Although summer nights are the shortest of the year, they still offer plenty of observing treats. Within half an hour after sunset throughout this period, you’ll see a beacon hanging low in the west. This is the planet Venus, and it remains the brightest point of light in the night sky all summer. Look for it the evening of July 21, when it passes 1° from Leo the Lion’s brightest star, 1st-magnitude Regulus.

As darkness falls in early summer, look about halfway up in the southern sky. The brightest object in this region is Saturn. The ringed planet resides among the background stars of eastern Virgo and glows noticeably brighter than that constellation’s brightest star, Spica. Although Saturn stays on view all summer, it dips lower in the western sky and closer to Venus with each passing week.