The evening sky is free of the moon for the next week, making it convenient to enjoy a dark sky after astronomical twilight ends around 8:10 p.m.
That’s also a good time to look for two faint constellations — Cancer the Crab and Lynx the Lynx.
Cancer is directly south and about 75 degrees above the horizon. It is faint and best found by locating Gemini the Twins to its west and Leo the Lion to its east.
In the middle of Cancer is the Beehive, a large star cluster that is readily visible to the unaided eye in a dark sky. I can see it from the Foothills even though it is dimmed by light pollution.
The Beehive is also known as M44. The famous French astronomer Charles Messier (1730-1817) included it as the 44th listing in his catalog of important sky objects, but it has been known since ancient times. It is a splendid sight through binoculars and a small telescope.
While Cancer comes down from ancient times, Lynx is a “modern” constellation introduced by famous Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius (1611-1687), who wanted to fill a gap between Ursa Major the Great Bear and Auriga the Charioteer.
Lynx is a zigzag of faint stars looking nothing like its ferocious namesake. It has several telescopic objects of interest to astronomers and is a good challenge for constellation observers.
