30 Jan    Jupiter is a little more than 3 finger-widths to the moon’s lower right at dusk. The moon is at apogee, 63.39 Earth-radii, 404,000 kilometers, away.

31 Jan    At dusk, look for the Pleiades Cluster 4 finger-widths to the moon’s upper left and Jupiter nearly 2 fist-widths to its lower right.

1 Feb    High in the south at sunset, the Pleiades Cluster is 2 finger-widths to the moon’s upper right, and magnitude 1.1 Aldebaran is 4 finger-widths to the lower left. Orion lies farther to the lower left. The bright “star” 3 fist-widths to the lower right is magnitude -2.3 Jupiter.

2 Feb    Aldebaran is 3 finger-widths to the waxing gibbous moon’s lower right tonight. More than two-thirds of the moon’s surface is illuminated. Today is Candlemas or Groundhog Day, one of the cross-quarter days halfway between solstices and equinoxes.

3 Feb    Look high in the south 3 hours after sunset to see the moon surrounded by Aldebaran nearly 2 fist-widths to the left, the Gemini Twins 2½ fist-widths to the right, Orion 1 fist-width below and magnitude 0.2 Capella nearly overhead.

4 Feb    Look to the east at dusk to see the Gemini Twins 1½ fist-widths to the moon’s lower left and magnitude 0.6 Betelgeuse, the brightest star on Orion, the same distance to the right. Magnitude 0.5 Procyon is nearly 2 fist-widths below the moon.

25 Jan    Low in the west at dusk, magnitude -4.1 Venus is 4 finger-widths to the thin waxing crescent moon’s upper left. Less than 5 percent of the moon is illuminated.

26 Jan    Venus is less than 4 finger-widths to the moon’s lower left, low in the west in the early evening. About 10 percent of the moon’s surface is illuminated.

28 Jan    The moon is between Jupiter, less than 2 fist-widths to the upper left, and Venus, 2½ fist-widths below, close to the horizon. The two planets are less than 4½ fist-widths apart.

16 Jan    The last-quarter moon is high in the south before dawn, with Spica 2 finger-widths to the upper right and Saturn 3 finger-widths to the upper left. The bright star 3½ fist-widths above the moon is magnitude 0.2 Arcturus.

17 Jan    The moon is at perigee, 57.99 Earth-radii, 370,000 kilometers, away.

18 Jan    The thin waning crescent moon is just to the right of the head of the Scorpion constellation, Scorpius, low in the south before first light.

19 Jan    Before dawn, the thin waning crescent moon will be low in the southeast with Antares less than 2 finger-widths to the lower right. Only about 20 percent of the moon is illuminated.

20 Jan    The thin waning crescent moon rises less than 2½ hours before the sun this morning. About 10 percent of the moon’s surface is illuminated.

9 Jan    The moon rises less than an hour after sunset with Procyon 1 fist-width to the right. They are high in the east later tonight, with the Gemini Twins 1 fist-width to the upper left.

10 Jan    Late this evening, look for the moon between Procyon, 2 fist-widths to the upper right, and Regulus, 1½ fist-widths to the lower right. The Big Dipper is standing on its handle 5 fist-widths to the left.

11 Jan    The moon and Regulus rise side by side 3 hours after sunset. Mars follows 2 hours later. By midnight, the moon is high in the east with Regulus 3 finger-widths to the left and Mars 2½ fist-widths to the lower left.

12 Jan    In the southwest before dawn, Regulus is 3 finger-widths to the moon’s upper right, and Mars is 2 fist-widths to the moon’s upper left. The Big Dipper is high in the north with its handle pointing up.

13 Jan    Low in the southwest before dawn, Regulus is 1½ fist-widths to the moon’s right while Mars is 1 fist-width to the upper left. Close together, Spica and Saturn are 4 fist-widths to the upper left. Magnitude 1.2 Spica is noticeably dimmer than magnitude 0.6 Saturn.

14 Jan    Before dawn, Mars is 1 fist-width to the moon’s upper right. Today is 1 Jan. on the Julian calendar, the first day of the Roman year 2765 A.U.C., ab urbe condita or “from the city founded.”

2 Jan    At dusk, look high in the south for Jupiter, 2 finger-widths below the waxing gibbous moon. The moon is at apogee, 63.43 Earth-radii, or 405,000 kilometers, away.

3 Jan    Late tonight, the moon is high in the southwest, midway between Jupiter, a little more than 1 fist-width to the lower right, and the Pleiades Cluster, to the upper left. Orion is high in the south.

4 Jan    About 75 percent of the moon’s surface is illuminated. Early this evening, look for the Pleiades Cluster 2 finger-widths to the moon’s left and Jupiter far to the right or upper right, depending on your time of viewing.

5 Jan    The bright star 3 finger-widths below the moon tonight is magnitude 1.1 Aldebaran. Orion is a couple of fist-widths beyond Aldebaran. Earth is at perihelion, its closest approach to the sun for the year. It is only 0.98327 astronomical units, about 147,096,000 kilometers, away.

6 Jan    The moon rises about 2 hours before sunset. Low in the east at dusk, the first star to appear is magnitude 0.2 Capella, 2 fist-widths to the moon’s upper left. Next is magnitude 0.6 Betelgeuse, 1½ fist-widths to the lower right near the horizon. Aldebaran is next, appearing 1 fist-width to the moon’s upper right.

7 Jan    Straddled by Orion to the right and Gemini to the lower left, the moon rises a little more than 1 hour before sunset. Later tonight look just above the horizon for magnitude 0.5 Procyon, 2½ fist-widths below the moon.

27 Dec    The moon is 1 fist-width above Venus in the early evening. Less than 10 percent of the moon’s surface is illuminated.

29 Dec    The moon is between Venus, 3 fist-widths to the lower right, and Jupiter, 5 fist-widths to the upper left.

30 Dec    High in the southwest at dusk, Venus is 4 fist-widths to the moon’s lower right, and Jupiter is nearly the same distance to the upper left.

19 Dec    In the south before dawn, Spica is 3 finger-widths left of the moon and Saturn is the same distance beyond Spica. With your binoculars, see if you can tell a difference in color between Spica and Saturn. Saturn should seem slightly yellow or orange compared to white Spica.

20 Dec    Saturn and Spica are 3-4 finger-widths above the moon this morning.

22 Dec    Get out your binoculars early this morning and try to spot the ever elusive Mercury as it reaches its greatest elongation west 21.8 degrees from the sun at 2200 EST tonight. Rising more than an hour before first light, Mercury is 4 finger-widths to the moon’s lower left before dawn. Less than 5 percent of the moon’s surface is illuminated. The moon is at perigee, 57.2 Earth-radii, or 365,000 kilometers, away. The winter solstice occurs at 0530 UT.

24 Dec    New moon at 1806 UT

12 Dec    Orion, the Gemini Twins and the moon rise within a few minutes of each other this evening. Later tonight, the Gemini Twins are close to the moon’s upper left high in the east. Orion is to the moon’s upper right, and Procyon is 1 fist-width to the lower right.

13 Dec    The moon rises 3 hours after sunset. At midnight, Procyon is a little more than 1 fist-width to the moon’s right high in the southeast.

15 Dec    After midnight, look for Regulus 1 fist-width to the moon’s upper left and Mars a little more than 1 fist-width to Regulus’ lower left. High in the southwest before dawn, the moon is between Regulus to the upper right and Mars to the upper left.

16 Dec    Rising late this evening, Regulus, Mars and the moon are best viewed before dawn tomorrow. Regulus is 2 fist-widths to the moon’s upper right high in the south, and Mars is less than 1 fist-width above the moon.

5 Dec    Tonight Jupiter is only 4 finger-widths to the moon’s left.

6 Dec    The moon passes Jupiter tonight 3 finger-widths to the planet’s upper left. The moon is at apogee 63.56 Earth-radii, or 405,000 kilometers, away.

7 Dec    Late tonight, the moon is high in the southeast between Jupiter, 1.5 fist-widths to the right or upper right, and the Pleiades, 1 fist-width to the lower left. Orion is to the lower left, closer to the horizon.

8 Dec    The Pleiades Cluster is only 1 finger-width to the upper left of the nearly full moon, making viewing difficult.

9 Dec    Using binoculars, look for magnitude 1.1 Aldebaran 3 finger-widths to the moon’s lower right late tonight. The Pleiades Cluster is more than 1 fist-width to the moon’s upper right, making viewing much easier.

10 Dec    The total lunar eclipse will appear as a partial eclipse in most of the United States. The best viewing will be in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and Hawaii. Full moon at 1436 UT

28 Nov    Altair is 2.5 fist-widths to the moon’s upper right low in the west at dusk. The moon sets less than 2 hours after the sun.

30 Nov    Less than one-third of the moon’s surface is illuminated, so it shouldn’t outshine the dimmer stars nearby. Get your binoculars and look for magnitude 3.1 Sadalsuud 2 finger-widths above the moon and magnitude 3.0 Deneb Algedi 3 finger-widths to the lower left. You should also be able to spot several dimmer fourth and fifth magnitude stars within 2 or 3 finger-widths of the moon.

2 Dec    The bright star 3 fist-widths below the moon tonight is magnitude 1.3 Fomalhaut. First-quarter moon at 0952 UT

3 Dec    Magnitude 2.1 Alpheratz is 2.5 fist-widths above or to the upper left of the moon tonight.