• Can you find the star that's shining close to the big and bright waxing gibbous moon on the night of March 24, 2013? That's Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion. Regulus is the only first-magnitude star to sit almost exactly on the ecliptic. In skylore, it's considered to be the Lion's Heart.
• The ecliptic is the Earth's orbital plane

projected outward onto the sphere of stars. The ecliptic is often shown on sky charts, because the moon and planets are always found on or near the ecliptic.
• Four first-magnitude stars reside close enough to the ecliptic to be occulted - covered over - by the moon on occasion: Regulus, Spica, Antares, and Aldebaran. In fact, the last lunar occultation of Regulus happened on May 12, 2008, and the next one will be on December 18, 2016.
• On the other hand, the moon will occult Spica every month this year, though you have to be at the right spot on the globe to witness any lunar occultation of Spica. No lunar occultations of other first-magnitude stars are in the works for 2013, but lunar occultations of bright stars are not terribly uncommon.
• However, an occultation of a first-magnitude star by a planet is extremely rare. The last time a planet occulted a first-magnitude star was when Venus occulted Regulus on July 7, 1959. The next time will be when Venus occults Regulus on October 1, 2044.
• Before 1959, the most recent planet/first-magnitude star occultation took place on November 10, 1783, when Venus occulted Spica. Venus will again occult Spica on September 2, 2197.
• Tonight - Sunday, March 24 - the moon shines close to Leo's brightest star, Regulus, the only first-magnitude star to sit almost exactly on the ecliptic.
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