The Planet Jupiter simply dominates the early-evening eastern sky as August draws to a close. As seen by the naked eye, Jupiter appears as a gleaming yellowish pinpoint of light. High-power binoculars, if held steadily enough, can reveal a barely discernible disk flanked by up to four tiny "stars" in a straight line. Those are the four Galilean satellites, or moons, discovered and described in 1609 (almost exactly 400 years ago) by Galileo Galilei. A small telescope easily shows all four satellites, assuming one or more of them are not either directly in front of or behind Jupiter itself. Jupiter will remain a good telescopic target in the evening sky through the end of 2009.

Watchers of the Dawn Sky this weekend (August 28-30) will notice the bright, so-called winter stars -- especially those in the constellations of Orion, Taurus, and Gemini -- rising in the east just before first light. Currently the planet Venus is amid that group, blazing brighter than any true star of the nighttime sky. The reference to "winter stars" stems from the fact that these same constellations are prominent in the evening sky during the winter months.