Today:
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 below and to the right of the Twin Stars in Gemini.
Friday:
Night owls can see the waning gibbous moon rise just about due southeast at 1:45 AM. As the moon then travels low in the southern sky, it will be well centered within the constellation Sagittarius, and within that part of Sagittarius know as the Teapot. The gathering dawn will bleach out the stars of the Teapot at around 5:15, but the Moon will remain visible unit it sets in the southwest at 9:45 AM.
Saturday:
Not only is Orion lowering into the west more and more with each passing evening, but the Milky Way is also dropping nearer the horizon. Its faint light makes it difficult to see near the horizon through the thicker part of the atmosphere, and it will remain obscure in the evenings until summer. For a summer preview, you can see the Milky Way rising in the wee hours of the morning, from 2 o’clock until dawn’s twilight.