August 8-11, 2026: Watch the waning crescent moon pass Mercury and Mars before sunrise. Earthshine, Taurus, Orion, Gemini, and the returning winter stars create a striking morning display.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Venus as an Evening Star
Waning Moon, Mercury, Mars
The waning crescent moon passes Mercury and Mars in the eastern morning sky.
Step outside an hour before sunrise and look eastward. The waning crescent moon shines in front of bright stars that are visible during winter evenings. Mercury and Mars are there as well. The lunar crescent is approaching New Moon, causing the illuminated portion to shrink noticeably each morning.
This region of the sky contains six bright stars. The brightest is Capella, the fourth brightest star visible from the mid-northern latitudes. Capella, part of Auriga, is over halfway from the east-northeast horizon to overhead. As Sirius nears its first morning appearance, known as its heliacal rising, Orion and its bright stars — Betelgeuse, Rigel, and Bellatrix — are easy to see low in the eastern sky.
Taurus, with Aldebaran, the Bull’s brightest star, is above Orion. Aldebaran and the Hyades outline the Bull’s head. The bovine is tipped on its side with its long horns, Elnath and Zeta Tauri, pointing northward.
Mars passed between the horns on August 3 and continues its eastward march, opening a widening gap to Zeta Tauri. The Red Planet is now clearly east of Taurus’ horns. It is dimmer than Aldebaran and Betelgeuse because it is over 180 million miles from Earth. Mars brightens throughout the year as Earth closes its distance to the planet before opposition, when Earth passes between Mars and the sun.
After Mercury’s greatest elongation on August 2, the Elusive Planet retreats toward bright sunlight. It remains low in the east-northeast. Each morning Mercury appears lower relative to the brightening dawn, making it increasingly difficult to see. Find an observing location with a clear view in the planet’s direction.
Earthshine
As the moon wanes, earthshine is easy to see on the moon’s night portion. The effect is sunlight reflected from Earth’s oceans, clouds, and land that gently illuminates the lunar night. Photograph it with a tripod-mounted camera or a steady camera phone using exposures of several seconds. Varying exposures and zoom settings can capture a wide section of the starfield with the moon and planets or a close view of the lunar crescent with earthshine.
Highlights
Here’s what to see:
• August 8: One hour before sunrise, the moon, 24% illuminated, is nearly halfway from the eastern horizon to overhead. It is 5.6° to Elnath’s upper left, Taurus’ northern horn, and 11.5° to Mars’ upper right. The Red Planet is 3.7° to Zeta Tauri’s lower left. Mercury is low in the east-northeast, 8.3° to Pollux’s lower right.
• August 9: The waning crescent moon, 15% illuminated, is 30° above the eastern horizon and 5.1° to Mars’ left. The moon, Mars, and Zeta Tauri span 9.3° and are nearly in a line. Mercury is 9.0° to Pollux’s lower right.
• August 10: The thin waning moon, 7% illuminated, is in front of Gemini over 15° above the east-northeast horizon, nearly 18° to Mars’ lower left and about 15° to Mercury’s upper right. Mars is 4.9° to Zeta Tauri’s lower left, while Mercury is 10° to Pollux’s lower right. The moon is about 8° to the right of the Gemini Twins, Pollux and Castor.
• August 11: At 45 minutes before sunrise, use a binocular to find the razor-thin crescent moon, 2% illuminated, over 5° above the east-northeast horizon. The moon is 2.0° to Mercury’s upper left.
During these four mornings, the moon, Mercury, and Mars provide an easy way to see the moon’s rapid eastward motion and the slower motion of the planets against the distant starfield. Watch the moon move eastward in front of the bright stars in the eastern morning sky, photograph the moon with earthshine, and carefully note the changing eastward positions of Mercury and Mars against the background stars.
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