The moon appears Friday night in the gibbous phase but ends the coming week as a crescent, among the planets. The moon’s appearance is a late night spectacle.

This weekend, look for the moon in the zodiacal constellation Gemini as it rises well after 9 p.m.

Early in the coming week, the moon rises after midnight. On the morning of Thursday, December 3, the moon is in close proximity to the bright planet Jupiter, now in the zodiacal constellation Leo.

Orion is Back

The popular celebrity constellation Orion is back in our evening sky. For those who are up late tonight and see the gibbous moon hanging low in the eastern sky, you don’t have to look far to see Orion, the hunter appearing in the southeast. By midnight, Orion is due south.

Orion is a winter favorite. You may not be able to pick out all the stars in the signature constellation but you’ll recognize the three stars that make up its belt. They are diagonal to his large body. His sword is a fuzzy star nebula underneath. The three stars point southeast to the brightest star in the winter, Sirius.

The bright red star that marks his shoulder is Betelgeuse, one of the biggest and yet most distant stars you can easily see.