With the last of the twilight dying in the western skies by 8 o’clock, look to the southeast, where the Moon, Full last night, rises just after one of the brighter stars along its path, the steely-blue Spica, the primary star in the constellation Virgo, the Virgin. They keep each other company through the night, cresting due south near 1:00 AM EDT.
Friday:
The brilliant star in the southwest to the left of Orion’s belt is Sirius, the Dog Star. As it lowers closer to the horizon, notice that as it twinkles, it flashes many colors. Its light is bending on its way through our atmosphere, giving us pin-point glimpses of its spectrum or rainbow, one color at a time.
Saturday:
The northwestern skies in the evenings are home to Capella, the Goat Star. In mythology this is the nurse goat for the great Jupiter, and was rewarded with a place in the heavens. It is half way up from the horizon in the west-northwest at 9:15 PM, well to the right of the Twin Stars in Gemini.