Today:
Tonight’s New Moon will facilitate the detection the most distant object human eyes can see, the Andromeda galaxy, a faint smudge of light, one half of the way above the west-northwest horizon, as twilight ends after 6:40 PM. It appears at the hip of the constellation Andromeda, on the side toward her mother, Cassiopeia. A pair of binoculars will help.
Saturday:
Venus has started its decent toward the horizon from its peak last month. Even so, it is well placed for a delightful conjunction with the slender waxing Crescent Moon in the western twilight this evening. They emerge between 5:45 and 6:00 PM, when Venus shines one quarter of the way up. They remain an engaging sight for another hour, and then get ready to set, the Moon at 7:50, and Venus one half hour later.
Sunday:
Orion is an easy target, even on a moonlit night. Tonight, the lack of moonlight might give you an opportunity to see a fainter feature of our winter Giant. Look below his three belt stars, where a fainter line marks his sword. The very end of the sword is a little fuzzy, because it is not a star but a vast region of glowing gas and dust, called a nebula.