We’ve got a brilliant full moon, the Sailor’s Moon, outshining everything in the night this weekend except headlights and streetlights. The last full moon of summer rises soon after sunset Saturday and moves through our southern skies. The moon is in the zodiacal constellation Aquarius.

The distant planet Neptune is also in Aquarius. Neptune in Roman mythology is the King of the Sea, so it is rather appropriate that the planet resides in a constellation associated by ancient Greek storytellers with water. You can’t see Neptune without binoculars and even then you’ll need some help from a current star chart with the planet’s position.

The moon glows brightly each night this week, obscuring our view of most of the faint stars in the evening.

Venus

The bright planet Venus is back, this time rising in the southeastern sky soon before sunrise. Venus will dominate morning sky in the months ahead. Mars and Jupiter are not far away. Mars is faint and Jupiter is still caught amid the glow of the rising sun.
Remember the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter two months ago. It will happen again late in October, but not as impressive and far less convenient.