The night of summer solstice could be memorable for those who have clear skie. If you take the time after sunset look towards the west for two planets and a thin crescent moon hugging close to the horizon. Venus is the brightest of the two planets, a treasure and alone a memory. But when the sky gets dark enough look for the ruby red planet Mars nearby. The two planets and the crescent moon form a tight triangle. The three are in the zodiacal constellations Cancer and Leo.

If you look again on Tuesday night, you'll see that the moon has advanced eastward. It almost forms a line of three celestial objects. The moon is to the east and Venus is to the west. Mars sits inbetween the two. Mars is fainter than it was months ago. Mars doesn't get much dimmer and thus more distant.

Mars is 195 million miles from us, more than twice the distance from us as the sun. Last December when the planet was in opposition to us, Mars was only about 54 million miles away.