See Venus Meet Uranus And The Pleiades Tonight In Naked-Eye Sky Show

BreakingInnovationScienceSee Venus Meet Uranus And The Pleiades Tonight In Naked-Eye Sky ShowByJamie Carter,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. An award-winning reporter writing about stargazing and the night sky.Follow AuthorApr 23, 2026, 01:16am EDTToplineLook west-northwest after sunset on Thursday, April 23, to see a stunning celestial pairing — bright planet Venus just a few degrees from the delicate stars of the beautiful Pleiades, an open cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus. It’s a beautiful naked-eye sight — the brightest planet in the sky gliding past one of its most famous star clusters — and it marks the start of Venus’s long dominance of the evening sky through October 2026. However, if you have binoculars, it’s perhaps the best night of the year to glimpse distant Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun, close to Venus. Venus in the Pleiades, as seen on April 3, 2020. (Costfoto/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)Barcroft Media via Getty ImagesKey FactsVenus sits about three degrees below the Pleiades after sunset on Thursday, April 23, and Friday, April 24, easily fitting within a single binocular field of view — but also visible to the naked eye as the twilight sky darkens. Just to the lower left of Venus will be blue-green Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun. The two planets will appear closest on Thursday, April 23, making it the best opportunity of the year to glimpse an otherwise very tricky-to-find Uranus. Venus is now firmly established as the “Evening Star,” visible for up to 90 minutes after sunset and climbing higher each night. It will remain a dominant feature of the evening sky through October 2026, becoming obvious even before sunset. In August, it reaches its highest above the horizon, and by mid-September, it becomes the brightest object in the night sky after the moon. Looking west-northwest after sunset on April 23, 2026, Venus will be close to the Pleiades — and even close...