In the Sky This Month

The faint constellation Draco, the dragon, is in the northeastern at nightfall and slithers high across the north later on. One of its treasures is the Cat’s Eye Nebula, the glowing remains of a dying star.

This is a good time of year to watch the Big Dipper. It stands high in the northeast at nightfall, arcs high across the north at midnight, and is still well up in the northwest at dawn.

Arcturus, one of the brighter stars in the night sky, is low in the east as darkness falls and climbs high across the sky later on. It shines yellow-orange because its surface is fairly cool. The star is probably at least seven billion years old.

The crescent Moon has two blushing companions the next couple of nights, the planet Mars and the star Aldebaran, the “eye” of the bull. The orange orbs are above the Moon this evening, with Aldebaran on the left and fainter Mars on the right.

The brightest star of the constellation Puppis, the stern of the ship Argo, is a member of the hottest and heaviest class of stars, class O. There are no more than a few tens of thousands of these stars in the entire galaxy.

The constellation Puppis rows low across the south on early spring evenings. It represents the stern of the Argo, the boat that carried Jason and the Argonauts through many adventures. Most of its stars are faint, though.

The Moon is “new” today as it crosses the imaginary line between Earth and Sun. It is lost from view in the Sun’s glare. It should return to view as the barest of crescents not long after sunset tomorrow.

The Crab Nebula stands high in the west as night falls. It’s far above Aldebaran, the bright orange star that marks the eye of Taurus, the bull. The nebula is the debris from an exploded star and the brightest source of X-rays in the night sky.

A myriad colorful stars adorn the late-evening sky. Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, twinkles fiercely in the southwest. Regulus, the heart of the lion, stands high overhead. And Arcturus, in Bootes, the herdsman, is climbing in the east.

Vela, the sail of the ship that carried Jason and the Argonauts, flutters quite low across the south on early spring evenings, but only from south of about Dallas or Tucson. It features only a couple of moderately bright stars.