What is the bright star in the west tonight?
Usually a planet, and when it is not, one of a handful of bright stars. An hour after sunset in October 2026, the bright star in the west is Arcturus (magnitude 0.0). From February 2027 to June 2027, the brightest thing in the evening sky is Jupiter (magnitude −2.6 to −1.9), moving from the east to the west; in December 2027 Venus (−3.9) is back in the southwest after sunset. Before sunrise from November 2026 to February 2027, the brilliant one in the southeast is Venus (magnitude −4.8 to −4.2). Below: what is brightest after sunset and before sunrise, month by month at 40° north, and a calculator for any place, date and hour.
What is bright in your sky
Enter your latitude and longitude (west is negative), the time zone your clock is on that day, a date and an hour. The Moon is left out; only planets and stars at least 10° above the horizon are named.
The date starts at today; without JavaScript, the example above is New York on October 15, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. Magnitude is brightness on the astronomers' scale: the lower the number, the brighter, and below zero is brighter still.
After sunset, month by month (40° north)
At 40° north, an hour after sunset is as early as 5:36 p.m. in December and as late as 9:31 p.m. in June by the clock in the Eastern time zone, with daylight saving time from March to early November. Each row is the 15th of the month; the direction is where to face.
| Month | Brightest | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | Arcturus (0.0, west) | Vega (0.0, west) |
| Nov 2026 | Vega (0.0, west) | Capella (0.1, northeast) |
| Dec 2026 | Vega (0.0, northwest) | Capella (0.1, northeast) |
| Jan 2027 | Vega (0.0, northwest) | Capella (0.1, northeast) |
| Feb 2027 | Jupiter (−2.6, east) | Sirius (−1.5, southeast) |
| Mar 2027 | Jupiter (−2.4, east) | Sirius (−1.5, south) |
| Apr 2027 | Jupiter (−2.2, south) | Sirius (−1.5, southwest) |
| May 2027 | Jupiter (−2.0, southwest) | Arcturus (0.0, east) |
| Jun 2027 | Jupiter (−1.9, west) | Arcturus (0.0, south) |
| Jul 2027 | Arcturus (0.0, southwest) | Vega (0.0, east) |
| Aug 2027 | Arcturus (0.0, west) | Vega (0.0, east) |
| Sep 2027 | Arcturus (0.0, west) | Vega (0.0, southwest) |
| Oct 2027 | Arcturus (0.0, west) | Vega (0.0, west) |
| Nov 2027 | Vega (0.0, west) | Capella (0.1, northeast) |
| Dec 2027 | Venus (−3.9, southwest) | Vega (0.0, west) |
Before sunrise, month by month
The same at the other end of the night: an hour before sunrise is as early as 4:31 a.m. in June and as late as 6:20 a.m. in January.
| Month | Brightest | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | Jupiter (−1.9, east) | Sirius (−1.5, south) |
| Nov 2026 | Venus (−4.8, southeast) | Jupiter (−2.1, south) |
| Dec 2026 | Venus (−4.7, southeast) | Jupiter (−2.3, southwest) |
| Jan 2027 | Venus (−4.4, southeast) | Jupiter (−2.5, west) |
| Feb 2027 | Venus (−4.2, southeast) | Jupiter (−2.6, west) |
| Mar 2027 | Arcturus (0.0, southwest) | Vega (0.0, east) |
| Apr 2027 | Arcturus (0.0, west) | Vega (0.0, east) |
| May 2027 | Arcturus (0.0, west) | Vega (0.0, west) |
| Jun 2027 | Vega (0.0, west) | Saturn (0.7, east) |
| Jul 2027 | Vega (0.0, northwest) | Capella (0.1, northeast) |
| Aug 2027 | Vega (0.0, northwest) | Capella (0.1, northeast) |
| Sep 2027 | Sirius (−1.5, southeast) | Capella (0.1, northeast) |
| Oct 2027 | Jupiter (−1.7, east) | Sirius (−1.5, south) |
| Nov 2027 | Jupiter (−1.8, southeast) | Sirius (−1.5, southwest) |
| Dec 2027 | Jupiter (−2.0, south) | Arcturus (0.0, southeast) |
Star or planet?
The brightest point in the sky is usually a planet. In 2026–2027 Venus reaches magnitude −4.8 and Jupiter −2.6, while Sirius, the brightest star, is −1.5. In these two years, a very bright point low in the west after sunset or in the east before sunrise is most likely Venus or Jupiter.
Where Angel Step fits
Angel Step reads only your step count from Apple Health and shows it as one number on a living sky. It does not track planets; that is this page's job. A clear evening is a good time for a walk: look west after sunset.
Sources
- JPL Horizons — apparent magnitudes of the planets, used to check this page's brightness figures (method: Mallama & Hilton, 2018). JPL
- US Naval Observatory — celestial navigation data, used to check this page's star positions. USNO
- Hipparcos new reduction (van Leeuwen 2007) and the Yale Bright Star Catalog — star positions and brightness. VizieR
- IAU Working Group on Star Names — the names of the stars. IAU
- 15 U.S.C. § 260a — daylight saving time, used for the clock times. Cornell LII
Updated