Today:
At mid-month, Jupiter continues to rise 4 minutes earlier each evening. Why such a specific amount? Jupiter’s orbit of 11.6 years around the Sun means it moves very slowly. Instead, it is the steady motion of the Earth in its orbit that shifts our view of Jupiter, allowing it to rise in the east 4 minutes earlier each night.
Monday:
The star Capella, one of the ten brightest in the sky, is exactly northeast at 9:15 PM EDT, occasionally flickering colors of red, blue and green as its brilliant light is broken into random segments of a rainbow by the Earth’s atmosphere.
Tuesday:
Our dark evenings favor star gazers, especially attempting to find fainter objects. One such item is the constellation Delphinus, the Dolphin, appearing like a coma-shaped pattern of stars, very high and due south at 7:45 PM. Using the lowest star in the Summer Triangle, Altair, look to its left, where it appears like it is jumping out of the water.