Moon and Antares
Antares, the orange supergiant star that marks the heart of Scorpius, the scorpion, huddles quite close to the Moon at nightfall, with the gap closing as the night goes on.
Doomed Giants
Three bright stars in this evening’s sky have a lot in common. Deneb, Antares, and Spica are among the biggest, brightest, and heaviest stars in the galaxy, and each will end its life with a titanic explosion known as a supernova.
Guardian Stars
The stars that mark the outer edge of the Little Dipper are known as the Guardians of the Pole. That’s because they are not far from the Pole Star, Polaris. They circle around Polaris all night, every night, like guards on patrol.
Cat’s Eyes
A pair of cat’s eyes glows just above the northwestern horizon at nightfall: Pollux and Castor. The stars mark the heads of the constellation Gemini. Pollux is about twice as bright as Castor, which is close to its right.
Moon and Spica
Two egg-shaped stars form the system known as Spica, the leading light of Virgo. Spica is close to the left or lower left of the Moon as darkness falls this evening. The bright star will stand about the same distance to the right of the Moon tomorrow night.
Thuban
Thuban stands due north at nightfall. The star is in Draco, the dragon, high above the Pole Star, Polaris. Thuban is hard to see under light-polluted skies. Millennia ago, it served as the Pole Star. It helped Egyptian architects align the pyramids of Giza.
First-Quarter Moon
The Moon will reach its first-quarter phase at 12:18 a.m. CDT tomorrow, when it lines up at a right angle to the line between Earth and the Sun. It will be in the southwest at nightfall and set around 1 or 2 a.m. local time.
Vega
Vega, the leading light of the constellation Lyra and one of the brighter stars in the northern sky, is in the northeast at nightfall and climbs high overhead later on.
Moon and Regulus
Regulus, the heart of the lion, is close to the left or lower left of the Moon at nightfall. To the eye alone, Regulus looks like a single star. Instead, it’s a system of four stars. It’s split into two pairs, which are separated by a third of a light-year.
Summer Triangle
With the start of summer just a week away, the signature star pattern of the season is already in good view. The Summer Triangle is low in the east and northeast as night falls, and climbs high across the sky later on.