Key facts
- Astronomy magazine reports that Venus reaches a stationary point in the constellation Virgo at 10 A.M. EST on the morning of November 11, 2026.
- After that date, Venus resumes eastward prograde motion through the sky and swings north of Spica, ending its earlier retrograde westward motion.
- On November 11, 2026, Venus is easy to see in the eastern sky before dawn and shines at magnitude minus 4.7 after brightening over the previous few days.
- An hour before sunrise on November 11, 2026, Venus appears next to Spica on the star's upper right side, with both objects 10 degrees high and climbing as daylight nears.
Astronomy magazine reports Venus reaches a stationary point in the constellation Virgo at 10 A.M. EST on Nov. 11, 2026, ending retrograde westward motion and resuming eastward prograde movement. From that morning onward, the planet travels eastward across the sky and passes north of Spica. Astronomy magazine said, “Venus reaches a stationary point among the stars of Virgo at 10 A.M. EST.” The halt ends the planet’s apparent westward drift against the stars of Virgo on Nov. 11, 2026.
A stationary point is where a planet appears to pause before reversing direction; retrograde means westward drift and prograde means eastward travel.
Venus is visible in the eastern sky before dawn on Nov. 11, 2026, and shines at magnitude minus 4.7. Astronomy magazine describes the planet as bright after it has increased in brightness over the previous few days. Magnitude is the scale astronomers use to describe how bright an object appears in the sky, and lower numbers mean brighter objects. A negative value indicates a particularly bright object in the predawn sky.
An hour before sunrise on Nov. 11, 2026, Venus appears next to Spica on the star’s upper right side. Both objects stand 10 degrees high and climb as daylight nears. Astronomy magazine gives sunrise for that morning as 6:41 A.M. local time from 40 degrees north 90 degrees west.
Telescopic views on Nov. 11, 2026, show Venus as a crescent only 10% illuminated. Its disk spans 53 arc seconds across the sky. Astronomy magazine recommends examining Venus through a telescope and calls the 53-arc-second disk impressive. The illuminated fraction tells observers how much of the disk is lit, while arc seconds measure apparent size across the sky.
Mercury is also just becoming visible around the same time on Nov. 11, 2026. It stands barely 1.5 degrees above the horizon at magnitude 1.2. Mercury sits roughly 13 degrees east or lower left of Venus. ToolsZone.net explains that Mercury and Venus are inner planets orbiting inside Earth’s orbit, each staying within a limited angle of the Sun.
The angle is about 28 degrees for Mercury and about 48 degrees for Venus. Both appear close to the horizon around sunset or sunrise. ToolsZone.net presents this as background for its planet visibility calculator, which converts orbital elements into local altitude and azimuth.
Astronomy magazine’s timing for Nov. 11 uses a location of 40 degrees north 90 degrees west. Sunrise is at 6:41 A.M., sunset at 4:47 P.M., moonrise at 9:15 A.M., and moonset at 6:05 P.M. The waxing crescent moon is 8% illuminated at 10 P.M. local time from the same location. A waxing crescent shows a thin sliver of the moon lit as it grows toward full.
sky-tonight.com says that on Nov. 11, 2026, Venus is visible from early morning until sunrise. The earliest practical viewing time is around 04:59 at about 15 degrees above the horizon. It reaches a highest point of about 20 degrees near 05:18. sky-tonight.com lists the next greatest elongation of Venus as January 5, which marks the point when a planet appears farthest from the Sun in the sky.
ToolsZone.net rates viewing quality by altitude. More than 30 degrees is clear with little atmospheric distortion, while 15 to 30 degrees is good. Altitudes of 5 to 15 degrees are low, and haze or buildings may block them. Under 5 degrees is generally not worth trying because atmospheric turbulence and extinction make observation difficult.
ToolsZone.net defines altitude as the angle above the horizon from 0 degrees on the horizon to 90 degrees overhead. Azimuth is the compass bearing measured clockwise from north. The site gives these definitions as part of its help page for the planet visibility checker tool. These two numbers let an observer locate any object in the sky by height and compass direction.
The Sun’s altitude shows whether the sky is daylight, twilight, or dark. After the stationary point, Venus continues eastward and passes north of Spica. Astronomy magazine ties the eastward travel to the halt reached in Virgo on the morning of November 11, 2026.
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