Today:
The now Gibbous Moon presides over a more tightly knit collection of bright objects in the west, by around 9:15 PM. Jupiter, forming a triangle with Pollux and Castor, heads of the Gemini Twins, jis wice as high as the sinking Orion in the west. To the left of the Moon, the star Regulus awaits its redezvous with our sliver, cratered companion.
Saturday:
Tonight Leo catches up to the Moon. So much so, in fact, that Regulus will briefly disappear behind the Moon in much of the continental U.S. But such an occultation will be a near miss for those of us in New England. Regulus will pass just barely over the top of the Moon at around 9:30 PM. Although slowly, Regulus will then slip farther and farther to the Moon’s west for the rest of the night, as both drop to western horizon at around 3:20 AM.
Sunday:
By 9:00 PM the constellation Corona Borealis, or Northern Crown, rises into the east-northeast, one third of the way from the lower left of Arcturus, and to the upper right of Vega, just rising in the northeast. Its middle star, alternatively named Alpheca or, more appropriately Gemma, is the jewel in the crown, and highlights the semi-circle of stars.