Friday, July 18, 2025

Today: The star Capella is right on the northern horizon, due north at 10:15 PM EDT. While it is essentially not viewable, it never sets at our latitude. By midnight, it will be rising in the north-northeast. In six months from now, it will be almost exactly overhead...

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Today: High in the east-northeast is the star Deneb, the tail of Cygnus, the Swan. Deneb is Arabic for “the tail”, though Arabs described this region as the “chicken”. While Deneb is less bright than the other members of the Summer Triangle – Vega overhead, and...

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Today: High in the east-southeast at 10:30 are three bright stars which make up the Summer Triangle. The highest and brightest is Vega, lower and to the left is Deneb, and lowest and more toward the south is Altair. Altair comes from an Arabic word meaning the “flying...

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Today: Once the moon has fully risen by 11:20 PM, you needn’t wait long to see its celestial companion for the night, This time it is the planet Saturn, which will appear barely below the moon by 11:45, perhaps a few minutes earlier, assuming a flat horizon and...

Monday, July 14, 2025

Today: The southern end of the Milky Way hosts a rich variety types of objects because it is the center of our galaxy, though binoculars or telescopes are needed. Looking at the red star Antares, due south at 9:45 PM, ordinary binoculars will show a fuzzy object...

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Today: Once the sky starts to fully darken, at around 10:00 PM, look a little more than half-way up in the west-southwest, where the pale-orange Arcturus commands the western skies, the brightest star of summer. Toward the northeast from there, you might discern...