Let’s observe the Moon and planets in the evening sky.

If you look to the southwestern evening sky, you can find 3 planets. From west to east (right to left) they are Venus, Saturn, and Mars. From the 3rd to the 9th we can enjoy the Moon passing by each of these planets in turn.

On the 3rd and the 4th, the thin waxing crescent moon approaches Venus. The close approach of the very bright -3.9 magnitude Venus and the Moon will draw the eye. As the sky darkens, it might be possible to see “earthshine,” the light reflected from the Earth which causes the dark portion of the Moon to shine dimly.

Day by day the Moon moves from west to east. On the 6th, it comes within about 3 degrees of the 0.5 magnitude Saturn, this is about 6 times the angular diameter of the Moon. The Moon continues its movement, approaching Mars on the 8th. It is over 4 months since Mars had its closest approach to Earth at the end of May, but it is still bright at 0 magnitude, so that it draws attention to itself, even in the evening sky.