Today:
By 10:30 PM this evening, a waning Moon, just one day short of its Last Quarter, climbs into the northeast just minutes ahead of our largest planet, Jupiter. Size alone helps Jupiter to rank as the second brightest planet we can see, just behind Venus. The Moon and Jupiter reach one third of the way up in the east by 1:30 AM, cresting due south, very high as the morning twilight brightens.
Tuesday:
It will again require a late night, with the fun starting after midnight, when Mars again rises roughly in the northeast. The First Quarter Moon joins the fun, just above the brightening, reddish Mars. The Moon will rise high in the east throughout the night, closely accompanied by Pollux, the brightest star of the Gemini constellation.
Wednesday:
The waning Moon continues its late-night tour, a fat waning Crescent rising just after midnight, to the lower left of Mars. Yet the Moon has found another companion, the star Pollux shining to its left, the brighter and lower of the pair of stars called the “twins” – the twin stars of Gemini. They rise through the wee hours of the morning, more than halfway up in the southeast as twilight grows.