BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy 2017 - the year to look up at the sky!

The Moon is past Full this week, so it's rising later and later after sunset each night. By Sunday, when it's at Last Quarter, it won't be rising until around 1:00am local time. Look for Jupiter bright in the southwest after sunset. Saturn is also visible, rising in the southeast as night falls. Towards dawn, look for Venus bright in the east, between the Pleiades star cluster (above Saturn) and Aldebaran (below Saturn).

On summer evenings, look for a gorgeous pair of star clusters near the Tail of the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. They are M6 (Butterfly Cluster) and M7 (Ptolemy’s Cluster). M6 and M7 may well be northern summer’s finest clusters. To appreciate them, you need a dark sky. Binoculars enhance the view.

Jupiter is still the brightest starlike object as night falls. Look for it in southwest. Saturn is visible in the southeast at dusk, and the waxing gibbous Moon is nearby on Wednesday evening. Towards dawn, Venus is bright in the east and passing, albeit briefly, through the constellation Orion. By Tuesday Venus will be in Gemini. The predawn eastern sky at this time of the year (and even more so next month) presents a preview of the winter sky, with Taurus, Orion, and Gemini visible before the sun rises.

The total solar eclipse that crosses the country on Monday is not the only thing to see in the sky this week. Jupiter is fading from sight in the west at sunset, but the young crescent Moon will pass by it on the evenings of the 24th and 25th. Saturn is shining bright but low in the southern sky as night falls. Venus is bright in the eastern sky before dawn.

The Moon is waxing this week, growing from First Quarter on Tuesday, to nearly Full on Sunday. Jupiter is getting lower in the western sky at sunset, but is still visible. Saturn is low but prominent in the southern sky as night falls, with the waxing gibbous Moon passing by on the 29th and 30th. Venus is extremely bright before dawn in the eastern sky.

Use the Moon to find the star Antares and the planet Saturn, the 6th planet outward from the sun. Antares is reddish, while Saturn is golden. You might be able to tell that Antares twinkles more fiercely than Saturn, which shines with a steadier light. If you have a dark sky, you can see that Saturn now shines in front of the constellation Ophiuchus, sometimes called the forgotten zodiac constellation.

Let the moon on August 29, 2017 guide you to the planet Saturn, and if you have a telescope, use it to get an eyeful of Saturn’s marvelous rings.