Today:
As the bright winter stars of Orion retire in the west, two lonely bright stars rise toward their summer prominence in the skies in the east. Looking high in the northeast to find the Big Dipper, and follow the “arc” of its handle lower and to the right, locating the star Arcturus. Then continue the line farther right, where you can “spy” the star Spica, a blue-white beauty.
Thursday:
The planet Mars is obviously on the move, sliding to a position exactly even with the Twin stars of Gemini this evening, high in the southwest, forming a curious “belt” of three stars in a row, mimicing the more famous Orion’s Belt, which appears one quarter of the way up from the horizon as darkness falls between 8:30 and 9 o’clock. Mars continues it journey east, encountering the star Regulus, in Leo, the Lion this June.
Friday:
The waxing Gibbous Moon is just one day from being Full, known is April as the “Pink” Moon. This is a great time to see one of the Moon’s prominent craters, Tycho. Binoculars show it near the bottom as a hub for a series of lines radiating outward, or “rays”, caused when a meteor crashed into the Moon 110 million years ago.