Your guide to the night sky
1 Oct The moon sets early, making tonight great for stargazing. Look for Saturn low in the west at dusk, Mars 2 fist-widths to the upper left near Sagittarius and the Summer Triangle directly overhead.
3 Oct At dusk, Venus is 2 finger-widths below the crescent moon. The pair sets within 2 hours of sunset.
4 Oct The moon is at apogee, 63.7 Earth-radii (406,000 kilometers) away.
1 Sep The equation of time is zero.
6 Sep The moon is at apogee, 63.51 Earth-radii (405,000 kilometers) away.
8 Sep Low in the southwest at sunset, Saturn is 2 finger-widths below the moon. Arcturus lies 3 finger-widths to Saturn’s lower left. Mars is 1 fist-width to the moon’s lower left.
4 Aug Low in the west at dusk, the moon is less than 1 finger-width to Mercury’s left. They set about an hour after the sun.
5 Aug The moon and Jupiter are less than 1 finger-width apart tonight.
7 Aug Spica is 4 finger-widths to the moon’s left this evening.
1 Jul Low in the east at dawn, Aldebaran is 1 fist-width to the moon’s lower left. The Pleiades Cluster is about the same distance to the upper right. The moon is at perigee, 57.38 Earth-radii (366,000 kilometers) away.
2 Jul The moon is to Aldebaran’s lower left.
4 Jul Earth is at aphelion, its farthest distance from the sun for the year at 1.01675 AU (94.5 million miles or 151 million kilometers).
3 Jun Low in the east before dawn, Mercury is 1 finger-width above the moon. At opposition, Saturn will be fully illuminated by the sun. At its closest approach to Earth, Saturn is at its brightest for the year and visible all night long. The moon is at perigee, 56.62 Earth-radii (361,000 kilometers) away.
5 Jun Rising an hour before the sun, Mercury is at its greatest elongation, 24.2 degrees west of the sun.
7 Jun Low in the west at sunset, the Gemini Twins are to the moon’s upper right.
6 May The moon is at perigee, 56.1 Earth-radii (358,000 kilometers) away. With perigee occurring 15 hours before the new moon, expect tidal extremes.
9 May Mercury is at inferior conjunction as it passes between the sun and Earth.
10 May The Gemini Twins, Pollux and Castor, are 1 fist-width to the moon’s upper right low in the west tonight.
11 May Tonight, the Gemini Twins are 1 fist-width to the moon’s right, and bright Procyon is 1 fist-width below the moon.
13 May High in the south at dusk, Regulus, in the constellation Leo, the Lion, is 2 finger-widths above the moon. Jupiter is 1½ fist-widths to the moon’s upper left.
1 Apr At dawn, the moon is low in the southeast with Sagittarius to the right. Scorpius is farther to the right with Saturn and Mars above the Scorpion.
5 Apr Mercury is at perihelion, its closest approach to the sun, 0.3075 astronomical units away.
7 Apr The moon is at perigee, 56 Earth-radii (357,000 kilometers) away, its second-closest approach for the year. Because perigee occurs only 6 hours after the new moon, expect extreme tides.
1 Mar Low in the south this morning, Mars is 4 finger-widths to the moon’s right, Saturn is 1 fist-width to the moon’s lower left, and Antares is 1 fist-width below the moon. Compare the colors of Mars and Antares, the “rival of Mars.”
2 Mar Saturn is 2 finger-widths to the moon’s lower right this morning. Antares lies 4 finger-widths beyond Saturn.
4 Mar The moon is 4 finger-widths below Regulus this evening.
1 Feb Low in the south before dawn, the moon and Mars are separated by 1 finger-width.
2 Feb This morning the moon lies between Mars, 1½ fist-widths to the right, and Saturn, about the same distance to the lower left. Antares is 3 or 4 finger-widths to Saturn’s lower right.
3 Feb Saturn is 2 finger-widths below the moon.
6 Feb Mercury is 1 finger-width below the moon. Venus is a little more than 2 finger-widths to the moon’s right.
1 Jan Low in the west at dusk, Mercury sets 1½ hours after the sun.
2 Jan At 2249 UT, Earth is at perihelion, its closest approach to the sun, 0.98 astronomical units away.}
3 Jan Rising 6 hours before the sun, the moon and Spica are high in the south at sunrise, with Mars 1 finger-width to the moon’s lower left. Better than average, the Quadrantids meteor shower may bring up to 40 meteors per hour at its peak tonight and tomorrow morning.
6 Jan Low in the east before dawn, brilliant Venus is less than 3 finger-widths to the moon’s lower left. Saturn is 1 finger-width to Venus’ lower left.
1 Dec Regulus is 2 finger-widths to the moon’s left shortly before midnight.
2 Dec Regulus, the heart of Leo, the Lion, is less than 2 finger-widths to the moon’s upper right before dawn.
3 Dec Jupiter is 4 finger-widths to the moon’s left before dawn. Regulus is 1½ fist-widths to the upper right.
1 Nov Daylight saving time ends at 0200, when we turn back the clocks, repeating the hour 0100 to 0200. Before dawn, the moon is below the Gemini Twins with Orion to the lower right.
2 Nov Jupiter, Venus and Mars are high in the east before dawn. Venus and Mars are ½ finger-width apart.
4 Nov Look low in the east 3 hours after sunset for bright Aldebaran just above the horizon with the Pleiades Cluster 1 fist-width above it. The Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, contains hundreds of stars, but only a handful are visible without binoculars.
