Tonight find the moon in the southwestern sky after sunset, between 6:30 and 7 p.m. when the sky is darkening at the end of twilight. It will not be near any bright object.
Now follow the moon at this time every day through next Wednesday. It will move east through the starry sky and become more lit every day.
Friday night, when it is at first quarter, it will be just south of Aries the Ram, which has an impressive name but is a relatively small, unimpressive constellation that looks like a squished triangle.
On Saturday night the moon will be to the west of Aries heading toward Jupiter and Taurus the Bull.
By Sunday night the moon will be 9 days old and in a beautiful gibbous (more than half lit) phase. The moon, the Pleiades, Jupiter, and Taurus the Bull will all be within a few degrees of each other and nearly overhead at 7 p.m. They will be a fine sight in low-power binoculars.
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On Monday night the moon will be slightly more than one degree away from Jupiter. As you look toward the east on Monday at 7 p.m., the moon will be slightly to the right of Jupiter and halfway between Taurus the Bull (below the moon closer to the horizon) and the Pleiades (above the moon and further from the horizon).
On Tuesday and Wednesday nights the moon will move farther east away from Jupiter, heading toward Gemini the Twins.
The moon always puts on a fine show.
Moon Watch
The moon is at first quarter tomorrow. A first quarter moon rises around noon local time and sets around midnight local time.
Tonight sunset is at 5:44 p.m., and for the rest of the month, sunset will be about one minute later each day.
Contact Tim Hunter at skyspy@azstarnet.com