Starweek

TODAY - Venus is climbing into better view in the evening sky. It's the "evening star," quite low in the southwest as the sky begins to darken. The fainter planet Mercury is below it, although you may need binoculars to see it. Saturn is climbing into better view in the early morning sky right now. The planet is low in the east at first light and looks like a fairly bright star. The true star Spica is a little to Saturn's right.

SATURDAY - The planet Mars is in good view before dawn. The Red Planet is to the upper left of the moon at first light, with the fainter star Regulus a little to its right. Perseus the Hero is well up in the east-northeast as darkness falls and directly overhead around midnight. Look for nearby Cassiopeia, which looks like a letter W. Cassiopeia is high in the north around 9 p.m., with Perseus to its east.

SUNDAY - The Double Cluster stands high in the north this evening to the right of W-shaped Cassiopeia. To the unaided eye, the Double Cluster looks like twin balls of haze. Binoculars reveal two bulges of stars wrapped in a blanket of mist.

MONDAY - Spica is a fascinating star. Listed as the 15th-brightest in the sky, Spica is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. Recent studies suggest Spica is a multiple star system, with up to five stars orbiting each other. The gravitational pull of the stars causes a slight, 0.03 magnitude change in the overall brightness of Spica.

TUESDAY - Saturn, Spica and a crescent moon make for dramatic viewing Wednesday morning as they form a line or arc in the sky. Look for this grouping low on the eastern horizon. Saturn will remain near Spica for the rest of the year. Viewing conditions for Saturn continue to improve through November. By the end of the month, Saturn will be high enough above the horizon for easy telescopic viewing. Saturn's rings will be at an open angle, almost 14 degrees from edgewise, and will be a nice sight, even through a small telescope.

WEDNESDAY - In order to locate the Andromeda Galaxy, some stargazers star-hop via the W-shaped constellation, Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia appears in the northeast sky at nightfall and swings high to the north as evening progresses. Note that one half of the W is more deeply notched than the other half. This deeper V is your "arrow" in the sky, pointing to the Andromeda Galaxy.

THURSDAY - The best views of the fourth and final solar eclipse of 2011 will be from Antarctica, that part of the globe that now enjoys 24 hours of sunshine. In fact, if you were in the right spot in Antarctica, you'd be able to witness a spectacular eclipse of the midnight sun tonight, with nearly 90 percent of the sun's disk covered over by the new moon.

Niemann may be contacted at starweek@lmtribune.com. He is the editor of the newsletter of the Lewiston Astronomical Society.