Crescent Moon Meets Venus With 16% Illumination in Friday Twilight

Q: A six-planet parade is coming on August 12. Are you prepared to witness this rare celestial event?

Yes — but the key date is **August 12, 2026**, not this year’s August 12 in past reports. The upcoming event is a **six-planet parade** visible in the **pre-dawn sky**, featuring **Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Uranus, Saturn and Neptune**. For most observers, the best chance will come **before sunrise**, with a clear, unobstructed view of the **eastern horizon**. **Mars and Saturn** should be the easiest to spot with the naked eye. **Mercury and Jupiter** will be much lower and harder to catch in brightening twilight. **Uranus** will generally require **binoculars**, and **Neptune** is best seen with a **telescope**. This is not a perfect straight-line alignment in space. From Earth, the planets will appear spread along a broad arc of the sky, which is why astronomers often call it a **planet parade** rather than a true line-up. Large groupings like this are uncommon enough to make the event notable, though they do occur every few years. Preparation matters. Check local sunrise times, monitor weather, and use a stargazing app such as **Stellarium, Sky Tonight or Star Walk** to pinpoint each planet from your location. If you miss the exact date, the parade should remain worth watching on nearby mornings around **August 9–14**. Unlike the Moon-Venus pairing now visible in western twilight, this August event will reward **early risers**, not evening observers.

2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 13

Friday’s evening sky will pair Venus with a young crescent moon just three days after new, creating a brief naked-eye display low in the western twilight.
Venus will appear as a bright white point near the horizon, while the moon will show just under 16% of its visible surface illuminated.
10 p.m. BST in London is one reference view, but the low altitude means clouds, buildings, trees or hills could easily block the pairing before it sets.
As the sky darkens, the scene may sharpen and the moon’s unlit side could faintly emerge through earthshine—sunlight reflected from Earth.
The conjunction is also visible from the southern hemisphere, where observers should again look west soon after sunset.