Late Monday night, near midnight, the last quarter moon rises in the east. The moon is in the zodiacal constellation Pisces, a constellation we associate with autumn. The moon is very much alone. All the visible planets are somewhere else.

At that hour the brightest planet in the night sky, Jupiter, is setting in the west. The red planet Mars and the yellow planet Saturn are in the southern sky.

Bright Star in the East

The bright star rising in the east after nine o’clock is Vega. Vega is one of the brightest neighborhood stars. Vega is 25 light years away, which is close when compared to other stars in the night sky. The light from that brilliant star is 25 years old. Vega is a night favorite, not only because of its brilliance and its blueish-white color, but also where it resides in the cloud of the Milky Way.

Vega is in one of the smallest constellations, Lyra, the harp. This little constellation has double stars, a large planetary nebula and plenty of faint stars. Lyra and the adjoining area of the Milky Way is pretty with a pair of binoculars.