November 18, 2026: Find Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, and Mars before sunrise, the moon and Saturn after sunset, and Uranus near the Pleiades. Voyager 1 reaches distance milestone.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:44 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:27 p.m. CST. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
In Space News
Voyager 1 reaches one light-day from Earth this morning at 4:16 a.m. Central Time. A radio signal, traveling at the speed of light, takes one day to reach the spacecraft. A response takes another day.
Voyager 1 and its twin spacecraft, Voyager 2, photographed the outer planets as they passed by in the late 1970s and 1980s. Voyager 2 reaches this milestone distance in 2035, continuing to report the conditions of interstellar space, should its power supply hold out.
Almanac for Sun, Moon, and Planets
Sun, Moon
Sun: At Chicago’s latitude, the sun is in the sky for 9 hours, 43 minutes, compared to 10 hours, 50 minutes in Miami. Farther north, in Anchorage, daylight’s duration is only seven hours. The sun is overhead at local noon at 19° south latitude. In Auckland, daylight spans 14 hours, 10 minutes, with the sun 72° above the north horizon at local noon. In Nashville, the sun is 35° above the south horizon at local noon, and daylight lasts 10 hours, 11 minutes. Auckland and Nashville are nearly equidistant from the equator.
Moon: The moon is visible from when it rises about three hours before sunset until an hour after local midnight. At an hour after sundown, the slightly gibbous moon, 65% illuminated, is nearly 40° above the south-southeast horizon and 25° to Saturn’s upper right. It is bright enough to veil dim Neptune and cast shadows on the ground. Watch the moon appear farther eastward each night after sunset. In two evenings, it is to Saturn’s upper left.
Inner Planets
Venus and Mercury are in the southeastern sky before sunrise. The Morning Star is the brightest starlike body in the sky. Sirius, the night’s brightest star, is only 5% as bright as Venus. This comparison of relative brightness demonstrates Venus’ impressive visual intensity. An hour before sunup, the brilliant planet is nearly 20° above the east-southeast horizon and 1.7° to Spica’s upper left, Virgo’s brightest star. During the next few weeks, watch Venus appear to move away from the star toward the lower left.
Mercury: The Elusive Planet nears its greatest separation from the sun in the morning sky, known as greatest elongation. It is over 5° above the horizon and 14° to Venus’ lower left. While it is bright, the thicker air near the horizon and the early stages of morning twilight affect its visibility. Find it through a binocular. Then follow it as it appears higher as the approaching sunrise brightens the sky.
Bright Outer Planets
Jupiter and Mars are higher in the predawn sky to Venus’ upper right. Bright Jupiter is the second brightest celestial body in the sky this morning, but only 10% as bright as Venus. The Jovian Giant slowly rambles eastward in front of Leo, 4.1° to Regulus’ upper right, the Lion’s brightest star.
After its conjunction with Jupiter two mornings ago, Mars is 1.5° to Jupiter’s upper left. It continues its eastward march, passing Regulus on November 26.
Jupiter, Mars, and Regulus easily fit into the same binocular field of view. Depending on the stability of the binocular, up to four of Jupiter’s moons, appearing starlike, are near the planet: three (Callisto, Io, and Ganymede) to the lower left and one (Europa) to the upper right.
Saturn: The Ringed Wonder is the lone bright planet in the evening sky. As noted in the moon section, the lunar orb appears closer to the planet during the next few evenings. It is high in the south four hours after sunset, setting in the west the same interval before sunrise.
The planet’s southern hemisphere and underside of the rings are visible through a telescope. A mission photo of Saturn heads this section, marking today’s milestone for Voyager 1.
Faint Outer Planets
Uranus: The Tilted World is in the same binocular field with the Pleiades star cluster, which rides on Taurus’ back. After sunset, the stellar bundle is low in the east-northeast. Wait until it is higher in the sky. By four hours after sunset, Uranus and the cluster are halfway from the east horizon to overhead. After inspecting the star cluster, move it toward the top of the field of view. Find the stars 32 and 33 Tauri (32 Tau and 33 Tau) near the field’s center. Then identify 37 and 39 Tauri (37 Tau and 39 Tau) below center and slightly toward the lower left. Aquamarine Uranus is to the lower right, toward the edge of the field. The planet is about the same brightness as stars 32, 33, and 39 Tauri.
Neptune: The Distant Blue World is washed out by the moon’s light. It is about one-third of the way from Saturn to the moon this evening. Through a binocular under ideal conditions, Neptune is a very challenging sight. With this moonlight, it is better to wait for a moonless night.
Find the five bright planets and the moon during the night. Uranus is visible through a binocular. Ignore Neptune for now because of the bright moonlight. Voyager 1 is one light day from Earth.
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