The Sky Today on Friday, October 30: Mars approaches Leo

The Red Planet reaches the border of Cancer and Leo; tomorrow it will have crossed the line into the Lion, sharing it with Jupiter. | Published: October 30, 2026 Mars stands at the border of Cancer and Leo the morning of the 30th, preparing to join bright Jupiter in the latter by tomorrow. Together with Regulus, the three points of light form a line in the early-morning sky. Credit: Stellarium Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column. October 29: Open cluster Collinder 463 Magnitude 0.8 Mars, currently tracking eastward through the sky, now stands at the border of Cancer and Leo. It is still within the bounds of the Crab this morning, roughly 60° high in the southeast and just over 6° to the upper right of brighter Jupiter in Leo, about 90 minutes before sunrise. To Jupiter’s east (lower left) is magnitude 1.4 Regulus, the brightest star in the Lion, which also serves as the great cat’s heart. Together with Jupiter and Mars, the three form a line slashing upward in the predawn sky. Far to the planetary pair’s upper right is Procyon, the bright nose of Canis Minor, the Little Dog. And to that star’s far lower right is even brighter Sirius, the nose of Canis Major, the Big Dog — the brightest star in the sky. However, Jupiter (at magnitude –2.0) currently outshines Sirius’ magnitude –1.4 glow. Mars will continue to move east, joining Jupiter in Leo by tomorrow morning. Sunrise: 7:27 A.M.Sunset: 6:00 P.M.Moonrise: 9:53 P.M.Moonset: 12:45 P.M.Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (69%)*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location. Alison Klesman is senior editor of Astronomy magazine. She holds a Ph.D. in astronomy and has studied a variety of topics, from minor planets to supermassive black holes.