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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the week ending Wednesday, June 11, 2014. Here is what’s happening in the skies of southern California:

The waxing moon dominates the evening sky this week. It changes from crescent to first quarter phase on Thursday the 5th, and afterward shows a gibbous phase through the 14th. The moon appears to the upper left of Virgo the Maiden’s bright star Spica on the 8th.

Brilliant planet Jupiter, in Gemini the Twins, appears low in the west-northwest during evening twilight. Jupiter sets at 10:19 p.m. on the 10th.

Orange planet Mars, in Virgo the Maiden, is highest in the southern sky when night falls and sets in the west shortly after 2:00 a.m. this week. Mars, receding from its close approach in April, now has a small telescopic diameter of only 11 arc-seconds. Nevertheless, observers equipped with telescopes with diameters of 8 inches or more can still see the planet’s markings, as long as our local air currents are steady in the early evening. The moon appears 3 degrees to the left of Mars on Saturday night, June 7.

Golden Saturn, in Libra the Scales, appears as a bright star in the southeast sky as darkness falls, and crosses the meridian in the south at 11:00 p.m. Through a telescope, the planet’s spectacular rings appear tipped 21 degrees from edge on, showing us their northern face. The moon is close to Saturn on the 9th and 10th. This is an ideal time to see Saturn and its rings through telescopes at Griffith Observatory.

The brightest planet, Venus rises in the east-northeast at 3:46 a.m., minutes before the start of dawn. Through a telescope, Venus shows a gibbous disk, 80-percent illuminated. The planet is 23 degrees high at sunrise.

Free views of the sun during the day and of the moon, planets, and other celestial objects at night are available to the public in clear weather through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes from Tuesday through Sunday before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for our schedule. The next public star party on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Saturday, June 7.

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From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.