Tonight: A fat gibbous Moon will be near the star Spica in Virgo the Maiden. Spica can always be found by following the handle of the Big Dipper in an arc to the star Arcturus in Bootes the Herdsman. From Arcturus, continue the arc and you will spike to the…

Tonight: Mercury is visible low in the WNW evening sky. It”s 46° to the lower right of Mars and will stay that distance from Mars until May 22nd. However, Mercury will fade noticeably over the next week. Today, Mercury is +0.5 magnitude. On the 22nd, Mercury will have dimmed to…

Tonight: Saturn, Mars and Mercury span 75° across the evening sky. Look for Saturn high in the southwest near the star Regulus. Mars is in the west to the left of the stars Castor and Pollux, and Mercury is low in the WNW.

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Tonight: Mercury is at its greatest elongation from the Sun, The swift moving planet is now 22° east of the Sun. Look for Mercury in the WNW an hour after sunset. Mercury is now at +0.3 magnitude. Over the next week or so, Mercury will dim quickly as it moves…

Tonight: Mars and Saturn are 30° from each other. Watch over the next several weeks as Mars slowly moves closer to Saturn. In July the two will be just ½° apart. Look for Mars high in the west at the end of evening twilight. Saturn and Regulus will be to…

Tonight: Mother”s DayTonight: The First Quarter Moon is to the west of Regulus and Saturn. Regulus and Saturn are still about 2° apart. Saturn is slowly moving away from the star Regulus. Look for Saturn high in the southwest at dusk.

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Tonight: Astronomy DayTonight: The crescent Moon is east of the planet Mars and near the Beehive star cluster in Cancer the Crab. Look at the Moon with a telescope to see the three overlapping craters, Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina. These three craters are all around 60 miles in diameter. Also…

Tonight: Mercury is 4° below the Pleiades star cluster. Both the star cluster and the planet are very close to the WNW horizon, making them difficult to observe. Look with binoculars in the twilight for Mercury and the Pleiades tonight and for the next few days.

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Tonight: Look for Mercury low in the WNW. The Solar System”s inner most planet will be very close to the horizon an hour after sunset. Mercury is now at -1.0 magnitude. To see it, you”ll need a very clear horizon and sky. Mercury will get higher in the sky and…

Tonight: Saturn is about 2.2° east of the star Regulus in Leo the Lion. A view of Saturn through a telescope reveals the stunning rings around Saturn. Today the rings are tilted 9.94° from edgewise. This is the maximum for the year. The rings will not be this open again…

Tonight: Look for the planet Jupiter to the upper right of the Moon. At dawn, Jupiter can be found in the SSE. Jupiter is now at -2.2 magnitude.

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Tonight: The Moon is near the handle of the Teapot. Look south in the dawn sky. To the left of the Moon is the planet Jupiter. Tomorrow morning, the Jupiter will be to the upper right of the Moon.Tonight: In the evening, look for Mars to pass 4.7° from the…

Tonight: This morning look for the waning gibbous Moon near the spout of the Teapot. The Teapot is an asterism in the constellation of Sagittarius the Archer. An asterism is a recognizable pattern of stars. An asterism is different than a constellation. A constellation refers to one of the 88…

Tonight: Try looking for Mercury. It”s very low in the WNW, 30 minutes after sunset. Mercury is now at -1.4 magnitude. Use binoculars to find the planet about 3° from the horizon. The Sun will only be 5° below the horizon making the sky still fairly bright. Your view to…

Tonight: The waning gibbous Moon is to the west of the star Antares. Although the Moon might look full, it”s a few days past full. Look for the Moon and Antares in the dawn sky in the SSW. Jupiter is also part of the dawn sky. Look for the largest…

Tonight: Earth Day! On this Earth day, Mars is visible in the evening sky. Mars is now 1.55 AU from the Earth. Saturn is also part of the evening sky. It”s 8.77 AU from Earth today. One AU is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun. That”s about…

Tonight: Saturn and Regulus are 2.3° apart. Mars and Pollux are 5.3° apart. Mars and Saturn are 41° apart. Watch over the next few months as Mars and Saturn move closer together. In July, Mars will pass just a half a degree from Saturn. Tonight at dusk, look for Saturn…

Tonight: Look for a big Moon to rise at dusk in the ESE. The Full Moon looks big when it”s close to the horizon. This is known as the Moon illusion. It”s an optical illusion. Try measuring the size of the Moon by holding your hand at arm”s length and…

Tonight: A full Moon rises in the ESE shortly before sunset. Look for the star Spica above the Moon. Spica is the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo the Maiden. During the course of the night, the Moon moves farther from Spica. By Sunday morning, the Moon will have…

Tonight: The Moon is to the west of the 1st magnitude star Spica. As the night rolls on, the Moon moves closer to the star. The Moon looks almost full, but it”s still more than a day before the exact moment of Full Moon.

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