In the Sky This Month

The Butterfly Nebula, a colorful cocoon of gas around a dying star, is close to the upper right of the “stinger” of the scorpion, which is low in the south at nightfall. The nebula is an easy target for binoculars or a telescope.

The Moon is new today, lost in the Sun’s glare as it crosses between Earth and the Sun. The only time we see the new Moon is during a solar eclipse, when it passes directly across the Sun. The next one, on October 14, will be visible across most of the U.S.

The scorpion has a potent stinger—a pair of bright stars at the tip of its body. They are low in the south at nightfall, with the rest of Scorpius curling to their upper right. The brighter star is Lambda Scorpii, with Upsilon Scorpii close to its right.

Pegasus, the flying horse, clears the eastern horizon by midnight. It’s preceded by another horse, Equuleus, to its upper right. Equuleus is far smaller than its famous equine cousin—by far the smallest of all the ancient constellations.

The globular cluster Messier 4 is the nearest globular to Earth, just 7,000 light-years away. It stands close to the right of Antares, the heart of the scorpion. Through binoculars, M4 looks like a fuzzy star, but it’s really the combined glow of 100,000 stars.

The Moon poses near the face of the bull early tomorrow. The face is outlined by the bright stars of the Hyades cluster, with one exception. The brightest star is Aldebaran, the bull’s eye. It moves through the galaxy on its own.

The giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, Sagittarius A*, is in the constellation Sagittarius, which is in the southeast at dusk. Its bright stars form the outline of a teapot. The black hole is immersed in the “steam” above the spout.

Sagittarius is in the southeast at nightfall. Some of the constellation’s brighter stars form the outline of a teapot. A bright patch of the Milky Way looks like steam rising from the spout. The center of the galaxy is hidden behind the steam.

The Moon and the planet Jupiter will be quite chummy the next couple of mornings. Jupiter will stand close to the Moon at dawn tomorrow, and a little farther from the Moon on Wednesday. Jupiter looks like a brilliant star.

Aquila, the eagle, spreads its wings across the eastern sky at nightfall. Its brightest star, Altair, is at the bottom right point of the wide-spread Summer Triangle. Altair represents the eagle’s breast, with its wings above and below.