Tonight, July 19, the first-quarter moon is halfway between Spica on its right (west) and Jupiter on its left (east). Follow the moon in the evening sky for the next few days, as it is a good pointer to celestial objects of interest.
Friday night, the moon sits 3 degrees above Jupiter. Sunday night the moon is in the front part of Scorpius the Scorpion 8 degrees above bright Antares at the heart of the Scorpion. On Tuesday night, the now very bright 12-day-old moon sits just 1½ degrees above Saturn.
The moon will brighten our evening skies for a while, though Venus in the west after sunset continues to be ever-brilliant and easily visible.
Be sure to look in the southeast beginning around 9 p.m. to see red Mars just above the horizon. It continues to grow closer to the Earth and to brighten, rivaling and even surpassing Jupiter in brightness.
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It is at opposition on July 27 when it will be at its brightest since 2003. Most of the time, details on Mars’ surface are difficult to see in a telescope due to the planet’s small size and unsteadiness of our atmosphere. Now, a good telescope on a night with a steady atmosphere should show details on Mars. You can check with the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association (www.tucsonastronomy.org/) about free public viewings of Mars through members’ telescopes.
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