Summer Solstice and Planet Moon Magic

The planet's northern pole was tipped as far toward the sun as it will be on this trip around the star today at 12:38pm EDT (or for me here in California, 9:38am); the Summer Solstice here in the north, the start of winter on the southern side of world.
And, while the solstice is a day long marked by humans for its importance to survival on the big seasonal world, the real spectator event today is the continued closing of the gap between Venus and Jupiter. The moon's appearance back on the evening side of the sun, sliding by the bright planets as the slim crescent has made watching the planet's narrowing even more lovely.  Last night the moon and Venus were the corners of a coat hanger-like triangle with Jupiter as the hook. Regulus, looking down on the planet pairing from its heart of Leo, itself moving westward each day, continues to lose ground to Jupiter but remains the end of straight line with the planets.
On the other side of the sky, Saturn still dominates the sky above Scorpio, although the Scorpion's heart, Antares, rivals the ringed world in brightness and shows a marked contrast in colors, Red-orange vs. pale yellow. Check it out, Today Off Earth.

Moon & Saturn, Venus & Jupiter

East or West, which ever way you look, tonight will present a sky show: Saturn is above and right of the nearly full moon in the east and Venus and Jupiter are the bright spots high in the northwest at sunset.  The Big Dipper is high overhead to the north, the pointer stars of the dippers end's always pointing toward Polaris, the current northern pole star for Earth.  The handle of the Dipper arcs to bright yellow Arcturus and then follows the spike to Spica, the alpha star of Virgo.
The two stars above bright Venus are Castor and Pollux, the twins of Gemini and the star to the left of Jupiter is Regulus, the heart of Leo. Saturn, in addition to hanging out with the Moon tonight, is just above and west of the 3 stars that are the head of Scorpio with the heart, red Antares, below.
While the short nights of late spring shrink your sky viewing time twilight is full of brilliant wonders right now, get out and check the sky, Tonight on Earth.

Venus, Mars and the Crescent Moon

It's cold here to go out and check the sky but bundle up and get out there: NOW! All 3 solar system neighbors are clustered in the southwest sky right now. Earth shine on the moon adds to the amazing shot. Venus, so much brighter than smaller and more distant Mars, sits right below the little red world with the moon looking on just to the west (right). Wow!
On the other side of the sky, mighty Jupiter outshines all the bright stars of the winter (still dimmer than Venus), as clear as cold as tonight is starting out, Jovian moons should be spottable through binoculars.
Anyone daring the brutal cold of early morning will find Saturn high up in the southeast with it's rings tipped spectacularly for telescope viewing.
It's cold out there but worth a look, tonight on Earth.