Today:
At 9 PM, the Summer Triangle still shines, involving two stars that are closer to the horizon: Altair in the west, and Vega in the northwest; higher and in between is Deneb. A simultaneous triangle appears in the east-southeast, with Aldebaran the higher in the heavens, below it are Betelgeuse, closer to east, and Rigel, closer to southeast.
Thursday:
A 6 PM, look for Saturn about halfway up in the southeast, continuing across the southern sky the first half of the night, and setting in the west around 1 AM. Saturn will be quite noticeable, as it will be relatively far-removed from other bright objects, the nearest being the quirky star Fomalhaut, the thirteenth brightest star in the northern sky, which will appear roughly halfway between Jupiter and the horizon.
Friday:
In late fall, one of the Big Dipper’s tricks becomes problematic. By visualizing the arcing stars in the Dipper’s handle, and extending that arc outward, the maxim says you can “arc to Arcturus.” But evenings now have the Dipper very low in the north, and Arcturus so low that you can’t do this until Arcturus rises in the east-northeast, after 3 AM.