This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 5th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 9:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:34. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 11:57 this evening.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. By 9:45 PM tonight, almost three-quarters of an 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 71.3 million miles (114.9 mil km) away from us. We are 10 days from Venus greatest elongation east from the sun of 45.9 degrees. It’s within a degree of that now. In the morning, Saturn, Mars and even Mercury will be visible in the southeast and east respectively. Mars is competing with the brighter stars of winter, including the orange Aldebaran, and the red giant star Betelgeuse. The Earth is now chasing down Mars, which 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 9:45 PM tonight, August 5, 2026.Created using Stellarium.
Saturn, Mars, the moon and Mercury will be seen at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning August 6, 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. Mercury will be hard to spot. Created using Stellarium.
Moon about 7 hours after last quarter, as seen at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning, August 6, 2026. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Telescopic Venus at 9:45 PM tonight, August 5, 2026, and Saturn at 5:30 AM on the 6th (north up), as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 22.0″, and be 53.5% illuminated. Saturn will also be 18.6″ in diameter, and its rings extend to 43.4″. Mars, not shown, will appear 4.7″ in diameter. Mercury, not shown, will appear 6.4″ in diameter, 53.6% illuminated. 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 August 5th, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 6th. 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, August 5, 2026. Created using my LookingUp app, text and arrows created using LibreOffice Draw and produced a unified image using GIMP.
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