Today:
As darkness fall at about 10 PM, the waxing gibbous Moon will appear in the south, with another encounter with a bright star. Last Saturday, it was Spica. Tonight it is the red star Antares’ turn, appearing to the Moon’s right. As the Moon tracks low in the south thereafter, a slightly greater separation will occur, with Antares appearing slightly more to the right of the Moon.
Thursday:
The star Capella is right on the northern horizon, due north at 10:15 PM EDT. While it is essentially not viewable, it never sets at our latitude. By midnight, it will be rising in the north-northeast. In six months from now, it will be almost exactly overhead during the bitter cold evenings of January.
Friday:
High in the east-northeast is the star Deneb, the tail of Cygnus, the Swan. Deneb is Arabic for “the tail”, though Arabs described this region as the “chicken”. While Deneb is less bright than the other members of the Summer Triangle – Vega overhead, and Altair much lower toward the south – it is actually thousands of times brighter, but farther away.