Today:
Orion continues to “stand tall”, high in the south at 9 o’clock this evening. Looking below his characteristic belt of three stars, you’ll find a star-like patch of light, suggesting a sword or scabbard. Rather than a star, this is the Great Orion Nebula – a glowing area of gases, and a nursery for new stars.
Thursday:
Mars is still near its maximum brightness as it makes its closest approach to the star Pollux, the lower of the Twin stars of Gemini. Our reddish planetary neighbor is nearly 9 times brighter than Castor as it slowly progresses to the right over the next four weeks. Mars is in retrograde motion, an optical illusion as the Earth moves much faster around the Sun, so it appears to move backwards compared to us.
Friday:
Just as darkness falls, the constellation Perseus can be seen high in the northeast, tracking overhead by 7 o’clock. Within it shines the binary star Algol, whose brightness varies, due to its two primary components – one bright and one dim star – orbiting each other. Every 66 hours, the dim star blocks the light of the brighter star for about ten hours, which happens tonight, starting near 1:30 AM.