Observing the Cosmic Ladder - Moon and Planets

The next step out on the cosmic ladder are our closest neighbors, the Moon and planets. With the smoke affecting the majority of our local viewing, these are the only objects on the cosmic ladder that most of us will be able to spot this week.

The Moon is visible prominently in the evening as it nears 1st quarter and appears as a crescent in the south-western sky at twilight.

Jupiter and Saturn, both gas giants, shine bright enough to pierce some of the haze in the southern sky, near Sagittarius. Jupiter is at times the only object in the sky apart from the Sun and Moon bright enough to be visible locally under the current conditions, so if you see anything in that area, it’s almost certainly going to be Jupiter, with Saturn slightly to the east (left) and only slightly fainter.

Mars rises later in the evening, it should be visible as it rises in the eastern sky by 11 PM.

You can create your own customized local star charts to find planets on any given date and time using Stellarium, a free planetarium program. To use the browser-based version, visit:

Stellarium Web Online Star Map

Stellarium Web is a planetarium running in your web browser. It shows a realistic star map, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.

You can also read Sky & Telescope’s weekly Planet Roundup:

This Week's Sky at a Glance, August 21 - 29 - Sky & Telescope

■ Spot the crescent Moon low in the west-southwest in twilight. Look to its left by about 16° for Spica twinkling into view, as shown below. Spica, usually considered a star of spring, is heading down and out for the year. Much closer to the Moon (for the Americas) is fainter Gamma Virginis, shown on the plot below.

Join us Wednesday 8/26 @ 6:00 PM for a full program on the Cosmic Ladder! Email LBmartin@cityofwestminster.us to register for this free virtual program.

Check back each weekday @ 5:00 pm for more observing guides and science news!

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Stay well, and clear skies!