August 20, 2026: Brilliant Venus shines in the western evening sky, stepping eastward in front of Virgo toward Spica. Watch the Evening Star close the gap before their September 1 conjunction.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:04 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:43 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
Before sunrise Jupiter emerges from morning twilight while after sunset, Venus dominates and the slightly gibbous moon is near Antares.
Before Sunrise
Before sunrise, Jupiter continues to emerge from bright morning twilight. About mid-twilight, about one hour before sunrise, the bright Jovian Giant is about 5° above the east-northeast horizon. It can be found higher in the sky as sunrise approaches.
Mars, marching eastward in front of Gemini near Castor’s foot, is over 35° to Jupiter’s upper right, 1.2° to Tejat Posterior’s left, the heel, and 2.5° to Propus’ lower left, the toe. The Red Planet is slightly brighter than Castor, nearly 20° to the lower left, and about the same color as Orion’s Betelgeuse, 16° to the lower right.
As Earth overtakes Mars, moving faster in its orbit and closer to the sun, the more distant planet brightens while the distance closes.
Farther westward, Saturn is about halfway from the horizon to overhead. It rises in the east two hours after sunset. By local midnight, it is high enough in the sky for observation through a telescope, where its rings and southern hemisphere are easily seen. It is south nearly four hours after midnight and farther westward as morning twilight begins.
The Ringed Wonder slowly retrogrades in front of a faint Pisces starfield. Earth is between Saturn and the sun during early October, when the planet is in the sky all night and appears at its brightest.
After Sunset
After sunset, brilliant Venus shines from the west-southwest. While lower in the sky than it was last month, the Evening Star approaches its greatest brilliancy in about a month. It steps eastward in front of Virgo, 10.4° to the lower right of Spica, the constellation’s brightest star. Their conjunction occurs on September 1. Watch Venus get closer each evening.
The slightly gibbous moon, 59% illuminated and nearly 20° above the south-southwest horizon, is in front of Scorpius, 2.2° to the lower right of red-orange Antares, the Scorpion’s brightest star. In this moonlight, use a binocular to trace Scorpius’ shape. Moonset occurs before local midnight.
Look for four bright planets—Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars—during the night, while locating Antares near the moon after sunset.
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