In the Sky This Month

The planet Mars is in great view late tonight. It looks like a brilliant orange star. It stands just below the Moon as they climb into good view after midnight, and even closer to the Moon at first light tomorrow.

The Omega Centauri star cluster puts in a late-evening appearance. It stands highest above the southern horizon around 10 p.m. and looks like a faint smudge of light. It is about 17,000 light-years away, and contains a million stars or more.

The bright planet Saturn rises shortly before the Moon late tonight, and precedes the Moon across the sky. It will stand close to the upper right of the Moon as they rise, and a bit farther to the lower right at first light.

Saturn is in good view the next couple of nights. The planet looks like a bright star, and stands to the lower left of the Moon as they climb into view late this evening. It will stand closer to the right of the Moon tomorrow night.

Antares, the leading light of the constellation Scorpius, is in good view tonight, to the right of the full Moon as darkness falls. Antares is a supergiant — one of the biggest and brightest stars in the galaxy.

Three bright lights line up parallel to the western horizon this evening. The center light is also the brightest: Venus, the “evening star.” The star Capella is far to the right of Venus, with the star Procyon about the same distance to the left of Venus.

Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, looks like a brilliant star close to the right of the Moon at nightfall. It stays close to the Moon throughout the night.

The Moon slides between two bright lights tonight. The planet Jupiter is close to the lower left of the Moon at nightfall. It’s brighter than anything in the night sky except the Moon and Venus. The star Spica is farther to the right of the Moon.

Spica, the leading light of Virgo, perches to the lower right of the Moon at nightfall. It is one of the brighter stars in the sky, and it’s not close to any other bright stars, so it stands out.

A few minutes after sunset, look for a blue-gray band of color just above the eastern horizon, with pink above it. The dark band is Earth’s shadow. As Earth turns on its axis, the shadow will engulf you as the daytime sky gives way to night.