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Jane Houston Jones from NASA's JPL talks about the January sky.

I've just looked out the window and the crescent Moon and Venus are very bright. Mars is fainter but I saw it off to the left.

Jones mentions binoculars. It's worth having a pair. Much easier to use than a telescope, and more portable. Start Observing - with Binoculars
Brian Ventrudo takes you through the delights of the January sky. This page will give you a handy reference.

Also a reminder that Heavens-above can provide you with sky maps set to your location and set to whatever time and date you want.
The Moon and Venus inspired lots of people to take a snap of the pair in the sky. Here is the Moon and Venus seen from Wiltshire, England by Albany Cope. It's a pretty sight in the darkening sky.
I was walking to get a bus home tonight. It had been raining today, but the sky had substantially cleared. Even with the bright gibbous Moon and the city light, I could see Orion below the Moon.

If you follow the line of the three stars of Orion's belt from right to left, it points o bright Sirius in Canis Major. If you follow them in the opposite direction, they point towards Aldebaran, the eye of the bull Taurus. Aldebaran appeared just to the right of the Moon where I was tonight.
Steve Caridi gives the heads up for the week starting January 9th:

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The Sky this Week
This week, Mars and Venus continue to light up the southwestern sky at dusk. It's not hard to tell the two apart: Venus shines at magnitude -4.3, nearly as bright as it ever gets. Mars, a few degrees to the upper left, is reddish and shines at nearly 1st magnitude, about 100 times fainter than Venus but still easily visible as one of the first "stars" of the night. The Moon passes near the stars of Taurus and Orion early in the week. By the evening of the 14th/15th, it is in Leo, and it will pass about 1° (about two Moon diameters) from that constellation's brightest star, Regulus. Toward dawn, look for Jupiter high in the southeastern sky, a few degrees above the bright star Spica.
Universe Today has published David Dickinson's compendium of what's up in the sky for this year. Much of it is for experienced amateurs, but there are a number of events that anyone can appreciate.

It is free. You don't have to register. You can simply download the pdf of 101 Astronomical Events 2017.

And Christopher Becke has linked the 101 events to a Google calendar.
Steve Caridi reminds us of what's up this week:
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Venus and Mars are easy to spot in the southwestern sky as night falls. Venus is so bright that you can easily see it before the sky gets very dark - it will be the first "star" you see. On a clear night, try to see how early in dusk you can spot the brightest planet. Jupiter is bright and high in the southern sky before dawn. Look for a third-quarter Moon nearby on the morning of the 19th.

If somebody will chase the clouds away, I'll be looking!
Not much change for the coming week - the planets are still the main attraction. We've had several clear evenings and Venus is incredibly bright. Bet the UFO reports are coming in thick and fast.

From Steve Caridi:
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Venus and Mars continue to light up the southwestern sky at dusk. Venus is about 100 times brighter than Mars, but Mars is easy to identify because of its reddish hue. Jupiter is rising around midnight local time, so toward dawn it is riding very high in the southern sky among the stars of Virgo (bright Spica is a few degrees below it). About an hour before sunrise, look for Saturn low in the southeastern sky. The waning crescent Moon will pass near it on the morning of the 24th.
Bruce McClure and Deborah Byrd say:
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As February 2017 opens, the young moon is sweeping past the planets Venus and Mars in the western sky after sunset. Venus rules over the evening sky while Jupiter lords over the morning sky. Venus, the brightest planet, blazes in the west first thing at dusk, and showcases its greatest illuminated extent on February 17. Jupiter, the second-brightest planet, lights up the nighttime between late evening and sunrise. Mars is near Venus in the evening sky, but it’s higher up and much fainter than Venus, setting in the west shortly after Venus does around mid-evening. Meanwhile, Saturn appears in the southeastern sky during the predawn hours. Mercury is falling into the glare of the rising sun.

Here they are: Venus and Mars and the waxing Moon
What's up in the sky in February? Jane Houston Jones fills us in. There is a transcript or you can watch the video in your choice of format.



The skies of La Lude, France on January 31 as the twilight was fading. You can see the Moon and dazzling Venus. Mars - much fainter - can be seen above the Sun. But look at the bright trail seeming to shoot upwards from Mars. That's the International Space Station. It appears brighter as it moves into the darker part of the sky.

Image Credit & Copyright: Maxime Oudoux
Although I've often seen Venus and Mars in the early evening sky, I haven't seen Saturn lately. Saturn has been visible in the early morning sky - fine for planets, but not for me. But it's not gone forever. Bruce McClure and Deborah Byrd write:
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Saturn rises about 2 hours earlier with each passing month, so it’ll rise in the southeast sky around midnight by mid-April. In early May, Saturn will rise at late evening. The final two weeks of May will probably present Saturn low in the southeast sky before your bedtime. By mid-June, Saturn will be out all night long, adorning the nighttime from sundown to sunup.

You can Learn to see Saturn with their guidance. Gives you the when and the where. You can see Saturn without without a telescope (or good binoculars) - you only need an optical aid to see the rings.
Steve Cariddi gives some sky guidance for this week:

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Venus and Mars are prominent in the western sky at sunset. The young crescent Moon is near brilliant Venus on Tuesday evening, and it passes by Mars on Wednesday night. Jupiter is rising around 9pm local time, so by midnight it is prominent in the southeastern sky, just 4° from bright Spica. Saturn rises still later, and is best seen just before dawn in the southeast.
Deborah Byrd looks at the planets for March:
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As March 2017 opens, the waxing crescent moon joins up with Venus and Mars in the western sky after sunset. Mars remains a rather feeble evening object for the next few months, but March 2017 presents the grand finale of Venus, the sky’s brightest planet, as the evening “star.” Day by day, Venus sets sooner in the west after sunset.

On the opposite side of the sky, Jupiter, the second-brightest planet, is rising sooner each evening. By the month’s end, Venus will have dropped out of the evening sky totally, and Jupiter will be shining from dusk until dawn! Mercury starts to climb away from setting sun on March 7, to rendezvous with Venus in the haze of evening twilight on March 18. Last but hardly least, Saturn is rising in the southeast after midnight, and soaring highest up in the sky around daybreak.
Keep an eye out - maybe even both eyes out - for the planets. Here are a few notes from Steve Cariddi.

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Venus and Mars continue to shine in the western sky as night falls. It is possible to see Venus almost as soon as the sun sets, just as the sky begins to darken a little. Venus is getting lower in the sky each night, and on the 25th it will be in conjunction with the Sun.

When Venus is in inferior conjunction with the Sun, it means that it's lined up with the Sun - as we see it from Earth - and between us at the Sun. Venus then stops showing up at sunset and becomes a morning object.

Up until the conjunction
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it continues to become a larger diameter but ever-thinning crescent. Its current thin crescent shape is a beautiful sight in a small telescope or even a pair of high-powered binoculars.

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Jupiter is rising around 9pm local time, and is well placed for viewing in the southeastern sky around 11pm or midnight. On the evening of the 14th, the Moon, Jupiter, and the bright star Spica will form a triangle about 3° on a side.

Saturn is prominent in the southeastern sky before dawn.
Highlights for the week from Steve Cariddi:

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Three planets are visible in the western sky at sunset.

Venus, brightest by far, is also lowest in the sky and a challenge to see because it is separated by only 10° from the Sun. By the time the Sun sets, Venus is visible very low (less than 10° above the horizon) and just a bit north of where the Sun set. Venus is heading toward conjunction with the Sun on the 25th, so early this week is probably the last time to see it for a while. If you can spot it, the view through a small telescope or good pair of binoculars will reward you with a very large and thin crescent Venus.

Mercury is also in the west at sunset, a few degrees to the left of Venus and moving higher in the sky each night, but still close to the horizon.

Mars is higher in the western sky and is easily visible as the brightest (and reddest) "star" in that area once darkness falls.


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Jupiter is heading toward opposition in a few weeks, so it rises nearly at sunset. By 11pm local time it is well placed for viewing in the southeastern sky, not far from the bright star Spica.

Closer to dawn, look for Saturn near the last quarter Moon on Monday morning (the 20th). Saturn is rising around midnight, so it's visible in the south before sunrise.
From Steve Cariddi April 10:
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Mars is visible in the west after sunset, distincly red and below the Pleiades star cluster. Jupiter reached opposition last week, so it is now rising just before sunset. By 9 or 10pm it is well placed in the southeastern sky; by midnight or 1am it is at its highest due south. This is a great time to observe Jupiter if you have a telescope because the planet is closest to Earth and appears larger than usual. Saturn rises around 1 or 2am and is visible in the southeast before dawn. Look for Venus very low in the predawn eastern sky.

There are three comets currently in the sky, visible to observers using nothing more sophisticated than binoculars. Read more about Comets C/2015 ER61 PanSTARRS, C/2017 E4 Lovejoy, and 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak over at the Cometwatch website. The views improve as the week progresses and the Moon rises later, leaving the sky darker.
Notes on this week's sky sights from Steve Cariddi:
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Mars is shining in the west after sunset, just a few degrees below the Pleiades, which, along with the other stars of winter, are setting earlier each night. Jupiter is the king of the evening sky, rising just before sunset and still visible nearly all night. Look for it a few degrees above bright Spica. Saturn rises around 1am local time, and is well placed for viewing in the south just before dawn. Venus is bright but low in the east just before sunrise.
What's there to see in the May sky? This little video (under 7 minutes) shows you the highlights - when and what you can see. You should be able to see most of the objects without a telescope, but you'll get more out of it if you have one - the video tells you what to look for. The video of the May sky was produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute.
Bruce Mc Clure of EarthSky writes:
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Tonight – May 6, 2017 – and for the next few evenings, watch for the moon and the dazzling planet Jupiter to pop out almost immediately after sunset. Then as dusk ebbs into nightfall, look for the star Spica to come out below Jupiter. On May 6, Spica is almost on line with the bright waxing gibbous moon and Jupiter.

The grand celestial procession on May 6-8, 2017 – the moon, Jupiter and Spica – will travel westward across the nighttime sky for the same reason that the sun goes westward during the day. It’s because the Earth spins from west-to-east on its rotational axis, causing the sun, moon, stars and planets to rise in the east, set in the west and to go westward across our sky each day.

Jupiter, Moon and Spica - here's what you're looking for.
What can you see in the sky this week? Sky & Telescope's Alan MacRobert has some suggestions. He includes a planet round-up for the week too. (1) Mercury is too close to the Sun to see. (2) Bright Venus is low in the east around dawn. (3) In the western evening twilight, Mars is in the far lower left of Capella high in the northwest. (4) Jupiter is high and bright in the south-southeast as the Sun sets. (5) Saturn rises late in the evening and glows highest in the south before dawn.
You can see two planets in the evening sky these days - bright Jupiter in Virgo, and Saturn in the southeastern part of Ophichus. I also saw a half Moon tonight, as well as Jupiter and Saturn.
Look out for Venus in the early morning sky. Deborah Byrd of EarthSky says
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Venus in the east at dawn. Tomorrow morning – June 3, 2017 – Venus reaches a milestone in its present apparition in the morning sky. The planet will be at its greatest western elongation, or greatest angular distance west of the sun on our sky’s dome. Watch for Venus to blaze mightily in the east this weekend, as dawn climbs into the sky.
Steve Caridi has some sky hints for this week:
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As night falls, Jupiter is likely the first "star" you'll see in the sky. Shining high in the south, Jupiter is the brightest object in the night sky (save for the Moon and Venus). Saturn rises almost at sunset (it will reach opposition on June 14), so the best time to view it is around midnight, when the ringed planet is as high in the south as it's going to get. The Moon is Full on the 9th, when it will appear just a few degrees from Saturn. Before sunrise, you can see Venus in the east.
Bruce McClure reminds us to look out for the Strawberry full Moon. (Alas, no hope of seeing it tonight where I am, or seeing the sunset.)

Tonight (June 8th) the almost full Moon will be grouped with Saturn and the star Antares (red giant in the constellation Scorpius). McClure says
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The celestial threesome will climb highest up tonight around midnight, and will sit low in the west at dawn June 9. In North America, we commonly call the June full moon the Strawberry Moon.

As for the full Moon,
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From North America – except for parts of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands – we won’t be able to see the moon at the exact instant that it turns full because it’ll be below our horizon. From North America, the moon is closest to being full in our sky just before moonset (around sunrise) on June 9, 2017.
Did you see the Strawberry Moon? I did. It was Friday (June 9) night when fairly low in the sky and thin cloud made it look rather misty.

Here's a lovely, I think pre-dawn, view of the Strawberry Moon from Ken Gallagher in Arizona, taken Friday morning. The color is because comes from the time of day - a traditional name is strawberry moon because June was a good time to gather ripe strawberries.
Saturn is at opposition tonight. The diagram shows that means that Earth is directly between Saturn and the Sun. That's when we're as close as we can be to Saturn. But that doesn't mean if you can't see it tonight, you should just forget it. Saturn will be easily visible throughout the summer months.
Bruce McClure & Deborah Byrd write
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You can recognize Saturn because it’s in your southeast sky at dusk and nightfall, and near the star Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. You can distinguish golden Saturn from ruddy Antares by color, either with the unaided eye or binoculars. Also, Saturn tends to shine with a steadier light than the sparkly star Antares.
Alan MacRobert has suggestions for interesting things to see in the sky for the next week.

Friday, June 16

• By the time it's fully dark this week, Altair is shining well up in the east. A finger-width above it or to its upper left is its little sidekick Tarazed (Gamma Aquilae), actually an orange giant that's far in the background. Altair is 17 light-years from us; Tarazed is about 460.

Saturday, June 17

• The last-quarter Moon rises late tonight, around 1 a.m. daylight-saving time. Watch for it to breach the horizon to the lower right of the Great Square of Pegasus.

Sunday, June 18

• Here it is almost summer. But as twilight fades, look very low in the north-northwest for wintry Capella very out of season. The farther north you are, the higher it will appear. You may need binoculars. If you're as far north as Portland or Montreal, Capella is actually circumpolar.
Moon and Venus at dawn, June 20, 21, 22, 2017

The waning crescent Moon leapfrogs past Venus between the mornings of the 20th and 21st for North America.

Monday, June 19

• A double shadow transit occurs on Jupiter tonight from 10:04 to 10:38 p.m. EDT, when both Io and Europa are casting their tiny black shadows onto opposite sides of the planet's face.

• Dawn on Tuesday the 20th find Venus shining to right of the waning crescent Moon, as shown here.

Tuesday, June 20

• This is "Midsummer's Night," the shortest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Astronomical summer begins at the solstice, 12:24 a.m. EDT (4:24 UT) on the 21st; that's 9:24 p.m. on the 20th PDT.

The term "Midsummer's Night" is left over from when the seasons were commonly defined as beginning and ending around the cross-quarter days. Be like your ancestors — build a bonfire tonight and organize some all-night revelry while magic is afoot. Dawn will come soon enough — when you'll see Venus over the crescent Moon, as shown above.

Wednesday, June 21

• Do you know about the dark Propeller in the M13 star cluster in Hercules? With no Moon in the sky, take advantage of the dark to visit Sue French's six favorite summer deep-sky objects, which she features in the July Sky & Telescope, page 54.

Thursday, June 22

• Leo the Lion is a constellation of late winter and spring. But he's not gone yet. As twilight ends, look due west, rather low, for Regulus, his brightest and now lowest star: the forefoot of the Lion stick figure. The Sickle of Leo extends upper right from Regulus. The rest of the Lion's constellation figure extends for almost three fist-widths to the upper left, to end with his tail star, Denebola, the highest. He's walking down to the western horizon.

Friday, June 23

• This is the time of year when, after dark, the dim Little Dipper floats straight upward from Polaris (the end of its handle) — like a helium balloon on a string escaped from some summer evening party. Through light pollution, however, all you may see of the Little Dipper are Polaris at its bottom and Kochab, the lip of the Little Dipper's bowl, at the top.

• New Moon (exact at 10:31 p.m. EDT).

Saturday, June 24

• This is the time of year when the two brightest stars of summer, Arcturus and Vega, are equally high overhead soon after dark: Arcturus in the southwest, Vega toward the east.

Arcturus and Vega are 37 and 25 light-years away, respectively. They represent the two commonest types of naked-eye stars: a yellow-orange K giant and a white A main-sequence star. They're 150 and 50 times brighter than the Sun, respectively — which, combined with their nearness, is why they dominate the evening sky.
Monday, June 26
Steve Cariddi picks out some highlights for this week's night sky.

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The Moon is a waxing crescent this week, so you'll be able to see its crescent shape get larger each night as it moves eastward in the western sky after sunset. On Tuesday night it will be near the bright star Regulus, and on Friday night it will appear near Jupiter.

Jupiter dominates the early evening sky, prominent high in the south as night falls.

Saturn rises a little before sunset, and is well-placed for viewing in the south just after midnight.

Venus is stunningly bright in the eastern predawn sky.
Friday, June 30th - unless it's overcast - look to the southwest as it gets dark. The Moon, Jupiter, and the star Spica are on show. It's a half Moon and Jupiter, the third brightest object in the night sky. Spica is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo.

The second brightest object (after the Moon) is Venus, which is an early morning object for the rest of this year.
From Steve Cariddi:
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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).
Bruce McClure of EarthSky says:
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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.

How to find M6 and M7

And click here to find out more about Ptolemy and the Butterfly.
Soon after sunset, as the sky darkens, look for the Moon and Jupiter. You'll recognize the Moon, and Jupiter is the very bright planet nearby. It's currently second only to the Moon in brightness. (Venus is brighter, but is only visible in the morning sky now.) When it gets dark enough to begin to see the stars, Spica (Virgo's brightest star) will also appear near the Moon and Jupiter.

The Moon's position will move westward each night, but Jupiter and Spica will stay fairly close together for another few months.
Steve Cariddi suggests what to look out for this week:
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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.

And I'll add that it's still worth looking out for meteors. There are still some Delta Aquarids around, probably some early Perseids, and always a chance of sporadics, i.e., random meteors that aren't part of a shower.
Steve Cariddi points out:
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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.

And for those of us who won't see the eclipse, here's a solar eclipse photographed by Fred Espenak (Mr Eclipse). Or see the "American eclipse" thread for links to live coverage online.
Don’t look directly at sun during eclipse.
Modification: Don't look at the Sun during a partial eclipse unless you have correct safety glasses or eclipse viewers.

If you are fortunate enough to be in a region of totality, after the "diamond ring", you can take off the glasses, but look away quickly after the second diamond ring and put them back on. There's an amazing amount of dangerous radiation even in a sliver of sunlight.

Alas, I won't need my eclipse viewers as I'm well away from the eclipse path.
Steve Cariddi reminds us what's up this week:
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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.
Bruce McClure suggests:
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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.
Andrew Fazekas for National Geographic tells us about planets aligning and "9 More Can't-Miss Sky Events in September". Have a look - there's lots going on.
Spaceweather.com says
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Set your alarm for dawn. Three planets and the crescent Moon are gathering for a beautiful alignment in the eastern sky before sunrise. In the mornings ahead, the Moon will hop from Venus to Mars and Mercury, forming a series of beautiful conjunctions, while Venus has its own close encounter with bright blue star Regulus.

Morning planets over Gleichen, Alberta, photographed by Alan Dyer.
Jane Houston Jones tells us What's Up in the October sky. You can see it as a short video and/or read the transcript.
EarthSky's Deborah Byrd suggests we look out for the star Arcturus. It's a yellow-orange star, but it can seem to scintillate (flash) in different colors. That's because it's low in the sky.
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You should be able to see it in the west at dusk or nightfall. Once it gets good and dark, and you live at mid-to-far latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, you can verify that this star is Arcturus by using the Big Dipper asterism.

An old mnemonic says "Arc to Arcturus". This is a reminder that you can find Arcturus by following the handle of the Big Dipper (the Plough). It's visible throughout October at mid-northern latitudes.
Any earlybirds reading this? Bruce McClure of EarthSky suggests you look out before dawn for Venus and Mars. The easy bit is finding Venus - it's dazzling. Mars is quite faint, so binoculars might help. For several more days now, the two planets will be in the same binocular view. This view of the two planets was taken Sunday morning by Dennis Chabot at Posne Night Sky Astrophotography.

This diagram shows you where to look for Venus and Mars. But when should you be looking? McClure says:
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Given an unobstructed eastern horizon at mid-northern latitudes, the planetary twosome rises about 2 hours before sunrise. At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Venus and Mars come up in the east about one hour before the sun.
Did you see the Harvest Moon? Bet it didn't look like the one in Gene Aubin's picture. He caught the setting Harvest Moon over the ocean in Newport, Oregon. The distortion is a type of mirage, caused by refraction.

You can let the Moon guide you to the planets Venus and Mars on the mornings of October 16, 17 and 18.
Viewing hints for early November from Bruce McClure and Deborah Byrd of EarthSky:

Saturn is clearly visible after nightfall.

Mercury is lost in the sunset glare during the first half of the month.

In the early morning sky, before sunup, there's Venus (dazzling!), Jupiter (very bright) and Mars (very faint). Here's the eastern sky an hour before sunrise. If you have a clear eastern horizon, you might catch the superb conjunction of Venus and Jupiter around November 13th. It will be quite low in the sky.
NASA's Jane Houston Jones picks out sky viewing highlights in What's up? - November 2017.
It's happening early Monday morning (November 13). EarthSky reminds us to
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watch for the super-close pairing of the sky’s two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter. They’ll be in the sunrise direction, low in the eastern sky at dawn. Depending on where you live worldwide, Venus and Jupiter will come closest together on the sky’s dome on the morning of November 13 or 14. They’ll be snuggling plenty close on both dates, close enough to fit easily inside the same binocular field (or possibly even a single field of view in a low-powered telescope).

At their closest, Venus and Jupiter will be 0.3o apart. That’s less than the apparent diameter of the moon (0.5o).

What’s more, you won’t want to miss the waning crescent moon swinging by these worlds later this week.
This chart outlines how the crescent Moon fits in.

By the way, Spica is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo and Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation Bootes.
Here are some photos from EarthSky readers of the Jupiter/Venus conjunction.

Seeing Venus and Jupiter isn’t just a one-day event. Here they are on November 12, 2017, when Jupiter was below Venus. This photo is from Kino Obusan in Cabuyao, Laguna, Philippines.

Dave Chapman in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada wrote: “I set the alarm to rise at 6 a.m. about an hour before sunrise to catch this appulse of Venus and Jupiter in a clear sky.

Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter over downtown Denver on November 13, after emerging from the clouds, via Christy Sanchez.
November 17 & 18 are the dates when the Leonid meteor shower is expected to peak. Worth a look if it's not raining and you don't live - as I do - in a light-polluted city.
Michael D'Estries says, "The night sky is saving some its biggest gifts for last." Here's what you might see in the sky this month.

I'm not giving too much away by pointing out that although the "supermoon" happened on Sunday, the Geminid meteor shower is on next week.
Deborah Byrd of EarthSky is excited about the Ursid meteor shower. (It's radiant is in Ursa Major, the Great Bear.) See them tomorrow night if local conditions permit.
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It always peaks near the time of the December solstice. In 2017, experts are calling for the peak on the night of the solstice itself, December 21 … best on the morning of December 22. The waxing crescent moon will set in the evening, providing moon-free viewing for the rest of the night. This shower favors more northerly latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. The expected rate per hour is 5-10 meteors, but bursts of 100 or more meteors per hour have been observed at times, over the past century.
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