• The first "star" to pop out after sunset is actually the planet Jupiter, the brightest star-like object in the evening sky. As seen from mid-northern latitudes, this blazing world appears high in the south at nightfall and early evening. If you live at temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, look for Jupiter in the northern sky as darkness falls. Jupiter shines in front of the constella

tion Taurus the Bull.
• As the Earth spins beneath the heavens tonight, Jupiter and Taurus go westward across the sky and set in the west-northwest in the wee hours after midnight. As Jupiter sits low in the west-northwest late tonight, or around midnight, look in the opposite direction for the waning gibbous moon and Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo, to rise in tandem over the east-southeast horizon.
• After the moon and Spica rise, the ringed planet Saturn follows the duo into the starry sky and hour or two thereafter. The three of them climb upward throughout the wee morning hours, and soar into the southern sky before dawn.
• If you're more of an early bird than a night owl, use the moon to find Spica and Saturn in the predawn hours. Remember that Jupiter shines high in the south at nightfall. And that the moon, Spica and Saturn adorn the southern sky before dawn.
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