August is always an exciting month for stargazers of all ages. This year is no exception, but tonight you’ll have to watch the sky just after sunset to catch a rare view.

Saturn and Mars are located together low in the southwest. Together with the bright star Spica, they form a nice little triangle. Get a glimpse of these two outer planets before they set at 10:12 tonight. Within the next couple of weeks, both planets will be lost in the sun until later this year, when they will appear in the morning sky.

The gas giant Jupiter rises at 1 a.m. Friday east-northeast in the constellation Taurus. It will be very bright, located just east of the globular cluster Pleiades, and easily seen with the naked eye. Jupiter will be a crowd-pleaser for the rest of the year as we orbit the sun and the entire sky moves more westward. In late September, Jupiter and its four moons will rise around 10 p.m. and will be a delightful view in any telescope or binoculars.

Another crowd-pleaser is Venus. It will rise in the east between the constellation Orion and Gemini at 2:33 a.m. Friday. Venus is on the inside orbital track speeding away from Earth. Venus is the third-brightest object in the sky. Only the sun and moon are brighter.

For the early risers in the predawn hours, look for the planet Mercury at 4:48 a.m. Friday. It will be easy to spot as the two Gemini stars, Castor and Pollux, will point to Mercury. Jupiter, Venus and Mercury are all in a straight line in the east.

In the early morning hours of Sunday, we will be graced by the annual Perseid meteor shower.

Earth is traveling through the debris field of Comet Halley. From midnight until dawn, you should be able to see, with the naked eye, one or two meteors per minute. Look to the northeast toward the constellation Perseus, from which they seem to emanate. The moon will be a waning crescent during this time.