Today:
While the western skies are littered with bright stars and planets, the southeastern skies welcome one of the summer’s most noteworthy constellations, Scorpius, the Scorpion. The Scorpion’s brightest star, Antares, emerges from the twilight between 9:15 and 9:30 PM, edging higher in the east-southeast, easier to see an hour later.
Wednesday:
Mercury makes its best evening showing of the year over the next ten days. Look low in the west-northwest this evening starting near 9:15 for a bright spark of light buried in the twilight, a bit more than the width of your hand, held at arm’s length, above a level horizon. Mercury will inch a little higher through the next week, but it begins to lose some of its brightness thereafter.
Thursday:
Though named for a famous hero, the constellation Hercules is a challenge. A clear evening this month will find its “keystone” or “bow-tie” shape directly between the bright star Vega, two thirds of the way up in the sky in the east near midnight, and brilliant orange-white Arcturus, high in the southwestern sky.