Moon and Regulus
Regulus, the brightest star of the constellation Leo, is easy to spot the next couple of nights. It is well below the Moon as they climb into good view tonight, before midnight, but much closer to the Moon tomorrow night.
Venus and Spica
Venus, the brilliant Morning Star, will stand almost side by side with Spica, the brightest star of Virgo, at first light tomorrow. Venus is sliding down toward the Sun, while Spica is slowly pulling away.
Morning Glories
A couple of bright alignments greet early risers tomorrow. The Moon and the twins of Gemini are high in the west at dawn, while the planet Venus, which is the brilliant Morning Star, and the true star Spica are in the southeast.
Hearth Fire
Orion climbs into good view in the east and southeast by about 8 p.m. In European mythology, Orion was a hunter. But to the Maya, those stars probably represented a turtle and the “hearth” of the heavens, corresponding to the central fire in a Mayan household.
Rare Birds
Two birds wade low across the southern sky early tonight. They are the constellations Grus, the crane, and Phoenix, the firebird. They are best seen from the southern third of the country, with Grus standing a little taller than its cousin.
Winter Milky Way
Our solar system is in the Milky Way Galaxy, which forms a faint glowing band across the sky. To see it, get away from city lights on a moonless night like tonight. At nightfall, the Milky Way arcs from almost due east, high across the north, to due west.
Tezcatlipoca
The Big Dipper is visible every night of the year, circling the North Star, Polaris. To the Aztecs, the dipper personified the god Tezcatlipoca, “He Who Can Enter All Places.” He reigned over the cardinal directions as well as the night.
Binary Stars
Some well-known binary star systems are in good view at nightfall. Antares, the heart of the scorpion, is almost due south, blue-white Spica is at about the same height in the southwest, and Polaris, the pole star, is due north, as it is every night of the year.
Bow and Arrow
To modern eyes, the brightest stars of Sagittarius form the outline of a teapot. To ancient eyes, though, it was a centaur holding a bow and arrow. The bow is traced by an arc of three stars in the teapot, including the brightest star in the constellation.
Mercury and Regulus
There’s an amazing close encounter shortly after sunset between the planet Mercury and the star Regulus, the heart of the lion. They will pass just one-tenth of a degree from each other, which is less than the width of a pencil held at arm’s length.