Today:
The Moon is just one day shy of Full as it rises in the company of Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, the Lion. The pair emerges in the twilight by 5 o’clock, and are due east two hours later. They crest high in the south just before midnight, and then slowly descend into the west as sunrise approaches.
Saturday:
The Full “Snow” Moon rises about 10 minutes past sunset near 5:45 this evening, in the east-northeast, and tracks high across the skies all night long tonight. This Full Moon also goes by the name The Hunger Moon, the Trapper’s Moon, and for the Dakota Sioux, the Tree Popping Moon, as extremely cold nights cause moisture in the trees to expand and “pop”.
Sunday:
Brilliant moonlight will hamper stargazers this evening, but the trio of bright stars marking Orion’s Belt should be easy to spot, due south in the evenings near 7:10 PM. The star on the left, Alnitak, is actually a triplet of stars, the two primary stars orbiting each other every 7 years, the larger of the two being 20 times larger, and 250 thousand times brighter than the Sun!