• Tonight's moon - May 25, 2012 - is still in front of the constellation Gemini the Twins. Venus still shines brightly in the west, but it slipping ever-nearer the sunset as it prepares to transit the sun on June 5-6. The moon is waxing larger and appearing toward further east on the sky's dome at each sunset, as it heads toward full moon and the partial lunar eclipse on June 4. As soon as darkness falls tonight, look westward to see the waxing crescent moon lining up - or nearly lining up - with Castor and Pollux, the two brightest stars in the constella

tion Gemini the Twins. The other bright star on the opposite side of the moon is Procyon, the brightest in the constellation Canis Minor the Little Dog.
• The sky chart at the top of this post - showing tonight's moon near the bright stars Castor, Pollux and Procyon - is designed for mid-northern North American latitudes. But the moon will be near these stars as seen from around the world.
• At mid-northern latitudes in the world's Eastern Hemisphere - Europe and Asia - the sky scene will look similar to our chart at nightfall, except that the moon won't line up quite as well with Castor and Pollux. From Europe and Asia, you will see the moon lower down in the sky, more or less midway between Pollux and Procyon.
• From the southern hemisphere, tonight's sky scene will be even more different - but, still, the moon tonight will be near Castor, Pollux and Procyon. The Gemini stars and Procyon are found on opposite sides of tonight's moon in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. At northerly latitudes, we see the Gemini stars higher up in the sky than we see Procyon. At or near the equator, the Gemini stars and Procyon shine pretty much equally high above the horizon. At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Procyon beams higher up than the Gemini stars.

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