As twilight fades to night, the waxing Gibbous Moon makes a return visit to the star Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. The pair will be due south at 9:20 PM, where Spica is well to the lower left of the Moon. Since Spica is very close to the Moon’s monthly path, they encounter with each other every 27 days or so, repeating in late June, July, and August.
Wednesday:
At 11 o’clock this evening, climbing into the east and northeast, a preview of coming summer attractions has returned to the skies. Bright, almost half way up in the skies, is Vega, while just rising in the east-northeast shines Altair. The third in this trio of stars, Deneb, is one quarter of the way above the northeast horizon.
Thursday:
The planet Mars spends the first few evenings of June amid the faint cluster of stars called “the Beehive”, because it does appear like a swarm of celestial bees. Of course Mars is so bright it overwhelms them, but a pair of binoculars brings them into view, better by 9:45 as the sky darkens, but lowering through the rest of the evening.