Sun rises at 6:45am.
Sun sets at 5:52pm.
Moon phase: new moon, virtually absent.
Early evening
Just after sunsetthis weekend, the stars will begin to peek out from between the clouds! There will be no moonlight to spoil the view, so even the dimmer stars will be twinkling brightly. Such a dark sky will offer a fine view of the Aquarius constellation in the western sky around 6:30pm. The “Water Pourer” lies on her back pouring out her vessel towards the south.
Aquarius will set by about 7:30 followed by Pegasus, Pisces and Andromeda. View the planet Uranus on Saturday night, nestled among the bits of light that make up Pisces. It’s best viewed on new moon nights such as these, as it is dimmer than many other celestial bodies. Once you find it, it can be studied with a telescope or a pair of binoculars.
Looking due South just after sunset, the bright star Achernar sits low, about 15 degrees above the horizon. Fomalhaut is higher and more to the west.
Farther on, Rigel and Sirius are higher in the sky, and more to the east. Rigel, part of the constellation Orion, is easily recognized by the three-star-belt. Another bright star rises about 7:15pm but remains very low. This is Canopus, the second brightest star visible to humans on earth, Sirius being the first, which hangs high above Canopus like a brilliant beacon.
From Rigel, look eastward to admire Orion and Taurus and, of course, our friend the beautiful Pleiades star cluster.
Planets
If you can’t sleep, find a comfy chair outside; the planets will offer awesome show these weekend-nights. Get your binoculars or telescopes out and you will be well rewarded! Jupiter rises in the east around 10:30pm, and with optical help, you will be able to see three tiny moons of Jupiter: Ganymede, Io and Callisto. Mars rises about 1:00pm. Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos will be barely visible with a scope, they will be on a line that extends out to the right of the red planet.
Venus and Saturn are snuggled up close together, rising at about 4:20am. The bright star Antares is about five degrees to the right of them. Saturn’s rings and five of her planets will be visible with a telescope or good binocs. Venus has no moons or rings, but will offer viewers a lovely white disc, as she is shrouded in dense clouds at all times. You only have about an hour to view Saturn and Venus; the sky will brighten with dawn’s early light and all the stars will fade from view by 5:30am.
If you are out later on in the week, each star rises about four minutes earlier each day than written here, and the moon rises 50 minutes later.
