Venus continues to hover over the western hills after sunset.  It's bright enough to be visible in evening twilight and sets in the west-northwest between 9:30 and 10 pm.  On Wednesday, July 10th, a thin crescent moon will set to the lower left of Venus.

Saturn shines in the southwest as Venus drops behind the hills.  Look for Saturn and Spica side by side around 10 pm.  Saturn will be on the left, a pale yellow in color, and the star Spica on the right.  Spica is slightly fainter than Saturn and is blue-white, a clear contrast with Saturn.

Constellations have precisely-defined identities.  Asterisms, on the other hand, are star patterns that have no official status.  Some, like the Big Dipper, the Teapot, or Orion's Belt, are widely recognized, while others (the Popcorn Bowl, the Emperor of the Air) can be made up by anyone with imagination and an open window.

One asterism testifies that it is indeed summer.  Around midnight, a bright star is almost exactly overhead.  That's Vega, the brightest star in Lyra and the star that Jodie Foster visited in the movie Contact.

Northeast of Vega, the star Deneb sits in the tail of Cygnus the Swan (or alternatively at the head of the Northern Cross) and southeast of Vega is Altair, the brightest star in Aquila the Eagle and a stopover for Leslie Neilsen's flying saucer in Forbidden Planet.

Just to the east of Vega, the broad band of the Milky Way arcs overhead like the handle of a basket.  It runs horizon to horizon and flows around Deneb and Altair.  A high-arcing Milky Way and these three stars of the Summer Triangle, Vega, Deneb, and Altair, confirm that summer is really and truly with us.  As if you had any doubt.
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