Today:
Spring brings a shortening of the nights that will continue until the Summer Solstice, on June 21st, making viewing less favorable for the evening winter constellations, such as Orion. This evening, Orion will appear a third of the way up in the southwest at 8:30, but in a month only a quarter of the way up, and starting to get bleached out by the ever later sunsets, and will get lost in the setting sun by early May.
Monday:
Looking west early this evening, the Moon appears almost half-full, just one day shy of its First Quarter. This larger, brighter view of our silvery neighbor makes it challenging to see the faint cluster of stars just below it. Patience, and perhaps a spotting scope or binoculars should reveal the tight collection of stars called the Seven Sisters, or the Pleiades, just below our celestial neighbor.
Tuesday:
The waxing gibbous Moon floats high in the west by 9 PM, and is surrounded, though at some distance, by some of the brighter lights in the night sky. Higher and the right is Capella; even higher and to the left is Jupiter; below and to the right is Betelgeuse, and directly below is Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus. But immediately to Moon’s right is Elnath, the second brightest star in Taurus.