Moon, Venus Form 6° Conjunction Over Southwest Wake County Friday

Q: A rare cosmic 'eclipse' of Leo's brightest star is happening now. When is the next opportunity for you to watch it?

The next chance to watch the Moon briefly hide Regulus, Leo’s brightest star, is **December 28, 2026**. Regulus is unusually close to the ecliptic, so the Moon can occasionally pass directly in front of it in a lunar occultation — effectively a rare star “eclipse.” The current run of these occultations lasts from **July 2025 through December 2026**, after which the geometry shifts and the opportunities stop for years. That makes **late December 2026** the next and final widely noted opportunity in this cycle. By contrast, the **July 16, 2026** event described in the skywatching report was only a close pass, with the Moon about **0.5° south of Regulus**, not an occultation. If you want to watch it, check local occultation predictions for your location, because these events are highly dependent on where you are on Earth. In some regions the Moon will cover Regulus; in others it may only skim past it. A clear western or evening sky and binoculars can help, though the event itself is often visible without optical aid. After this cycle ends, the Moon will not resume a similar series of occultations of Regulus until roughly **nine years later**.

Q: Your zodiac sign is likely wrong. Why does this ancient system still matter for tracking planets in space today?

Your zodiac sign is likely “wrong” if you mean the actual constellation the Sun was in when you were born, because astrology’s 12 signs no longer line up with today’s sky. The main reason is precession, the slow wobble of Earth’s axis over roughly 26,000 years, which has shifted the equinoxes since the zodiac system was set in Babylonian times more than 2,000 years ago. The signs also divide the ecliptic into 12 equal 30-degree sections, while the real constellations are uneven in size, and the Sun actually passes through 13 constellations, including Ophiuchus. That mismatch does not make the zodiac useless in astronomy. The ancient zodiac survives as a practical sky map because it marks the belt around the ecliptic, the path the Sun appears to follow and the region where the Moon and planets are usually found. Modern astronomy still uses ecliptic coordinates, a system rooted in that same framework, to describe and track Solar System objects precisely. The July 16 Moon-Venus pairing is a good example. Venus and the crescent Moon appeared close together near Leo, one of the zodiac constellations, because both bodies stay near the ecliptic. Skywatching guides still tell observers to look near zodiac constellations such as Leo because they remain reliable reference points for where planets will appear. So while horoscope dates are outdated as star maps, the zodiac’s underlying geometry still matters for locating and following planets across the sky.

3 articles · Updated · hollyspringsupdate.com · Jul 17

Southwest Wake County residents can see a thin crescent Moon and bright Venus side by side Friday between 9 and 9:30 p.m. EDT, low over the western horizon.
Venus will stand out as the brightest object, with the Moon about 6 degrees to its left; no telescope is needed, though binoculars can show more detail.
Earthshine may also be visible on the Moon’s dark side, a faint glow caused by sunlight reflected from Earth during thin crescent phases.
The pairing will last only briefly before both objects drop below the horizon, making clear skies and an unobstructed western view the key to spotting it.