Today:
As the star Arcturus climbs to one third of the way above the eastern horizon at 10:30 PM this evening, look for another brilliant star to return to the skies, the bluish-white Vega, just rising in the north-northeast. Vega appears on any clear night of the year, but shifts into evening skies in the Spring.
Friday:
Tomorrow, the Moon partially eclipses the sun, starting here in New England as the Sun is rising, wrapping northeast through Greenland, and continuing across western and northern Europe. Here, the sun rises already eclipsed, the Moon covering a bit more than 50 percent of the left side of the Sun near 6:35, but as it rises, the Moon moves away to the left, with the eclipse ending at 7:11 AM EDT.
Saturday:
At 9 o’clock this evening, due south and two-thirds above the southern horizon, a tiny patch of starlight sits between the stars called the Twins of Gemini toward the south-southwest, and the bluish-white star marking the heart of Leo the Lion, Regulus. This faint, fuzzy group appears like a tiny swarm of bees, giving it the name, the Beehive Cluster.