September 17, 2026: Before sunrise, Mars passes Pollux in a wide conjunction while Jupiter shines from Cancer. Follow the Red Planet’s eastward march against Gemini as it closes the gap with Jupiter.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:33 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:56 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
Mars-Pollux Conjunction
Before sunrise, Mars passes Pollux, one of the Gemini Twins.
Step outside about an hour before sunrise and look eastward. At this hour, bright Jupiter is nearly 25° above the east horizon and 13° to Regulus’ upper right, Leo’s brightest star. The Jovian Giant slowly rambles eastward in front of Cancer’s faint starfield.
Mars is halfway from the eastern horizon to overhead, 5.9° to Pollux’s lower right and nearly 24° to Jupiter’s upper right. Castor, the other Twin, is 4.5° to Pollux’s upper left.
Mars is about the same brightness as Pollux and only 10% of Jupiter’s brightness. This indicates Jupiter’s dominance in the eastern sky compared to the other celestial bodies visible this morning.
This morning, Mars passes Pollux in a wide conjunction. The star is over 6° above the ecliptic – the plane of the solar system where the planets appear to move. While the moon occasionally appears near Pollux, the lunar orb never occults or eclipses the star.
Mars in a Line with Castor and Pollux
After this morning’s conjunction, Mars continues its eastward march, approaching an imaginary line that begins at Castor and extends through Pollux. Mars reaches that line on September 25, when the planet and the two stars span 12.0°. The alignment is a visual milestone showing Mars’ continued eastward movement against Gemini.
Watch the eastward march of the Red Planet. It overtakes Jupiter on November 16.
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