August 31, 2026: Venus nears Spica in the evening sky as August ends. Find Venus low in the west-southwest, while Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and the Moon appear before sunrise.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:16 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:26 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
Daylight Shrinks
As the month ends, daylight decreases across the northern hemisphere. During August, Anchorage lost 2 hours, 45 minutes of daylight, ending with 14 hours, 19 minutes. At Chicago’s latitude, daylight spans 13 hours, 10 minutes and has lost 74 minutes this month. In Miami, the length is 12 hours, 40 minutes, while losing 40 minutes during the month. South of the equator, Auckland gained 60 minutes of sunshine, while Nashville, equidistant from the equator, lost the same amount of daylight.
The equinox occurs September 22 at 8:05 p.m. Central Time. During the next three weeks, Anchorage loses over two hours of daylight.
Venus, Spica After Sunset
In the night sky, the Venus-Spica conjunction occurs tomorrow evening. This evening, at 45 minutes after sunset, the brilliant planet is less than 10° above the west-southwest horizon and 1.7° to Spica’s lower right, Virgo’s brightest star. At this altitude – height above the horizon – and level of twilight, use a binocular to see Spica. Find a clear horizon to see the impending conjunction or view from a hilltop or a high floor in an elevated structure.
Venus’ visibility is affected by the shallow angle the ecliptic – the plane of the solar system – makes with the western horizon. It is about 45° from the sun, but the ecliptic’s shallow angle puts it low in the sky. Tonight, it sets only 90 minutes after sundown.
Venus is very bright, nearing its time of greatest brilliancy on September 23. It passes between Earth and Sun a month later, soon after appearing in the predawn sky.
Saturn, Moon
The moon appears before sunrise and after sunset. This morning, the gibbous moon, 89% illuminated, is 50° above the southwest horizon and 7.0° to the upper right of Saturn.
Three hours after sunset, Saturn and the moon, 83% illuminated, are about 15° above the eastern horizon. The Ringed Wonder is about 15° to the right of the moon.
Saturn rises about 90 minutes after sunset, appearing to move westward during the night from Earth’s rotation. Its rings and the planet’s southern hemisphere are easily viewed through a telescope.
Jupiter, Mars Before Sunrise
Before sunrise, Jupiter and Mars are in the eastern sky. The Jovian Giant is emerging from bright sunlight. One hour before sunrise, it is over 10° above the east-northeast horizon. It rises earlier each morning and appears higher at this time interval before sunrise.
Mars, not as bright as might be expected, is nearly 40° above the eastern horizon. It is over 170 million miles from Earth, making this small reddish world about the same brightness as Castor, one of the Twins, 12° to the star’s upper right.
Mars marches eastward in front of Gemini. The Red Planet, over 30° to Jupiter’s upper right, slowly overtakes the slower-moving world. Their conjunction occurs during mid-November. Watch Mars slowly close the gap to Jupiter during the next several weeks.
As summer’s daylight diminishes, look for Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and Moon during nighttime hours.
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