Today:
Near 8 o’clock this evening, as the Big Dipper scrapes the hills and trees along the northern horizon, look half way up in the north to find the North Star. Now continue, about the same distance to the top of the sky, where an upside-down w-shaped pattern marks Cassiopeia, the Queen, always opposite the Big Dipper as they pivot around the North Star.

Friday:
Late this evening, after 11 o’clock, the Last Quarter Moon and the bright star Regulus, the “heart” of the constellation Leo, the Lion, make their way into the heavens. Through the wee hours of tomorrow morning, this “half Moon” tracks higher into the southeastern sky. The “quarter” Moon refers to its progression three quarters of the way through its cycle, and along its orbit around the Earth.

Saturday:
The eastern skies have gone to the dogs! Procyon, the star marking the Little Dog, is one of Orion’s hunting dogs, and rises at 9:50 PM. But the Great Dog comes into view a bit more than a half-hour later, as the star Sirius – the “Dog star” and the brightest star in the night skies – rises at 10:20 PM EST.