After sunset on May 28, 2012, if you're in the Northern Hemisphere, look high in the south to southwest sky for the first quarter moon and the red planet Mars. Observers in the Southern Hemisphere will find this same pair - the moon and Mars - but you will want to look in the northern sky at nightfall. Throughout the evening, the moon and Mars will move westward and downward in our sky, before setting in the west after midnight.

Mars appears as a moderately-bright reddish object near the moon tonight. It's not as bright as it was in March, because on March 3, 2012, Earth passed between Mars and the

sun. Since then the distance between us and Mars has been increasing, and as a result, Mars has been getting fainter in our sky. But it's still a wonderful planet to view and will remain so throughout Northern Hemisphere summer.

Plus Mars isn't the only planet in the sky after sunset. Venus, the sky's brightest planet, blazes extremely low in the west-northwest at dusk and sets before the onset of complete darkness. The golden planet Saturn shines in the southern sky at nightfall, not far from sparkling blue-white Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. The moon will pair up with Spica and Saturn on May 31.

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