Today:
As Venus continues to settle lower, it becomes your reference point as a very slender Moon joins it, well to the left. But just to the Moon’s lower left, a tiny spark of light appears very close to 9 o’clock, the sizzling hot planet Mercury. July never offers a great view of Mercury, always very low. A pair of binoculars or a spotting scope will help.
Thursday:
On this day in 1969, millions of people on the Earth watched as one man, Neil Armstrong, became the first person to visit the Moon, the first of six successful missions to the Moon. You’ll see the Moon this evening as a slender Crescent, low in the west-northwest, with our future mission target to its left, the planet Mars.
Friday:
A thin slice of the waxing Crescent Moon appears low in the west, not enough to interfere with viewing a faint constellation, high in the north. Look between the stars of the Big and Little Dipper for the tail of Draco, the Dragon. It curves up and around the bowl of the Little Dipper as the Dragon’s body, then its neck stretches back up to its head near the zenith.