Today:
Before the waning Gibbous Moon takes to the skies this evening, notice Orion climbing into the east and southeast, his three bright belt stars nearly vertical. It always reminds me of Robert Frost’s poetic description of Orion, who “always comes up sideways. Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains. And rising on his hands, he looks in on me.
Thursday:
In the east-northeast at around 10 PM, the breast of Leo the Lion, marked by its brightest star Regulus, appears to push before it the rising Gibbous Moon. It’s interesting to note that the Sun passes Regulus in late August. Connecting that to this evening, the Moon follows the Sun’s August path, which means it rides very high in the south, cresting two-thirds of the way up in the south, during the morning twilight, at around 7 o’clock.
Friday:
As we approach the shortest day of the year, the Big Dipper is showing signs of encouragement for those not enjoying the lack of daylight. By mid-evening, the Dipper is starting to lift a little higher in to the northeast, and by February will look like a question mark, begging the question, “When is spring?