Jupiter can be found in the southern sky around nightfall this week. On Sunday night you can use the moon to help you find it. It’ll be just above and right of it looking like a bright star.
The star that’s just below and right of the moon is Spica, the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo and one of the brightest stars in our night sky.
The moon will be big and bright this week and it’ll become full on Friday at 9:10 a.m. This month’s full moon is known as the full Strawberry Moon because this is the time for harvesting the delicious fruit. It’s also known as the Full Rose Moon and the Hot Moon.
If the moon looks smaller than normal you’re not imagining things. The full moon occurs less than 24-hours after the lunar apogee or the point in its orbit when it’s farthest away from Earth. As a result, it won’t be as large as it normally is. Just like a close full moon is called a “supermoon” this phenomenon has a name as well. You can call it a “micro-moon” or "mini-moon."
Regardless of what you call it use the full moon to help you locate Saturn. It’ll be just below and right of the smallest full moon of 2017. Happy hunting!
