In the Sky This Month

From the handle of the Big Dipper, you can arc to Arcturus. In other words, follow the curve of the handle away from the dipper until you come to the bright yellow-orange star Arcturus, which is well up in the west as night falls.

Look for the planet Mars before and during dawn now. It looks like a bright orange star. Tomorrow, it stands to the upper right of the crescent Moon, with the brilliant planet Jupiter above them.

The Moon and three bright lights form a diamond in tomorrow’s dawn sky. Clockwise from the Moon, the diamond’s points are the planet Jupiter, the brightest of the three; the planet Mars; and the star Elnath. Aldebaran, the eye of the bull, is well to the right of the Moon.

Aldebaran, the brightest star of Taurus, will stand below the Moon at first light tomorrow, with the brilliant planet Jupiter a little farther from the Moon.

The constellation Lyra, the harp, is high overhead at nightfall. It’s easy to spot because its brightest star, Vega, is one of the brighter stars in the night sky. Four stars outline a tilted, flat box that stretches below Vega.

Orion, the hunter, one of the signature star patterns of winter, is in good view in the early morning sky. Orion clears the eastern horizon a couple of hours before sunrise and is high in the sky at first light.

If we could see the stars behind the Sun now, we would notice that the Sun is almost touching Regulus, the heart of the lion. The Sun crossed into Leo almost two weeks ago, and it won’t exit the constellation until next month.

Mars is high in the east at dawn, to the lower left of brilliant Jupiter. It looks like a bright star. Mars passed especially close to Earth 100 years ago this week. An astronomer organized an effort to listen for radio signals from the planet. None were heard.

The Moon will squeeze past the planet Saturn this evening. They climb into good view by about 9:30 or 10 p.m. Saturn looks like a bright star. As seen from most of the United States, it will pass just a fraction of a degree from the Moon.

The Moon is full today at 1:26 p.m. CDT as it lines up opposite the Sun in our sky. The full Moon of August is known by several names, including the Grain Moon and Green Corn Moon.