Tonight’s gibbous moon appears in the zodiacal constellation Pisces. The moon spends the weekend moving through this large constellation, a constellation that depicts two fish swimming.

Pisces is a constellation we associate with late summer and fall. Early in the evening Pisces rises in the east. While it is one of the largest constellations in the zodiac, the stars that reside within it are not as bright or as distinguishable as other more popular constellations.

Drifting through and amid the stars of Pisces, the moon has no competition — no distinct star that outshines all others.

Uranus, the sixth planet in our solar system, has resided in Pisces for years, but it is only barely visible. Binoculars are necessary. Uranus is twice the distance from the Earth as Saturn, a planet that appears high in the southwest after sunset. While it takes our Earth one year to orbit the sun, it takes Uranus 84 years.

As night progresses, more interesting constellations appear. The zodiacal constellation Aries, one of the smallest constellations in the zodiac is just east of Pisces. Aries. the ram, is made up of a minumum of four principal stars, along with a few others.

To the east of Aries there is Taurus, the Bull, a constellation we associate with autumn and winter when it is more easily visible. Taurus is a group of stars mainly depicting the head of a bull in the shape of a large V. It rises above the eastern horizon before midnight.

Late Wednesday night, or to be more precise, early Thursday morning, the last quarter moon rises in the east in Taurus. The moon is near the Pleiades, a small star cluster.