Today:
Venus and Jupiter dazzled early risers in August, and will continue to do so into September, though they continue to move apart, with the Earth’s orbit shifting us for a better view of Jupiter, as it climbs higher, while Venus’s orbit starts steering it back toward the Sun. Even so, Venus remains in the morning skies through early November.
Wednesday:
Although the sky’s daily progression doesn’t change, our sunsets are getting earlier. This effectively slows down the transition of patterns like the Big Dipper in the northwest, or the departure of the Scorpion in the southwest, keeping them in the evening skies a bit longer. With the Sun now setting before 7:30, the skies are dark before 9 o’clock.
Thursday:
Arcturus now settles lower in the west by dark. The second brightest star seen in the northern latitudes, Arcturus is due west at 8:00, and sets tonight in the northwest shortly after 11 o’clock. Its brightness is a combination of distance – relatively close at 37 light years away – and its size, some 26 times the diameter of our Sun.