Today:
If you can find an unobstructed horizon to the north-northwest, then you might be able briefly glimpse a slender, waxing Crescent Moon side-by-side with the planet Mercury, starting near 9:20 through about 9:45 PM. Mercury will appear to the left of the Moon, and the pair just a hand-width above a level horizon. As they follow the Sun toward the horizon, the skies darken, but they settle lower, the pair setting by 10:00.
Friday:
While last night’s Crescent Moon appears well to the upper right of Mercury, during that same viewing window near 9:30, look to the left of Mercury for a pair of stars, the “twin stars” of Gemini, lowering toward the horizon. Pollux on the left, and Castor a bit higher and to the right, are not actually twin stars. They are not even related. Pollux is 34 light years away, while Castor is a more distant 55 light years.
Saturday:
The star Antares, the “heart” of Scorpio, the Scorpion, shines due south, only one quarter of the way above the horizon at 10:50 PM, shimmering a bright orangish-red. Antares was one of the four Royal Stars in Persian astronomy, marking the position of the Sun at the beginning of autumn thousands of years ago. You can see the head and shoulders of the Scorpion – a trio of stars – to the upper right.