Tomorrow night’s first quarter moon appears in proximity to the zodiacal constellation Leo, the lion.

 

You’ll find the moon high in the sky after sunset. Look to the left of the moon and you’ll see the bright star Regulus, the principle star, the brightest, in the constellation.

 

The constellation Big Dipper, also called Ursa Major, has received plenty of attention over the last several weeks through shared work of the Hubble Space Telescope. Astronomers report that the telescope recorded thousands of galaxies in a small area of the sky. The composite photograph is astounding to see.

 

They are talking about an area in the much beloved Big Dipper. Astronomers chose to point the Hubble Telescope at a dark area of the constellation, void of stars from our Milky Way, to see what the telescope could uncover. The telescope discovered not thousands of stars, but thousands of galaxies.

 

Next time you look at the Big Dipper, contemplate the thought that the farthest reaches of the universe lies behind that benign group of stars.