In the Sky This Month

The mighty planet Jupiter looks like a brilliant star. And tonight, it has a close companion: the full Moon. Jupiter is to the lower left of the Moon at nightfall, and follows the Moon across the sky later on.

Two bright lights are passing close to each other in the western evening sky. The brighter light is Venus, the brilliant “evening star.” The other one, to the left or upper left of Venus tonight, is Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus, the bull.

Two big stars with different futures stand below the Moon at nightfall. Their light blurs together into one point: Spica, the brightest star of Virgo. One of the stars will explode as a supernova, while the other faces a fate similar to the Sun’s.

Look well up in the east as darkness falls for yellow-orange Arcturus, the brightest star in the evening sky at this time of year. Well to its lower left is Corona Borealis, the northern crown, a semicircle of stars that opens to the upper left.

Corvus, the crow, is low in the southeast at nightfall and arcs across the southern sky during the night. Corvus’s brightest stars form a small but distinct box. In mythology, the crow was a servant of the god Apollo.

Regulus, the heart of Leo, the lion, stands close to the right of the Moon as darkness falls. The Moon passes the star roughly once per month. Their conjunctions are possible because both lie near the ecliptic, which is the Sun’s path across the sky.

The Moon descends the western sky this evening, with the star Regulus to the left or upper left of the Moon. Regulus is the heart of Leo, the lion, and one of the brightest stars in the night sky.

Cor Caroli, the Heart of Charles, is the brightest star of Canes Venatici, the hunting dogs. It’s to the right of the handle of the Big Dipper as night falls, and wheels above the dipper later on. It consists of two stars in a wide orbit around each other.

The Lyrid meteor shower should be at its best tonight. You need dark skies to see it. Even at its peak, the shower produces no more than a dozen or so meteors per hour. But the Moon is out of the way, so if you have a good viewing spot it’s worth a look.

The planet Mercury just peeks into view in the east at dawn sky over the next few days. It looks like a fairly bright star. It is quite low, though, so you need a clear horizon to see it. The planet stands a little higher as seen from southerly latitudes.