Wednesday,  May 30, 2012 • Vol. 12--No. 321 • 8 of 33 •  Other Editions

(Continued from page 7)

see the moon, Saturn and Mars in your northern sky. Therefore, as viewed from these southerly latitudes, Saturn and Spica appear to the right of the moon while Mars shines to its left. When you are looking northward - whether it's in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere - east is to your right (still in the direction of sunrise, since the sun always rises in the east) and west is to your left (sunset direction).
The moon will continue to wax larger in the coming evenings, leading up to the June 4, 2012 partial lunar eclipse. During this eclipse, about a third of the moon will be covered by Earth's shadow. The eclipse will be before dawn on June 4 for people in the Americas, and on the evening of June 4 for Asia and Australia. Read more about the eclipse here: The next eclipse is a partial lunar eclipse on June 4

Bottom line: Whatever your location on Earth might be tonight, Saturn gleams to the east of tonight's waxing gibbous moon - that is, toward the sunrise direction. Meanwhile, the red planet Mars glowers to the moon's west - toward the sunset direction. There will be an eclipse of the moon on June 4.



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