Today:
The Big Dipper is high overhead in May. The middle star of the three stars on the handle, Mizar, appears as a “double star”. The brighter star is joined by a fainter companion, Alcor, known to the Arabs as the “horse and rider”, and was used as an eye test….try it!
Tuesday:
A large, waxing Gibbous Moon pays a visit to the bluish-white beacon Spica as it emerges from the twilight in the south, between 8:45 and 9:00 this evening. They two will set in the west-southwest in the early morning, the Moon a few minutes before 3:00 AM, and Spica a few minutes after. By tomorrow evening, the Moon’s orbit takes it below and to the left of Spica.
Wednesday:
You’ll need to pair of binoculars, but just after sunset, around 8:25 PM, you might be able to catch a fleeting glimpse of Mercury, as it sets in the northwest by 8:45. If you can glimpse it, you’ll notice a nice alignment stretching between it, Venus to its upper left, and then to Jupiter, completing the string. Mercury is just starting a display that improves into early June.