June’s Full “Strawberry” Moon might not be red, but its companion this evening certainly is. The reddish-colored star Antares appears just to the right of the Moon as darkness follows the twilight by 10 o’clock, climbing into the southeast, but not climbing very high. June’s Full Moon, opposite from the Sun, travels low over the southern horizon tonight.
Sunday:
Just as darkness settles in by 10 o’clock, and before the light of the nearly Full Moon washes across the sky by 10:30, look due north, where Polaris, the North Star is exactly north, and half way up in the skies. Now look above it, where a pair of medium bright stars represent “north stars” from a bygone era. The brighter of the two is Kochab, the lesser Pherkad, called the “guardians of the Pole Star
Monday:
Now that we are past the Full Moon, the first part of the evening is dark, inviting a look due south close to 10 o’clock, where two medium-bright stars appear one third of the way up from the horizon. The one higher and a bit left is Zubeneschemali, which comes from the Arabic for “northern claw”, while to the lower right is Zubenelgenubi, or the “southern claw”, referring to the claws of the Scorpion.