Today:
Brilliant moonlight will hamper stargazers this evening, but the trio of bright stars marking Orion’s Belt should be easy to spot, due south in the evenings near 7:00 PM. The star on the left, Alnitak, is actually a triplet of stars, the two primary stars orbiting each other every 7 years, the larger of the two being 20 times larger, and 250 thousand times brighter than the Sun!
Friday:
The waxing gibbous Moon, two days shy of full, will be due east at 5:15, just prior to sunset. As night falls, the Moon will become clustered with a handful of other bright objects. Jupiter, still nestled between the Geminin Twins, will appear above the Moon and to its right. Pollux and Castor, the respective heads of the Twins, will emerge above the Moon and slightly to its left. A bit farther afield is the star Procyon, below the Moon and to its right.
Saturday:
The twilight will make it a challenge at 6:20 this evening, and a flat horizon or elevated point of view will be needed, but there will be some hard-to-see objects low in the west. By far the brighter of the two will be Venus. To its right, and almost due west, will be Mercury, both drooping below the horizon between 6:35 and 6:40. If no luck with these early-setters, more luck can be had with Saturn, coming close behind, and setting in the west at 7:20 PM.