Today:
The Moon is just past its First Quarter as it nuzzles up close to the reddish star Antares, the “heart” of the Scorpion, low in the south-southwest as twilight gives way to darkness from 8:45 PM to 9 PM. The pair slide lower into the southwest, setting after 1:00 AM.
Monday:
The star Arcturus appears around 9:00 PM, as twilight gives way to darker skies, seen about half way up in the west. It is due west at 10:30 and sets near 1:00 AM. This star owes its status as the brightest star in the summer skies because it is relatively close by at 36 light years, and it is huge, measuring 37 times the diameter of our Sun.
Tuesday:
The brightening Gibbous Moon overwhelms more and more of the fainter stars, but turning your gaze to the north reveals two patterns that can compete with the Moon’s glow – the Big Dipper, and Cassiopeia, the Queen. The more familiar Big Dipper continues to ease a bit lower into the northwest, the bottom of the Dipper about one third of the way up, while the Queen, shaped like the letter “W”, has risen to one third of the way up in the northeast.