Today:
This evening it’s all about the Moon and Mars. As the glow of the evening twilight dims after 9:30, our satellite very nearly obscures (occults) the Red Planet, the pair one quarter of the way up in the western sky. Mars will appear nearly at the top point of the Moon’s crescent, but if you can watch through 10:30, you’ll notice the Moon shifting to the lower left of Mars, as its orbit sends it slowly toward the left or east.
Monday:
The Big Dipper is beginning to drop a little into the northwestern skies from its position at the top of the sky in May. A legend from the Seneca Tribe tells us that the bowl of the dipper is really a bear, with the closest star to the bowl a hunter with a bow and arrow. The middle star is a hunter with a cooking pot, and the third star is another hunter, gathering firewood to cook with.
Tuesday:
Draco, the Dragon is not as well known as its neighbors – the Big and Little Dippers, or Big and Little Bears – but it is a beautiful pattern to find in the sky. Look between the two Dippers to see a thin line of faint stars that hooks half-way around the Little Dipper, then curves the other way, topped off with a diamond-shaped head.