The pattern of a great lion outlined in stars, from billowy mane to tucked tail, climbs in the east-southeast as darkness deepens on early spring evenings. The head of Leo the Lion is a broad arc of stars that leads down to the constellation’s brightest star, bluish-white Regulus, Latin for “little king.” Leo’s body stretches to the left of his head where the Lion’s tail-end, his haunches included, takes shape as a right triangle that narrows to a point marked by bright star Denebola, Arabic for “lion’s tail.”
While stargazing one recent night it seemed to me that the regal Lion, symbol of the golden sun, was chasing winter, in the form of Orion’s dogs, Sirius the Big Dog and Procyon the Little Dog, out of the sky. Look a ways to the right of Regulus, southwest of Leo, to spot brilliant Sirius, the brightest star in the heavens. Yellow-white Procyon, the Lesser Dog, is between Regulus and Sirius. For all the dutiful dog walkers, Sirius shines from the southwest until around 10pm, even in polluted skies. Procyon is visible approaching the western horizon until after midnight and should be bright enough to see in city skies.
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April 1 – 3: Use the two brightest orbs of the morning sky – the moon and Jupiter – to find three more bright celestial beauties, the planets Mars and Saturn, plus the star Antares.
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I’m on a quest this spring to observe the movements and brightening of the naked eye planets whenever clear skies are predicted. At dusk and until nightfall, brilliant Venus appears close above the western horizon, higher everyday. At dawn and into late twilight, look for very bright Jupiter about 20 degrees above the southwest horizon, not very far from the location of our evening view of Venus. Both planets are striking above the city skyline.
Breaking it to you slowly, to see the rest of the planets visible this spring, especially the spectacle of red Mars increasing in magnitude, requires awakening by 5am close to a location with a clear view of the southeast to southwest horizon. From Mars and Saturn in the south-southeast to Jupiter in the south-southwest, with red star Antares in between, the dipping line of celestial luminaries holds our gaze captive.
The crack of dawn is at 5:05am on the 2nd, 4:40am on the 15th. It is well worth looking at or before these times, when morning stars and their constellations are in full display. Civil twilight begins at 6:11am on the 2nd, 5:50 on the 15th. Jupiter is visible well into twilight.
There’s something primordial about connecting the experience of evening sky watching, before sleep, to awakening to the pre-dawn to dawn sky.