The best of starry night skies takes place this weekend. New Moon phase is tomorrow, so you won’t find the moon anywhere until the beginning of next week.

The spring constellation Leo, the lion, is rising in the eastern sky. Astronomers have long known that Leo and the zodiacal constellation Virgo to the east of it are our windows to looking beyond our Milky Way. Look up at those stars and note that behind them there are uncountable numbers of galaxies in both constellations.

Look to the west and you’ll see the winter constellation Orion with its three bright stars that mark its belt. When you look at Orion you are looking into the Milky Way. Astronomers look at Orion as our Milky Way neighborhood. The stars are bright because they are both big and close.

You may see the crescent moon low in the western sky on Monday night. The moon is in the zodiacal constellation Pisces.