Today:
Venus struggles to remain in view for the morning coffee crew, but tomorrow morning it would be worth taking one last look. You might use binoculars, or a spotting scope to find Mars, just to the lower right of Venus, during a narrow window from 6 o’clock until 6:10, quite low above a level, low southeast horizon.
Thursday:
George Washington’s actual birthday (not the holiday) would have seen the same stars in the same places, though the planets would have been different. Thanks to modern computer calculations, we know that Venus and Saturn were amazingly close in the southwest after sunset, and that Jupiter rose as they set in the east. The Moon was a thin Crescent in the morning twilight.
Friday:
The Moon is just one day shy of Full as it rises in the company of Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, the Lion. The pair emerges in the twilight by 5 o’clock, and are due east two hours later. They crest high in the south just before midnight, and then slowly descend into the west as sunrise approaches.