Well after midnight tonight you'll see the last quarter moon rising in east with a companion planet. The ringed planet Saturn is right next to the moon. Prior to rising in the east the two were so close, only two degrees apart. They'll be separating this weekend. The two are in the zodiacal constellation Aquarius, a constellation we associate with late summer and early fall.

The moon is only in the early morning sky for the coming week, which means our night skies are moonless. While our smokey skies at night make deep stargazing difficult, you still can pick out the brightest of stars overhead. The planets Mars and Venus are getting closer every night and they hug the southwestern sky right after sunset.

The bright orange star Arcturus in the constellation Bootes is close to overhead early in the evening. The star is among the brightest in the night sky.

Rising in the east, the brightest is Vega in the constellation Lyra. Not quite as bright is the star Altair, in the constellation Aquila. Altair is just above the eastern horizon as the night sky darkens.