Today:
If you are up and going early tomorrow morning, be sure to look to the east-southeast from 5:30 to 6 o’clock. Unmistakeable will be a thinning Crescent Moon to the upper left of the stunning Venus. Looking more carefully between them, the star Regulus struggles in between their glow, 250 times less bright than the our neighboring planet.
Tuesday:
As Columbus Day transitions more and more to a celebration of indigenous people, we can look to the northeastern horizon just after 8 o’clock, where we can watch the Seven Starry Dancers rise, known also as the Seven Sisters, or the Pleiades. This smudge of stars, well right of the bright star Capella, recalls the Onondaga people’s story of seven boys who neglect their chores, and dance all the way into the heavens.
Wednesday:
Ursa Major, better known as the Great Bear, is settling very low along the northern horizon during the evenings. The best known stars here are the Big Dipper, with the “bowl” of the Dipper part of the Bear’s body, and the “handle” his long, bushy tail. The Bear reaches his lowest point, due north, near midnight.