Sunrise Sunset

Fri., July 8 5:14 8:18

Sat., July 9 5:15 8:17

Sun., July 10 5:16 8:17

Mon., July 11 5:16 8:16

Tues., July 12 5:17 8:16

Wed., July 13 5:18 8:15

Thurs., July 14 5:19 8:15

Fri., July 15 5:19 8:14

Tonight’s first quarter moon appears in the zodiacal constellation Virgo, near the bright blue star Spica and the ringed-planet Saturn. Use the moon to find Saturn, which appears higher and to the right of the moon. Saturn is not as bright as Spica. It has a yellowish tint which clearly distinguishes it from Spica, one of the night’s brightest stars.

On Monday night, the gibbous moon appears low in the southern sky above the bright red star Antares in Scorpius.

For those out on the beach on Monday night, the moon appears low over the ocean. It will be a pretty sight with Antares, one of the largest but distant stars visible in the night sky. If Antares was our sun, the earth’s orbit would be within the giant star.

Astronomers have determined that Antares, a Milky Way star, is not only large but quite distant — 604 light years away. Antares is also an old star, and could in the years ahead explode, becoming a nova. If this happened, we would not know about it for 604 years.

There is one other comparable star to Antares in the night sky — the red star Betelgeuse in the winter constellation Orion, also a giant old red star.

M.A.L.