Today:
The line of Orion’s Belt stars, extended to the right, points to the red star Aldebaran, the red eye of Taurus, the Bull. Aldebaran is 9th brightest star we can see, relatively nearby at a distance of 65 light years. It is a Red Giant star, more than 40 times the diameter of our Sun, giving it a large surface to send out great quantities of light.
Monday:
Is March going out like a lion? Leo the Lion continues to climb higher in the March evening skies. Its brightest star – Regulus – is more than half way above the southeast horizon at 8:30 PM EDT. Looking above and left of Regulus, the stars form a curve like the letter “c”, giving it the appearance of a sickle, or a “backward” question mark.
Tuesday:
April opens with a visual challenge in the western skies. A waxing Crescent Moon appears just above the star cluster, the Seven Sisters, or the Pleiades, due west, one third of the way up at 8:15, settling lower and to the right through the evening. The Moon’s light will make them harder to see, with perhaps only the 3 or 4 brightest stars visible. A pair of binoculars or a spotting scope will make viewing them much easier.