Today:
The fading western twilight from 9:15 to 9:30 PM always features four prominent stars as June gets underway. Lowest of the quartet shines Procyon, the Little Dog, due west, and getting ready to set. Well right in the northwest appears Capella, the fourth brightest star we can see. Ordinarlily, we conclude with the Twins of Gemini higher and between them, but this year includes Mercury, also low between them, and the stunning Venus (brighter) and Jupiter (higher) within this stellar grouping.
Tuesday:
While the western skies are littered with bright stars and planets, the southeastern skies welcome one of the summer’s most noteworthy constellations, Scorpius, the Scorpion. The Scorpion’s brightest star, Antares, emerges from the twilight between 9:15 and 9:30 PM, edging higher in the east-southeast, easier to see an hour later.
Wednesday:
Mercury makes its best evening showing of the year over the next ten days. Look low in the west-northwest this evening starting near 9:15 for a bright spark of light buried in the twilight, a bit more than the width of your hand, held at arm’s length, above a level horizon. Mercury will inch a little higher through the next week, but it begins to lose some of its brightness thereafter.