Home > Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing > Ephemeris: 07/01/2026 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

Ephemeris: 07/01/2026 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

July 1, 2026 Leave a comment Go to comments

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, July 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 9:32, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:01. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 11:01 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. By 10:30 PM tonight, nearly an hour after sunset, Venus is easily seen in the western sky, with Jupiter barely above the horizon, and may not be visible. A telescope will show a very tiny gibbous disc of Venus, because it is still pretty much beyond the Sun, 97 million miles (156 million kilometers) away from us. Over the next nearly 4 months it will be moving closer to us and becoming much larger. In the morning, Saturn will rise at 1:41 AM, followed by dimmer Mars nearly 2 hours later. The Earth is now chasing down Mars, and later this year the launch window will open to send spacecraft to the Red Planet. Mars will be next closest to the Earth in February next year.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Venus in the western sky at 10:30 PM tonight.
Venus in the western sky at 10:30 PM tonight, July1, 2026. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon, 2 days after full moon, as seen at Midnight. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Saturn and Mars at 5 AM tomorrow morning.
Saturn and Mars at 5 AM tomorrow morning July 2, 2026. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Venus at 10:30 PM tonight, July 1, 2026, and Saturn at 5 AM on the 2nd.
Telescopic Venus at 10:30 PM tonight, July 1, 2026, and Saturn at 5 AM on the 2nd (north up), as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 16.1″, and be 68.4% illuminated. Saturn will be 17.5″ in diameter, and its rings extend to 40.9″ and are tilted 9.0º to our view. Mars, not shown, will appear 4.5″ in diameter. The (”) symbol means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts), LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets at sunset and sunrise on a single night.
The naked-eye planets at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on July 1, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 2nd. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets, from Mercury to Saturn in a low angle perspective view of the solar system.
The naked-eye planets, from Mercury to Saturn in a low angle perspective view of the solar system from above and a bit beyond Saturn’s orbit for today, July 1, 2026. Created using my LookingUp app, text and arrows created using LibreOffice Draw and created a unified image using GIMP.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: , , , , ,
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