September 7, 2026: The waning crescent moon aligns with Castor and Pollux before sunrise while Jupiter and Mars shine in the eastern sky. After sunset, brilliant Venus shines low in the west-southwest as it pulls away from Spica.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:23 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:14 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
Today’s Highlights
- Crescent Moon, Gemini Twins
- Saturn Approaches Opposition
- Evening Star Venus
Crescent Moon, Gemini Twins
An hour before sunrise, the waning crescent moon, 17% illuminated, is over 30° above the east horizon. This morning, the moon is nearly in a line with the Gemini Twins, Castor and Pollux, to the upper left. Together they span 9.8°, too far apart to fit into the same binocular field of view.
The lunar crescent is between bright Jupiter and Mars.
Jupiter, emerging from bright morning twilight, is over 15° above the east horizon. It is the brightest starlike body in the sky at this hour. Only Venus outshines it. The Jovian Giant is nearly 20° to the moon’s lower left.
Mars, marching eastward against Gemini, is less than halfway up in the eastern sky and about 10° to the lunar crescent’s upper right. As it moves eastward it passes Castor on September 12 and Pollux five mornings later. It overtakes Jupiter on November 16. This morning the Jupiter-Mars gap is 27.6°.
Look carefully for Regulus, Leo’s brightest star, just above the horizon in the east-northeast. It returns to the morning sky after its solar conjunction, appearing higher each morning. Later next year, Mars passes Regulus three times, known as a triple conjunction.
Earthshine
Photograph this region of the sky with a tripod-mounted camera or a steady camera phone with exposures up to several seconds. The image captures earthshine, a gentle illumination of the moon’s night portion from sunlight reflected from Earth’s oceans, clouds, and land. Change the zoom to capture only the moon and earthshine or to include the planets and Regulus, if it is high enough above the horizon.
Saturn Approaches Opposition
At this hour, golden Saturn is less than halfway from the southwest horizon to overhead. The planet is brighter than all the stars in the region, although it is 10% of Jupiter’s brightness and twice as bright as Mars.
The Ringed Wonder retrogrades in front of a non-descript Cetus starfield. This illusion occurs when Earth overtakes an outer planet. The line of sight from Earth to the planet, which normally moves eastward against the background stars, shifts westward.
Our planet passes between Saturn and the sun on October 4. Known as opposition, Saturn is closest to Earth and appears in the sky all night. Like the Full moon, the outer planet rises in the east at sunset, appears southward at local midnight, and sets in the western sky at sunrise.
As opposition approaches, Saturn rises 70 minutes after sunset. It is south about four hours before sunrise and in the southwest during morning twilight.
Through a telescope, the rings are tilted about 10°, and the view is toward the southern hemisphere and southern side of the rings. Even at lower magnifications of around 80x, Saturn’s largest moon Titan is visible to the west of the planet.
Evening Star Venus
After sunset, brilliant Venus is low in the west-southwest. Nearly a week ago, Venus passed Spica, Virgo’s brightest star, 4.8° to the planet’s upper right tonight. Use a binocular to attempt to see the star at this level of twilight, to Venus’ upper right.
As it nears greatest brilliancy on September 23, the Evening Star shines through the pretty hues of evening twilight. Its visibility suffers from a low angle the ecliptic – the plane of the solar system – makes with the western horizon. While it is over 40° from the sun, it sets 76 minutes after sunset.
Through a telescope, the planet is featureless from a thick layer of clouds. It shows an evening crescent phase, 34% illuminated. Above the western horizon, Venus’ phase resembles a miniature waxing crescent moon, although the planet’s phase is thinning. Waxing and waning are not used for Venus. When in the morning sky, the phase increases from a crescent to the full phase, while the opposite occurs during the evening apparition. Morning or evening precede the phase, such as a morning gibbous phase or evening crescent phase.
Sky watchers with a clear natural horizon toward Venus and toward the east-northeast can see Venus near the west-southwest horizon and Saturn in the east-northeast through a binocular. This view becomes easier to see during the next week.
Look for the moon’s display in the predawn sky accompanied by Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars. Brilliant Venus shines from the western evening sky.
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