The sky is full of wonders every night of the week. Use our
viewing guide for the week ahead to plan your backyard outings.
The sky is full of wonders every night of the week. Use our viewing guide for the week ahead to plan your backyard outings.
August 17
The Moon and the bright planet Jupiter stand side by side shortly after sunset, quite low in the west. Jupiter looks like a bright star just to the left of the Moon. They are so low in the sky that you need a clear horizon to find them, and binoculars will help.
August 18
If you look at the crescent Moon with binoculars this evening, you can pick out many of the features that are visible when the Moon is full. That’s because the dark portion of the Moon is illuminated by earthshine — sunlight reflected from Earth.
August 19
The bright star Spica lines up to the left of the crescent Moon at nightfall this evening. They are separated by about the width of a fist at arm’s length. They will appear even closer together tomorrow evening, with Spica on the opposite side of the Moon.
August 20
The crescent Moon follows Spica down the southwestern sky this evening. Spica is the brightest star of Virgo. It stands just to the right or lower right of the Moon at nightfall. Spica sets around 10:30 p.m., with the Moon following a half-hour later.
August 21, 2004
One of the brightest stars in northern skies stands high atop the firmament early this evening. The star is Vega, which is an Arabic name that means “the eagle.” For most of the United States, it’s the third-brightest star in the night sky.
August 22, 2004
The Moon is at first-quarter tonight. The name is a bit misleading, because sunlight illuminates half of the lunar hemisphere facing our way. The “first-quarter” moniker means that the Moon has completed one-fourth of its monthly cycle of phases.
