Today:
Tonight, the Leonid Meteor Shower peaks, at a rate of 10 to 15 meteors per hour, under ideal viewing. But tonight will be be non-ideal, because of the interfering light from moon, which will be 94% full. As the Gibbous Moon wanes, additional a few outbursts are possible from previous passages of its parent comet, Temple-Tuttle, over the next few nights.
Monday:
The Waning Gibbous Moon rises a little before 7 o’clock in the east-northeast, placed near the feet of Gemini, the Twins. Their heads climb above the horizon about an hour later. As one more hour goes by, the planet Mars makes its appearance, creating an interesting alignment of the dazzling Jupiter, well to the upper right of the Moon, and Mars, equally distant to its lower left.
Tuesday:
Vega, the brightest evening star, starts this night high in the west at 7 o’clock, and takes its time lowering through the northwest all evening, not setting until 2 o’clock tomorrow morning. Vega is bright, in part, because it is one of the closer stars to us, some 26 light years away, as well as cranking out 37 times as much light as our Sun.