August 1, 2026: Lammas Day marks summer’s traditional midpoint. Follow the Buck Moon, Mercury near greatest elongation, brilliant Venus, Mars between Taurus’ horns, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:45 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:09 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
Almanac for Sun, Moon, and Planets
Today is Lammas Day, summer’s traditional midpoint.
Sun, Planets
Sun: As the actual summer midpoint nears, daylight at Chicago’s latitude spans 14 hours, 24 minutes, compared to 13 hours, 20 minutes in Miami. Northward, in Alaska, the sun shines for 17 hours, 4 minutes in Anchorage. Only daylight and twilight occur during a 24-hour cycle. Beginning August 25, the sun is low enough below the horizon for complete darkness to occur, but only for 40 minutes. Darkness’ length grows over 40 minutes each night. The sun is overhead at local noon at 18° north latitude. South of the equator in Auckland, daylight spans 10 hours, 15 minutes compared to 14 hours, 7 minutes in Nashville. Both cities are nearly equidistant from the equator.
Moon: Well into lunation 1281 – the number of lunar cycles since the count began over a century ago, the lunar orb. The bright moon gibbous moon, 93% illuminated, is 35° above the south-southwest horizon during morning twilight. It is in front of Aquarius and over 20° to the upper right of Fomalhaut, the 13th brightest star seen at the mid-northern latitudes. Moonrise occurs two hours after sunset. It is in the south about two hours before sunrise tomorrow.
Inner Planets
Mercury: The Elusive Planet is near its greatest elongation, the farthest we see it from the sun. Do not confuse this with aphelion when the planet is farthest from the sun. At greatest elongation the planet is seen farthest from the sun from Earth. The Sun-Earth-Mercury angle is largest. Elongation is the planet’s angular separation from the sun. This elongation occurs during bright twilight. Use a binocular to find in low in the east-northeast.
Venus: The Evening Star dominates the western evening sky. An hour after sunset, the planet is less than 10° above the horizon. Venus steps eastward in front of Virgo, nearly 30° to Spica’s lower right. Watch the planet close the gap before their conjunction early next month. As Venus closes its distance to Earth, it brightness about 25% from the beginning to the end of August.
Bright Outer Planets
Mars: The Red Planet marches eastward in front of Taurus. It is in the eastern sky during morning twilight. An hour before daybreak, Mars is over 20° above the eastern horizon, 5.3° to Elnath’s lower right, and 2.9° to Zeta Tauri’s upper left. During the next few mornings, watch Mars move between these two stars. At a distance of 185 million miles, the planet is dimmer than might be expected. The planet is small and its distance varies causing a changing brightness. By February, it is 10 times brighter than this morning, when Earth passes between Mars and the sun.
Jupiter: The Jovian Giant is not visible. It is lost in bright morning twilight, rising 10 minutes before sunrise
Saturn: The Ringed Wonder retrogrades in front of Pisces. It rises before local midnight and it is in the southeast before morning twilight begins. Saturn is in the south during morning twilight. The planet’s rings are visible through a telescope through mid-twilight.:
Faint Outer Planets
Uranus: The Tilted Planet is in the same binocular field with the Pleiades star cluster, part of Taurus. After viewing the star cluster, resembling a tiny dipper in the eastern sky, place it at the top of the field of view. Locate the stars 37 and 39 Tauri (37 Tau and 39 Tau) In this moonlight, if you can see star 39 Tauri, then look for aquamarine Uranus at the bottom of the field. Shift the binocular so that the Pleiades move out of the top of the field and the reference stars shift upward so that Uranus is toward the center and easier to see.
Neptune: The Distant Planet is overwhelmed by bright moonlight. It appears between the moon and Saturn.
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