Prowling the heavens high in the southwest this evening starting near 9:30 PM, you’ll find Leo, the Lion. Leo is one of the horoscope signs, its traditional dates of late July into the third week of August marking when the sun was against the background of these stars 3000 years ago. This now happens one month later.
Thursday:
Between the brightest star in the skies this evening, Arcturus, high in the southeast at 10 o’clock, and the second brightest, Vega, slightly lower in the east, the faint stars of Hercules offer a challenge to view. Many people look for the bowtie pattern, marking his knees to the upper left, and his shoulders to the lower right.
Friday:
Tomorrow morning, those that get up very early in the morning can watch the wide, waning Crescent Moon rise just before 3 o’clock in the east-southeast, joined by a planet that faded out last February. The ringed-giant Saturn has shifted into the morning skies, with this pair low in the southeast as the Sun’s twilight brightens after 4:30 AM.