Saturday night the first quarter moon and Jupiter are friends. The two appear close together in the zodiacal constellation Leo and they’ll be together for the evening.

On Tuesday night the gibbous moon appears near the bright star Spica in the zodiacal constellation Virgo. The two are only five degrees apart. On Thursday night, the moon appears close to the bright red planet Mars. The two are in the zodiacal constellation Scorpius.

The planet Mercury is low in the southeastern sky before sunrise. The elusive planet is moving through the zodiacal constellation Taurus and it is near the Pleiades, a small star cluster.

Remember Taurus? Only two months ago, Taurus was a fixture, setting in our western sky. The constellation is now in our morning sky where it will be through the summer.

Mercury is the brightest celestial object close to the horizon and in only a few days the planet will descend back into the glare of the rising sun.