Today:
Venus is just starting an extended morning display for early risers, lasting into the beginning of 2024. Our planetary neighbor rises in the east-northeast near 4:15 AM, but is placed much better for viewing, still quite low, from 5 to 5:45 AM, when twilight begins to overwhelm it. Venus rises earlier, and climbs higher through November 1st.
Saturday:
The brightest star in the Summer Triangle, Vega, appears nearly overhead as the last of the twilight fades near 8:35 PM. Vega’s brilliance is due, in part, to its location just 25 light years away, and because it is the fourth brightest star within 50 light years of here.
Sunday:
The waning Gibbous Moon brightens the nighttime skies as it rises near 9:15 PM, followed about a half-hour later by the planet Jupiter. Well left of the Moon shines one of the brightest stars in the heavens, Capella. It twinkles rather profusely, as its light travels through the thicker, lower portion of our atmosphere, causing the light to waver, including flashing briefly different colors.