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November 3: The Moon passes Regulus
Venus sits 2° south of Virgo’s brightest star, Spica, in the early-morning sky. The pair is joined by a lovely crescent Moon high above them in Leo, creating a gorgeous sight that early risers won’t want to miss.
By 6 A.M. local time (roughly half an hour before sunrise), the sky is growing bright and Venus and Spica are about 8° high in the east. Venus, at magnitude –4.4, far outshines the magnitude 1.0 star, which sits just to the planet’s upper left. A waning crescent Moon, just over 20% lit, hangs high above the pair, to their upper right. Through a telescope, Venus’ large, 58”-wide disk is also a crescent, now 5% lit. In the coming days, Venus’ phase will start to grow as its diameter slowly shrinks.
Also glance to Venus and Spica’s upper left, where you’ll spot magnitude –0.1 Arcturus, the brightest star in Boötes the Herdsman, which borders Virgo to the north.
Sunrise: 6:32 A.M.
Sunset: 4:54 P.M.
Moonrise: 1:44 A.M.
Moonset: 2:30 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (17%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location.
Alison Klesman is senior editor of Astronomy magazine. She holds a Ph.D. in astronomy and has studied a variety of topics, from minor planets to supermassive black holes.
