Today:
The line of Orion’s Belt stars, extended to the right, points to the red star Aldebaran, the red eye of Taurus, the Bull. Aldebaran is 9th brightest star we can see, relatively nearby at a distance of 65 light years. It is a Red Giant star, more than 40 times the diameter of our Sun, giving it a large surface to send out great quantities of light.
Friday:
Just after midnight, a waning Gibbous Moon climbs into the southeast, followed quickly by the red star Antares, the “heart” of the Scorpion. Through the wee hours of the morning, the pair slides low through the southern skies, cresting due south at 4:40 AM, only a quarter of the way above the horizon, fading as twilight brightens by 6 o’clock.
Saturday:
Is March going out like a lion? Leo the Lion continues to climb higher in the March evening skies. Its brightest star – Regulus – is more than half way above the southeast horizon at 8:30 PM EDT. Looking above and left of Regulus, the stars form a curve like the letter “c”, giving it the appearance of a sickle, or a “backward” question mark.