With week’s end, the sun sets at 8:20 and each night after almost a minute later. But it’s still more than an hour later that the glow of dusk gives way fully to darkness. By that time Saturn shines high in the south, the only planet visible until well before dawn.     Don’t confuse Saturn’s steady golden glow for the cool-blue twinkle of Spica, equally bright but 15 degrees to the southeast. High above the two is much brighter Arcturus, easily the...

The sun sets this week around 8:10. Following the trail of the sun, look above the northwest horizon for golden Capella, the sixth-brightest star. Opposite, in the northwest, shines Vega, the fifth brightest star. This time each year, the two line up at the same height in the sky, right now around 10pm.     Friday, the waxing moon shines 10 degrees below Saturn. The ringed planet appears high in the southeast at sunset. By midnight it hovers in the southwest before finally...

The sun sets a little before 8:00 this week, with full darkness coming almost an hour later. By that time, the great bear Ursa Major is almost directly overhead. The third-largest constellation, Ursa Major has been seen as a great she-bear by ancient peoples from Greece to India, Babylon to North America. In the modern age, when the few bears most of us see are captive in zoos or performing in circuses, we are more familiar with the seven stars of the bruin’s hind-quarters, a grouping...

The waxing moon reaches full phase Sunday. Saturday it shines less than 10 degrees — the span of an average fist held at arm’s length — below Saturn, the only visible evening planet. The next night, the full moon is farther to the east of Saturn, and the star Regulus five degrees above it. Saturn and Regulus appear about equally bright, both near first magnitude, but Saturn’s steady golden glow is a sharp contrast to the twinkling, blue-white star.     ...