2026, August 10: Crescent Moon Near Morning Planets and Gemini Twins Before Sunrise

August 10, 2026: A thin crescent moon with earthshine appears near the morning planets and the Gemini Twins before sunrise.

Venus, Jupiter, Moon, Castor, Pollux, August 20, 2025
2025, August 20: Venus, crescent Moon, Pollux line up before sunrise. Jupiter is to the upper right.

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:54 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:58 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

Morning Crescent Moon, Gemini

Crescent Moon near Gemini Twins, Mercury, Mars nearby - August 10, 2026
Chart Caption – 2026, August 10: One hour before sunrise, the crescent moon appears near the Gemini Twins, Castor and Pollux before sunrise. Mercury is near the horizon to the lower left, while Mars is to the upper right.

Before sunrise, the waning crescent moon, 7% illuminated, is in the east-northeast near the Gemini Twins.

Step outside an hour before sunrise and look eastward. Here at mid-twilight, the thin crescent moon is less than 20° above the east-northeast horizon. The Gemini Twins are to the left, Castor 7.9° to the moon’s upper left and Pollux 7.5° to its lower left.

Crescent moon and Venus
Photo Caption – Venus and the crescent moon. Notice the “earthshine” on the night portion of the moon.

Earthshine gently illuminates the moon’s night portion. A nearly Full phase Earth, with sunlight reflected from our planet’s oceans, clouds, and land, causes this soft light. As the crescent becomes thinner, earthshine becomes easier to see. The effect is visible to the unaided eye, through a binocular, and can be captured with a steady camera.

Mercury

It’s small, it’s hot, and it’s shrinking. New NASA-funded research suggests that Mercury is contracting even today, joining Earth as a tectonically active planet.
Photo Caption – It’s small, it’s hot, and it’s shrinking. New NASA-funded research suggests that Mercury is contracting even today, joining Earth as a tectonically active planet. (NASA photo)

Mercury, receding into brighter morning twilight, is 15° to the moon’s lower left and nearly 5° above the east-northeast horizon. The Elusive Planet appeared farthest from the sun over a week ago. It brightens on its way toward superior conjunction with the sun on August 27. As viewed from Earth, Mercury is approaching the sun’s far side. As sunrise approaches, the planet is higher in the sky, but the sky is brighter. Because of the longer twilight at this season, a binocular is needed to see it.

Mars

2007, December 1: Late winter in the northern hemisphere shows clouds above the northern polar cap and some above the southern cap.
Photo Caption – 2007, December 1: Late winter in the northern hemisphere shows clouds above the northern polar cap and some above the southern cap. (NASA Photo)

When the sky is darker, look for Mars 30° above the eastern horizon and over 15° to the moon’s upper right. The Red Planet marches eastward in front of Taurus, 4.9° to Zeta Tauri’s lower left. After passing between Taurus’ horns on August 3, Mars continues opening the gap from the stars. Zeta Tauri and Elnath are the Bull’s horns. They straddle the ecliptic and serve as a milestone along the planets’ pathways against the starry background.

Mars is not as bright as might be expected because it is over 180 million miles from Earth. It brightens about ten times as Earth closes its distance to the planet and later passes between Mars and the sun, known as opposition. This morning, Mars is about the same color as Aldebaran, Taurus’ brightest star, and Betelgeuse, Orion’s shoulder, but it is noticeably dimmer than both stars.

Other Sky Events

Perseid Meteor Shower
In this 30 second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower Friday, Aug. 12, 2016 in Spruce Knob, West Virginia. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

As the moon approaches the New phase, the annual Perseid meteor shower peaks before morning twilight begins during the next few mornings. With the moon only 7% illuminated, moonlight has little effect on meteor visibility this year. Sirius, the night’s brightest star, also makes its first morning appearance at 40° north latitude. In two days, a total solar eclipse occurs across the Arctic, Greenland, Spain, and the ocean regions between them. North America sees a partial eclipse, with the northeastern United States experiencing the event.

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