Today:
Quite prominent in the south this evening, the Waxing Gibbous Moon will appear at the base of the constellation Libra, Libra’s scales perhaps a little out of balance, since the constellation looks like it’s lying on its side. The Moon will set in the southwest at around 12.35 AM, with Libra setting a little more than an hour later.
Friday:
The Moon again appears in the south this evening, but it has shifted out of Libra, and into the heart of Scorpius. On this night Scorpius might be said to have two hearts, as the Moon takes up with the usual “Heart of the Scorpion,” Antares, which the brightest star within Scorpius. The star is a red supergiant, and glows at a distance of about 550 light years from the sun.
Saturday:
At 10:15 this evening, the Scorpion’s tail is due south, extremely low above the horizon, yet even so, at its best viewing of the year. As the tail curls up to the left, the star on the end is called Shaula, from the Arabic meaning either “stinger” or “raised”, as in poised to sting.