There's a beautiful conjunction between the Moon and the planet Venus early this evening. Venus is the Evening Star. The Moon is a thin crescent, which means the Sun illuminates only a sliver of the lunar hemisphere that faces Earth.
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).
May 18: Moon and Venus
May 19: Moon and Jupiter
Jupiter stands to the upper left of the Moon this evening. The Sun's largest planet looks like a brilliant star. The twins of Gemini stand above the Moon. Castor, on the left, is the brighter of the two.
May 20: Moon and Gemini
The Moon lines up with the twins of Gemini this evening - the stars Pollux and Castor. Pollux is the brighter twin and is closer to the Moon. The brilliant planet Jupiter is to the lower right of the Moon.
May 21: Omega Centauri
About 160 known globular clusters orbit the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The biggest and brightest is Omega Centauri, which is low in the south this evening. It may be the stripped core of a smaller galaxy that the Milky Way took over long ago.
May 22: Moon and Regulus
The Moon creeps up on the heart of Leo tonight, the star Regulus. Regulus is close to the upper left of the Moon at nightfall. The Moon will move closer before they set, around 2 a.m. They will be closest together as seen from the West Coast.
May 23: Morning Mars
Mars is working its way into the morning sky. The planet is quite low in the east during dawn twilight. It will climb a little higher day by day, however, and will be in good view this summer.
May 24: Scorpion's Claws
Zubeneschamali and Zubenelgenubi skitter across the southern sky on May evenings. They are far above Antares, the bright heart of the scorpion, which climbs into view by about 10 p.m. Although they are in Libra, they represent the claws of the scorpion.