Moon and Spica
Spica, the brightest star of Virgo, stands below the Moon this evening. They’re flanked by two bright planets. Jupiter, the giant of the solar system, is to the upper left, with Venus, the “evening star,” to the lower right.
More Moon and Venus
Venus is farthest from the Sun for its current “evening star” appearance. Because of the angle at which the planet sets, though, it doesn’t look far from the Sun. It’s quite low in the west as night falls. Tonight, it’s below the crescent Moon.
Moon and Venus
Venus, the brilliant “evening star,” stands to the left of the Moon this evening, and even closer below the Moon tomorrow night. The star Spica is to the upper left of Venus and the Moon, with bright Jupiter farther along the same line.
NGC 6397
NGC 6397 is a giant star cluster in Ara, the altar. It’s below the stinger of the scorpion. From the United States, it’s visible only from far-southern latitudes. The cluster took shape when the Milky Way galaxy was just 400 million years old.
Perseids
The Perseid meteor shower should be at its best tonight. Under dark skies, you might see a dozen or so of its shooting stars per hour. The Moon isn’t around to interfere with the light show.
Solar Eclipse
A partial solar eclipse will take place early tomorrow, as the Moon covers part of the Sun’s disk. It will be visible from the Arctic Ocean through Greenland, Scandinavia, and parts of Asia. The United States misses out on this one, though.
Ara
The mythical victory of the gods of Olympus over their predecessors, the Titans, is commemorated in the stars, as the altar where they swore allegiance to each other. It’s the constellation Ara, below the tail of the scorpion.
M11
The star cluster M11 is well up in the south this evening, in the constellation Scutum, the shield. Because its brightest stars resemble a flock of ducks, it’s also called the Wild Duck cluster. Through binoculars, it looks like a patch of mist.
Dark Clouds
The glowing band of the Milky Way is divided by a dark rift across its length. The rift consists of dense clouds of dust. The dust grains absorb the light from the stars behind them, making it look like there are almost no stars at all.
Star Clouds
The band of light that outlines the disk of the Milky Way galaxy is a rare sight. To see it, you need especially dark skies. And as luck would have it, there’s no moonlight for the next few evenings, although you still need to escape city lights.