A thin crescent moon appears low in the southwestern sky Sunday night. The moon appears near stars that make up the zodiacal constellation Scorpius. Just below the moon there is the red star Antares, the brightest star in the constellation.

Take another look on Monday night when the moon is both higher and farther along in the zodiac and just below the constellation Ophiuchus. The bright planet Saturn is nearby and to the east of the moon. You’ll have no trouble picking out Saturn in that area of the sky, as it is the brightest of stars.

On Tuesday night, the moon is above Saturn.

Saturn is the only visible planet in our evening sky and will be for autumn. Jupiter is too close to the glaring sun to be seen.

Venus and Mars are in our morning sky. The two rise just before the sun.

In the wee hours of Sunday morning the Orionid meteor shower reaches its peak. It is one of the small showers of the year. Even under the most ideal conditions, an observer can expect to see 25 meteors in an hour of viewing. It is far more realistic to expect to see half of that.

The shower is the remnants of Comet Halley. Each year at this time, the Earth passes near the orbital path of the comet. Comet Halley is 3 billion miles away, as far away as Pluto and still headed away from us.