Today:
A bright, waxing Gibbous Moon greatly diminishes the stars, especially the fainter ones. That leaves the brighter stars for us to view, including two celestial gems well to the left of the Moon in the northeast. The higher of the two is Capella, one of the brightest stars in the heavens, while due east at 7 o’clock, about one quarter of the way up from the horizon shines the reddish Aldebaran, the red “eye” of Taurus, the Bull.
Tuesday:
The Moon continues to grow larger in the evenings, but it won’t interfere with some interesting planet viewing. Saturn, cresting due south this evening at 6:50, will be joined about a half hour later by the even brighter Jupiter, rising in the east-northeast. These two giant planets meet every 20 years, the last time in 2020. Hopefully when they meet in 2040, we won’t be in the middle of a pandemic!
Wednesday:
The Moon appears Full to the unaided eye, but it’s still 24 from the specifc moment of Full, when it is directly opposite the Sun. The Moon rises to one third of the way up and due east at 6:30 this evening, its light washing out the faint cluster of stars just to its left, the Seven Sisters, or the Pleiades. Well below them you’ll catch a view of a reddish star, Aldebaran, the prominent star in Taurus, the Bull. The Moon returns here for New Years Eve.