Spica, the brightest star of Virgo, is quite close to the Moon at dawn tomorrow. The system, which is 250 light-years away, consists of two giant stars. They are so close together that their shapes are distorted, so they look like eggs.
Weekly Stargazing Tips
Provided by StarDate.org. Unless otherwise specified, viewing times are local time regardless of time zone, and are good for the entire Lower 48 states (and, generally, for Alaska and Hawaii).
November 16: Moon and Spica
November 17: Moon and Venus
A barely-there crescent Moon teams up with Venus, the disappearing Morning Star, in tomorrow's dawn twilight. Look for them quite low in the east-southeast beginning about 45 minutes before sunrise.
November 18: Uranus at Opposition
The planet Uranus reaches opposition this week. It lines up opposite the Sun, so it rises around sunset and is in view all night. It shines brightest for the year, although you need binoculars to see it, close to the Pleiades star cluster.
November 19: New Moon
The Moon will reach its "new" phase tonight. It will cross the line between Earth and the Sun, so it's hidden in the Sun's brilliant glare. The Moon will return to view on Saturday evening as a thin crescent low in southwest during twilight.
November 20: Great Square
The Great Square of Pegasus passes high across the south on November evenings. Its right side points down toward Fomalhaut, the brightest star of Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish.
November 21: Southern Fish
Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish, is in the south this evening. It contains only one bright star, Fomalhaut, which marks the fish's mouth. The white star is just 25 light-years from Earth.
November 22: Messier 30
Messier 30, an interloper from another galaxy, scoots low across the southwestern sky on November evenings. It's a tight family of hundreds of thousands of stars. The stars probably belonged to another galaxy that was consumed by the Milky Way long ago.