Today:
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.
Tuesday:
The Moon continues to grow larger in the evenings, but it won’t interfere with some interesting planet viewing. Saturn, cresting due south this evening at 6:50, will be joined about a half hour later by the even brighter Jupiter, rising in the east-northeast. These two giant planets meet every 20 years, the last time in 2020. Hopefully when they meet in 2040, we won’t be in the middle of a pandemic!