Today:
Look high in the northwest, as the sun sets. Again as if hanging by its handle, the Big Dipper hangs in the sky. Focus on the arcing shape of the Big Dipper’s handle. Now imagine a continuation of it, and that longer arc will lead you to the star Arcturus, hence the phrase “arc to Arcturus.
Monday:
On this day in 1969, millions of people on the Earth watched as one man, Neil Armstrong, became the first person to visit the Moon. Tonight the Moon won’t rise until after midnight, doing so in the east-northeast at around 1:50 AM, and somewhat surrounded by 3:15, with Venus below, Aldebaran to the lower right, and Capella farther to its upper left.
Tuesday:
As twilight now falls just a little earlier than the beginning of the month, you’ll find the skies dark enough to catch a view of the bluish-white star Spica, low in the southwest. Spica, translated as a “spike of wheat”, sits on the hips of Virgo, long associated with the harvest. In another 6 weeks, Spica becomes lost in the Sun’s glare, about the time that the harvest season begins in earnest.