Objects in your sky: Planets

by Dominic Ford

The visibility of the planets on

From location

South El Monte
Rise17:57
Set04:09

The Moon is 11 days old, waxing gibbous, and is approaching full moon. From South El Monte, it is visible from soon after it rises, at 17:57, until soon before it sets at 04:09.

23 May 2026  –  Moon at First Quarter
31 May 2026  –  Blue Moon
08 Jun 2026  –  Moon at Last Quarter
14 Jun 2026  –  New Moon
Rise06:38
Set21:13

Mercury will soon pass behind the Sun. From South El Monte, however, it will become visible at around 20:14 (PDT), 9° above your north-western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then sink towards the horizon, setting 1 hour and 13 minutes after the Sun at 21:08.

Rise07:59
Set22:31

Venus will soon pass behind the Sun. From South El Monte, however, it will become visible at around 20:12 (PDT), 25° above your western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then sink towards the horizon, setting 2 hours and 34 minutes after the Sun at 22:29.

Rise04:07
Set17:26

Mars recently passed behind the Sun at solar conjunction. From South El Monte, it is not observable – it will reach its highest point in the sky during daytime and is no higher than 9° above the horizon at dawn.

23 Feb 2025  –  Mars ends retrograde motion
10 Jan 2027  –  Mars enters retrograde motion
19 Feb 2027  –  Mars at opposition
19 Feb 2027  –  Mars at perigee
Rise09:00
Set23:12

Jupiter recently passed behind the Sun at solar conjunction. From South El Monte, however, it will become visible at around 20:12 (PDT), 34° above your western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then sink towards the horizon, setting 3 hours and 16 minutes after the Sun at 23:11.

10 Mar 2026  –  Jupiter ends retrograde motion
12 Dec 2026  –  Jupiter enters retrograde motion
10 Feb 2027  –  Jupiter at opposition
12 Apr 2027  –  Jupiter ends retrograde motion
Rise03:03
Set15:23

Saturn recently passed behind the Sun at solar conjunction. From South El Monte, however, it is visible in the dawn sky, rising at 03:03 (PDT) – 2 hours and 37 minutes before the Sun – and reaching an altitude of 24° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 05:04.

27 Nov 2025  –  Saturn ends retrograde motion
26 Jul 2026  –  Saturn enters retrograde motion
04 Oct 2026  –  Saturn at opposition
10 Dec 2026  –  Saturn ends retrograde motion
Rise05:23
Set19:25

Uranus recently passed behind the Sun at solar conjunction. From South El Monte, it is not readily observable since it is very close to the Sun, at a separation of only 5° from it.

03 Feb 2026  –  Uranus ends retrograde motion
10 Sep 2026  –  Uranus enters retrograde motion
25 Nov 2026  –  Uranus at opposition
08 Feb 2027  –  Uranus ends retrograde motion
Rise02:39
Set14:46

Neptune recently passed behind the Sun at solar conjunction. From South El Monte, however, it is visible in the dawn sky, rising at 02:39 (PDT) – 3 hours and 1 minute before the Sun – and reaching an altitude of 22° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 04:31.

10 Dec 2025  –  Neptune ends retrograde motion
07 Jul 2026  –  Neptune enters retrograde motion
25 Sep 2026  –  Neptune at opposition
12 Dec 2026  –  Neptune ends retrograde motion

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