Moonlight and local sky conditions affect the visibility of the Tilted World. When looking for the moon and Saturn, look farther eastward. The Red Planet is 15° above the east-northeast horizon.
Mars is only about 25% of Saturn’s brightness. It is not as bright as might be expected because it is nearly 200 million miles from Earth. Because its distance varies, its brightness fluctuates from its current visual intensity to one brighter than Jupiter at its brightest, when Mars is closest to Earth.
Binocular View
Mars is 5.6° below the Pleiades star cluster and in the same binocular field. By finding one through the binocular, the other can be located. The planet is 8.1° to the upper right of Aldebaran, Taurus’ brightest star. Also look for Elnath, Taurus’ northern horn, nearly 17° to the left of Aldebaran.
This morning Mars passes Uranus in a conjunction where the planets are separated by 0.1°. While they appear close together in the sky, they are over 1.7 billion miles apart.
After locating Mars and the star cluster, place the Pleiades at the top of the binocular field. Mars is near the bottom. Uranus is immediately above Mars and only 2% of its brightness. As noted earlier, the sky might be too bright to see Uranus. This close conjunction is worth the attempt.
As darker morning skies return during the coming months, Uranus remains in the same binocular field with the Pleiades until they disappear into evening twilight next spring.
After Sunset
Brilliant Venus dominates the western sky. One hour after sundown, the Evening Star is less than 15° above the west horizon. Stepping eastward in front of Leo, it is 5.5° to Regulus’ lower right, Leo’s brightest star. Their conjunction occurs in five evenings.
Regulus is the ecliptic’s closest bright star. The moon passes nearby each month and the planets regularly pass by. After this month’s conjunction, their next pairing occurs August 20, 2027, when they appear very close to the sun.
The next visible conjunction occurs October 2, 2028, in the morning sky. An hour before sunrise, Venus is only 0.2° from the star when they are 25° above the eastern horizon.
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