July 5, 2026: A bright gibbous moon shines near Saturn before sunrise while Mars moves between the Pleiades and Aldebaran. After sunset, Venus closes in on Regulus before their conjunction.

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:22 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

• Venus Special Report

Today’s Highlights

• Venus Targets Regulus
• Moon Nears Saturn
• Mars Between Pleiades and Aldebaran

Before Sunrise

Saturn, Moon

Step outside an hour before sunrise. The bright gibbous moon, 74% illuminated, is less than halfway from the southern horizon to overhead. It is in front of Aquarius.

Find Fomalhaut, the mouth of the Southern Fish, less than halfway from the horizon to the lunar orb.

Golden Saturn, 30° above the southeast horizon and at nearly the same altitude — height above the horizon — as the moon, slowly creeps eastward in front of Pisces. While in morning twilight, the planet’s rings are visible through a telescope. Better viewing is ahead when the planet is higher in the sky before twilight begins.

Mars

Meanwhile, in the east-northeast, Mars marches eastward against Taurus’ stellar backdrop. While only about 25% of Saturn’s brightness, the Red Planet is nearly 20° above the east-northeast horizon.

Mars is nearly midway from the Pleiades star cluster toward Aldebaran, the Bull’s brightest star. In this moonlight, use a binocular to spot the star cluster 6.1° to Mars’ upper right. Yellow-orange Aldebaran is nearly 7° to the lower left. During the next several mornings, look for Mars’ location compared to the imaginary line from the star cluster to the bright star.

Binocular View

Mars and the star cluster fit snugly into the same binocular field, which includes Uranus. Shift the binocular so that the Pleiades are at the top of the field and Mars is toward the lower left. Dim aquamarine Uranus is 0.7° to Mars’ upper right.

Look for stars 37 and 39 Tauri (37 Tau, 39 Tau), 1.7° above Mars. As the Red Planet marches away and out of the field that includes Uranus and the Pleiades, the stars serve as guides to the Tilted World. Star 37 is about the same brightness as the cluster’s fainter stars, while star 39 is nearly the same brightness as Uranus.

This morning, moonlight washing across the sky and morning twilight may interfere with Uranus’ identification. Like Saturn’s rings, better views are ahead as Uranus has long spells of moonless nights and darker skies.

After Sunset

Venus, Regulus

An hour after sundown, brilliant Venus is less than 15° above the western horizon. It steps eastward along the ecliptic in front of Leo as it approaches Regulus, the Lion’s brightest star, 4.4° to the upper left. Their conjunction occurs in four nights.

Through a telescope, Venus is 67% illuminated, displaying an evening gibbous phase, slightly thinner than this morning’s moon phase.

During the next several weeks, watch Venus appear farther southward — to the left — along the horizon and lower in the sky at this time interval after sunset.

Look for the moon and planets before sunrise and note Venus’ closing position with Regulus.