Today:
With a view to the south at 8:20 PM, you can see the constellation Canis Major, the Big Dog, facing upward toward Orion. Above Orion will appear the Waxing Gibbous Moon, the home plate within cosmic basball diamand, with Jupiter at first base, Betelgeuse at second, and Aldebaran at third. Behind home plate, calling balls and strikes, it the bright star Capella.
Thursday:
Brilliant moonlight will hamper stargazers this evening, but the trio of bright stars marking Orion’s Belt should be easy to spot, due south in the evenings near 7:00 PM. The star on the left, Alnitak, is actually a triplet of stars, the two primary stars orbiting each other every 7 years, the larger of the two being 20 times larger, and 250 thousand times brighter than the Sun!
Friday:
The waxing gibbous Moon, two days shy of full, will be due east at 5:15, just prior to sunset. As night falls, the Moon will become clustered with a handful of other bright objects. Jupiter, still nestled between the Geminin Twins, will appear above the Moon and to its right. Pollux and Castor, the respective heads of the Twins, will emerge above the Moon and slightly to its left. A bit farther afield is the star Procyon, below the Moon and to its right.