The Coast Guard Festival kicks off this week in Grand Haven, MI, under the summer’s warmest, darkest skies.

The moon was in its third-quarter phase Friday. This is an odd phrase for several reasons. First, when you see the moon tonight it will look like what most people would call a half moon, not a quarter moon. And given that there are two half-moon phases in each lunar month, why should tonight’s moon — the second — be called the third-quarter moon?

Friday’s moon was the third-quarter moon because the moon is now three-fourths of its way through a complete lunar cycle. Two weeks ago the moon was in the first-quarter phase — the first half moon of its cycle. Last week the moon was full. Next Friday the moon will be new. This is the reason the skies will be dark.

The third-quarter moon rises at midnight and sets at noon. In the summer in West MI, however, solar midnight and solar noon occur at about 1:30 am and 1:30 pm, respectively. The sun lags our clocks by an hour because our clocks are advanced on daylight-saving time and by an additional half hour (approximately) because we are so far west in the Eastern time zone.

The new moon rises and sets with the sun and so is completely out of the picture.

With no bright moon to glare in the otherwise dark sky the Universe shines through for us to see.

The first part of August brings the build up to the Perseid meteor shower. Shooting stars will be more and more frequent up to the Perseid peak on Aug. 12.

Summer is the best time to catch sight of the Milky Way. The Milky Way is a faint band of diffuse light that cuts across the sky. It is our inside-out view of the galaxy in which we live. During the summer when the moon is not in sight look for the Milky Way from a dark location cutting high overhead from the southeast to the northwest.

The glow of the Milky Way is the unresolved light of billions of nearby stars. Laying back on an easy chair and scanning the Milky Way with a pair of binoculars is the astronomical equivalent of examining a drop of pond water with a microscope. It is amazing what you’ll see.

Beyond the Milky Way Galaxy, look for our neighbor the Andromeda Galaxy in the constellation Andromeda near Pegasus and Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia is the giant W that is now above the horizon in the northeast around midnight. Pegasus looks like a giant square above the horizon in the east.

If you scan the area of sky between Cassiopeia and Pegasus from a dark location you should eventually find what looks like a little cotton ball. This little cotton ball is a giant galaxy not too different than our own Milky Way.

The Andromeda Galaxy contains about one trillion stars and is 2.5 million light years away.

The Andromeda Galaxy is a naked eye object; in fact, it is the most distant thing you can see with your own two eyes. Still, you might first find it with a pair of binoculars. The later at night you look the higher in the sky it will be. Pegasus and Andromeda are highest in the sky just before dawn this time of year.

Take advantage of the warmest nights and darkest skies summer has to offer. And let the kids stay up late too.