Today:
As the evening twilight fades between 5 and 5:30, the waxing Gibbous Moon is apparent in the southeast. To its right, nestled among the faint stars between the constellation Aquarius to the right, and Picses to the left, glows the planet Saturn, famous for its broad, icy band of rings, only visible in telescopes. Saturn appears to slide just to the right of the Moon as they track across the southern sky, but it is the Moon actually tracking east, moving away from Saturn.
Sunday:
Orion has been rising earlier and earlier all month. With a level view to the east-northeast, the constellation is fully risen by 8 PM, with the belt above the horizon by 7:30, while on November first this took until around 9 o’clock. By mid January the belt will be well above the horizon as the last of the dusk fades, around 5:30.
Monday:
A bright, waxing Gibbous Moon greatly diminishes the stars, especially the fainter ones. That leaves the brighter stars for us to view, including two celestial gems well to the left of the Moon in the northeast. The higher of the two is Capella, one of the brightest stars in the heavens, while due east at 7 o’clock, about one quarter of the way up from the horizon shines the reddish Aldebaran, the red “eye” of Taurus, the Bull.