Hale to the Stars

As the new year of 2026 dawns, several of our bright planets are missing in action. Venus and Mars pass behind the sun, as seen from Earth, early this month and are invisible to us.

Our solar system’s two largest planets take center stage this month. Saturn is highest above the horizon about two hours after darkness falls, and it sets in the west a couple of hours after midnight.

The only planet easily visible in our evening sky this month is Saturn, known as the ringed planet. Saturn was at opposition—directly opposite the sun in the sky—late last month.

The Galaxy Overhead
A composite panoramic view of the Milky Way is photographed from the European Southern Observatory in Chile.

Photo above: An early image from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile was released in June.

Our evening skies this month are rather void of bright planets—a distinct contrast to earlier this year.

Mars and Jupiter remain visible in our evening skies during May. Jupiter is already fairly low in the west as darkness falls. Early in the month, it sets just more than an hour after the end of dusk.

As darkness falls on the gradually warming April evenings, there are two bright planets in our western sky. Jupiter is about halfway up the sky at the end of dusk and sets around midnight, while Mars is higher up and follows along about three hours later.

For the past several months, the brilliant planet Venus has dominated the evening sky. That show comes to an end during March.

Almost all of our planetary viewing during February will take place in the evening sky.