In the Sky This Month

Venus, the brilliant “morning star,” will stand to the upper right of the crescent Moon in tomorrow’s dawn twilight. Venus is the brightest object in the night sky after the Moon.

The planet Saturn just peeks into view at dawn now. Tomorrow, it will stand to the upper right of the Moon, with brilliant Venus closer to the left of the Moon. They will be in view by about an hour before sunrise, low in the southeast.

The Moon will sweep past Saturn and Venus in the dawn sky the next few days. Saturn is close to the lower left of the Moon tomorrow, with Venus, the “morning star,” farther along the same line.

Mercury, the Sun’s closest and smallest planet, is in view in early evening the next few days. It’s quite low in the west as twilight fades. But it looks like a fairly bright star, so if you have a clear horizon, you should be able to spot it.

The planet Jupiter huddles below the Moon at first light tomorrow. It looks like a brilliant star. But it’s really the solar system’s largest planet — a ball of gas about 11 times the diameter of Earth.

Antares, the orange heart of the scorpion, is below the Moon at first light tomorrow, far to the right of the bright planet Jupiter. It’s a ticking time bomb that could explode as a supernova any time during the next million years or so.

The long constellation Hydra, the water snake, is beginning its annual crawl across the southern evening sky. As night falls, its head is in the east-southeast, about a third of the way up the sky. The head is outlined by a pentagon of meek stars.

Alphard, the brightest star of the constellation Hydra, the water snake, stands low in the east-southeast as the sky gets good and dark. It is far to the lower left of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.

Spica rises to the right of the Moon in late evening. It is the brightest star of Virgo. It actually consists of two stars that are far larger and brighter than the Sun. The more massive of the two is one of the closest stars likely to explode as a supernova.

Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, arcs across the south this evening. If you live in the far southern U.S., the second-brightest star peeks into view as well. Canopus is due south around 9 p.m., just a few degrees above the horizon.