Today:
Over the next week, a comet rises into the western skies, called Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. As long as it survives it passage around the Sun at the end of September, its climbs higher each evening, very low and in the twilight near due west this evening, its tail almost straight up. Although it gets fainter each night, it appears higher, and later in a darker evening sky.
Saturday:
When Columbus landed in the Bahamas on this date in 1492, he used the North Star to determine his location. However, he mistakenly used the star Alderamin in Cepheus, and thought he landed near what is now Boston. Either tropical breezes, or an able assistant, helped him to correct his error.
Sunday:
A waxing Gibbous Moon shines in the southern skies this evening, making its way toward the bright, star-like object to its left, the planet Saturn. They start in the southeast as twilight ends by 7 o’clock, and then climb a little higher as they slide to due south by 10 o’clock, one third of the way up from the horizon. By tomorrow, the Moon will be a bit larger, and to the left of Saturn.
