Today:
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.
Thursday:
Quite prominent in the south this evening, the Waxing Gibbous Moon will appear at the base of the constellation Libra, Libra’s scales perhaps a little out of balance, since the constellation looks like it’s lying on its side. The Moon will set in the southwest at around 12.35 AM, with Libra setting a little more than an hour later.
Friday:
The Moon again appears in the south this evening, but it has shifted out of Libra, and into the heart of Scorpius. On this night Scorpius might be said to have two hearts, as the Moon takes up with the usual “Heart of the Scorpion,” Antares, which the brightest star within Scorpius. The star is a red supergiant, and glows at a distance of about 550 light years from the sun.