Night Sky Tonight

Jupiter resides in Capricornus this month in the night sky tonight. With a telescope, you can see the giant red spot.

Saturn is found in the sky all night in the constellation of Capricornus east of Jupiter. A great site in a small telescope with its rings and southern polar region showing along with some of its larger moons.

Venus can be found easily looking west setting 2 hours after sunset. It is the brightest object in the sky beside the moon and the sun setting after the sunset. Venus appears to scoot south because of its location with the earth’s orbit. The planet is in the Libra constellation.

Center of the Orionid meteors
Center of the Orionid meteors

Coming soon the Orionid meteors around October 2 to November 7. That’s when Earth is passing through the stream of debris left behind by Comet Halley, the parent comet of the Orionid shower. 

Summer Triangle

The summer triangle made up of Deneb (Cygnus), Altair (Aquila), and Vega (Lyra) is found looking above the eastern horizon. The triangle is visible all night during the summer. Vega is the brightest star of the three.

Sagittarius and the Scorpion

The constellation of Sagittarius the Archer which you can spot in the south early in the night. Lying east of the scorpion, nowadays it looks more like a teapot than an archer.

Great Square of Pegasus

As fall is coming upon us, the great square of Pegasus starts to rise out of the northeast. Pegasus is the winged horse of the Greek hero Perseus.