Today:
Venus continues to be majestic in the morning skies, rising before 3:30 AM, and seen along side the bright star Spica to its right. Although Spica shines as the 11th brightest star in the heavens, it appears 100 times fainter than Venus. Through the month, Venus loses its height, rising an hour later, and only climbing to one quarter of the way up at month’s end.
Saturday:
Just as the waning Gibbous Moon is rising after 9 o’clock, the planet Jupiter reaches its prime position, high in the south. From this lofty perch, Jupiter appears to command the rising Orion in the southeast, as well as the setting star Vega in the northwest. Jupiter maintains this position in the evenings through the month, though reaching it 4 minutes early each night, close to 7:30 by the end of the month.
Sunday:
Late this evening, near 11 o’clock, a waning Gibbous Moon lifts into the east-northeast, easily outshining its stellar companion, the star Regulus to its right. It’s interesting to note that the Sun passes Regulus in late August. Connecting that to this evening, the Moon follows the Sun’s August path, which means it rides very high in the south, cresting two-thirds of the way up in the south tomorrow morning at 5 o’clock.