This is Ephemeris for Pi Approximation Day, Wednesday, July 22nd, that is 22/7ths. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 1 minute, setting at 9:19, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:19. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 1:04 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. By 9:45 PM tonight, nearly a half-hour after sunset, Venus will be easily spotted in the western sky. A telescope will show a tiny gibbous disc of Venus. It is now closer than the Sun, at 81.8 million miles (131.6 mil km) away from us. Over the next nearly 3 months it will be moving closer to us and becoming much larger. In the morning, Saturn and Mars will be visible, in the southeast and east respectively. 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 closest to the Earth and opposite the sun in the sky next February.
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 PM tonight, July 22, 2026.Created using Stellarium.
The Moon,1 day after first quarter, as seen at 10 PM tonight, July 22, 2026. 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 will be seen at 5 AM tomorrow morning July 23, 2026. Mars is entering the part of the sky with bright stars, the winter sky. So it won’t stand out until it gets much closer to the Earth. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Venus at 10 PM tonight, July 22, 2026, and Saturn at 5 AM on the 23rd (north up), as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 19.2″, and be 60.0% illuminated. Saturn will also be 18.2″ in diameter, and its rings extend to 42.4″ and are tilted 9.2º to our view. Mars, not shown, will appear 4.6″ 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, starting with sunset on the right on July 22, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 23rd. 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 from above and a bit beyond Saturn’s orbit for today, July 22, 2026. Created using my LookingUp app, text and arrows created using LibreOffice Draw and produced a unified image using GIMP.
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