Today:
As the waning gibbous Moon rises in the east by 10:00 PM, Saturn appears well ahead of the Moon and to its right. You’ll really need to burn the midnight oil if you want to wait for the appearance of the Moon’s planetary trailers, Jupiter and Mars, which won’t rise in the east-northeast until after midnight, easier to see due east, one third of the way up by 3:30 AM.
Thursday:
The Big Dipper has settled into the northwest skies, about one third of the way up from the horizon at 8:45 this evening. Use the handle of the Big Dipper to “arc” westward to Arcturus, a brilliant orange-white star almost the same height, but in the west. Arcturus is the brightest star in the skies this month.
Friday:
Low in the failing western twilight between 8:15 and 8:30 PM, you will find the bright, bluish-white star Spica nearing the end of its viewing for the year. Although Spica ranks just outside the top-ten brightest stars, at 250 light years away, actually outshines the Sun by 15 thousand times!