Today:
The waning Gibbous Moon still appears Full to our human eyes, and gains a celestial companion this evening. The star Spica sits barely above the Moon as they rise near 8:30 this evening. Interestingly, the Moon’s orbit brings it by the same stars every 27 days and 8 hours, which means this pair has another rendezvous on April 29th.
Friday:
The waning Moon delays its rising until after 9 o’clock, this evening, permitting you to see the more subtle section of the Milky Way that remains in the background behind the brilliant stars of Orion and company in the southwest. Looking between the two Dog stars, and continuing to the right between Orion and the planet Jupiter, you’ll see its faint, vaporous band of light, composed of countless, extremely distant stars.
Saturday:
While “The Dog Star” Sirius shines brightly but low in the southwest, Procyon shines directly above Sirius, much higher in the southwest. Procyon appears about half way up in the skies at 9:30 PM, and is the 6th brightest star we can see. Although not quite as close as Sirius, Procyon belongs to our neighborhood of stars, being only 11 light years distant.