On Saturday night, the thin crescent moon appears close to the ringed planet Saturn. On the following night, Sunday night, the crescent moon appears low in the southwestern sky near the red planet Mars.

Using the moon as a guide to finding the planets is a wonderful way to explore the planets in our night sky. There is a staggering difference in distance for these three celestial objects. The moon is about a quarter of a million miles away. Saturn is 976 million miles away. Mars is 83 million miles away.

If you could see deeper in to space there is something to see on Monday night. The moon appears close to the distant planet Neptune which is 2.6 billion miles away.