Today:
As twilight fades from 9:30 to 10:00 PM this evening, can you make out the letter “W” formed by five medium-bright stars, low above the northern horizon? This forms part of the throne of Cassiopeia, the Queen. To her upper right, still low, you might see a house-shaped pattern – a box with a triangle on top. This is the Queen’s husband, King Cepheus.
Wednesday:
Prowling the heavens high in the southwest this evening starting near 9:30 PM, you’ll find Leo, the Lion. Leo is one of the horoscope signs, its traditional dates of late July into the third week of August marking when the sun was against the background of these stars 3000 years ago. This now happens one month later.
Thursday:
Saturn continues to rise a few minutes earlier each night, breaking the eastern horizon at 2 o’clock tomorrow morning, though not alone. The Moon is just hours past its Last Quarter phase, still looking half-illuminated, just to the lower left of its far-more distant cousin Saturn, some 910 million miles, compared to the Moon’s one quarter of one million miles.